THE POTTERY DEPOSITS FROM BUILDING 2 AT KNOSSOS–GYPSADES

This paper presents the pottery assemblage from Building 2 at Knossos–Gypsades, excavated in 2014–15 as part of the ‘Knossos–Gypsades Excavation Project’, a synergasia of the British School at Athens with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Heraklion. Building 2 was constructed in Middle Minoan (MM) IIB, but its main occupational phase occurred during the subsequent MM IIIA phase. At the end of MM IIIA the building was severely damaged, probably due to an earthquake. The damage was rather extensive, resulting in its final abandonment. Contextual, typological and statistical analyses are applied to analyse the ceramic material and to clarify site formation processes. The ultimate aim is to assess whether the archaeological strata under study result from primary, secondary or even tertiary depositional episodes, and to delineate chronological phasing within the cultural-historical period straddling the end of the Old Palace period and the beginning of the New. Building 2 was revealed as undisturbed by later building activity, allowing its original architectural plan and construction to be evaluated, and to document the sequence of events that signal the final stages of its use-life. Furthermore, this study may contribute to the critical debate on Knossian chronological and ceramic phasing, as well as provide a fuller picture of the city of Knossos in the Gypsades neighbourhood, in terms of settlement pattern and spatial configuration.