Within this context of renewed theories regarding the Late Antique city, this article provides a contribution to the further understanding of the nature of society during this period. The perception of Late Antique Knossos has changed in recent years from one of a city in desertion to one of a flourishing innovator. An analysis of chronology and evidence for workshop production provides data for economic and cultural fluctuations and, importantly, a study of the mosaics helps to place Knossos within the broader context of the Roman Empire. Despite the limitations of such a study, imposed by the nature of the recovery of the material culture, it is possible, through an understanding of mosaic distribution, context and type, to make suggestions regarding the function of different areas within the city. This paper presents a catalogue of the mosaics followed by a synthetic analysis, providing cultural evidence for the hitherto not well-understood Roman period of Knossos and adding to the corpus of mosaics in Greece. The mosaics range in date from the late first to the late third century AD and they display a variety of styles from black and white to polychrome and themes from simple geometric to complex figured designs. For the most part the remainder are isolated examples, commonly found during rescue excavation and often not well preserved. Recent work undertaken at the nearby bath house has revealed a small group of three mosaics. The Villa Dionysos, with eight mosaics thus far uncovered, forms the largest coherent group. Thirty Roman mosaics are now known from the Knossos Valley.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |