Spatial Analysis of House Δα at Malia

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Spatial Analysis of House Δα at MaliaAuthor(s): Martin SchmidSource: Hesperia Supplements, Vol. 44, ΣТΕГА: The Archaeology of Houses and Households in

Ancient Crete (2011), pp. 109-117Published by: The American School of Classical Studies at AthensStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41363144Accessed: 17-03-2015 10:55 UTC

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CHAPTER IO

Spatial Analysis of House Ла

at Malia

byMartin Schmid

House Да atMalia,discoveredn 1931,was datedby the excavators oMiddle Minoan(MM)Ill-Late Minoan(LM)I. It was reconstructedimmediatelyfter he excavation o ensure he protection f the ancientremains.1 ew trenches ere excavatedyJ.-P.Olivier n 1981, and, n1984-1985,n collaboration ithV.Fotou,we resumed hestudy f newarchitecturaleatures iscovered fter leaning hebuilding.2he presentpaperoffers ome observations ased uponthe architectural nalysis fwhatwasclearlyn important welling.

Located within heurban rameworkf the own f Malia,House Лаforms artof QuartierDelta(Fig.10.1).The houses herewere situatedon both idesof a pavedway theRue de laMer),whichoriginatedt thePalace andpassednfront f the Hypostyle rypt.3 treets n this uarterarepavedwith andstone nd slightlyaisednrelationo the alderimhatlines hem. heseroadwaysmust ate to the Protopalatial eriodbecauseseveralNeopalatialuildingsalsoconstructedn topof arlier tructures)partiallyverlap hem.

House Ла differsrom ousesЛрandAyboth onstructedntheProto-palatialperiod nd reoccupiedn the Neopalatialperiod) n that t s setbackfrom he street, huscreating buffer pacebetween he house andtheroadway;t s alsoseparatedrom he treet y wall onthe outh ndtriangularpaceson thewest.This distance rom he streetmay lso havebeen ntended ominimize herisk f flooding.he privilegedosition fthebuildings further mphasized y he ocation t the ntersection f wolarge treets. oreover,hefour ides f House Лаpresent heredans r re-cessed acadesharacteristicfMinoanarchitecture,ith engthsnperfectrhythm, esultingn a harmonious alancewhenviewedfrom distance.House Ла(Fig.10.2)belongs o the type Minoanhouse as definedbyJ. McEnroe,which consists f rooms hatonefinds rimarilyn elitearchitectureuch as palacesor largevillas.4hese elementsncludetheMinoanhall ystem fhall, orehall,ight- ell, swell s other istinctive

room ypesuch as the lustral asin, orridors,taircases,rivate ooms,andtoilets. he only ype elementackingnHouseЛа is the pillar rypt.It is surprising, oreover,o find ll of these lements ssembledogetherin sucha relativelymall rea 170m2), ince ll other ype houseshaveareasof between 25 m2 nd 610m2.

1.DemargnendGallet e Santerre1953,p. 3-48, ls. XIII,LXVI.

2. Olivier982; otou, livier,ndSchmid985,986.

3. For discussionfHouseAß nthe outhernide f heRuede aMer,seeBradfer-Burdetnd omadère,hisvolumeChap.).

4.McEnroe982,p. -7,18-19,tables,2.


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HO MARTIN SCHMID

Figure0.1.PlanofMalia,QuartierDeltahouses.emargnendGalletde anterre953,l. XVII




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SPATIALANALYSIS OF HOUSE ДаAT MALIA III

Figure0.2.Malia,lan fHouseДа.M.Schmid The entranceo thehouse,n the center f thewesternide, s unusu-ally arge. he threshold as a length f 1.83m and is raised opreventflooding.5ts considerable idth estifiesothe mportanceonferredponthehouse.From he ntrance ndvestibule1),alarge orridor2)dividesthehouse ntotwoeasilydistinguishablearts: othe north iesthemostimpressiveector, tillwellpreserved;o the south s a badlydamagedcommon ector.

5.For omparison,he hresholdofHouse aatMaliameasuresnly1.64m nd hat f Aß .52m.




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112 MARTIN SCHMID

Figure0.3.Planof ntrance esti-bule1), ncludingeparationithdoorways..Schmid

NORTH SECTOR

In thecenter f the pavedvestibule1) is a large tone lab nwhich wosockets recarved,ndicating very nteresting ystem onsisting f twodoorwaysrovidingccess ither o the first loor ia a stairway12)withtwoflights, r to the rest f theground loor ia a corridor2) (Fig.10.3).Since the tone lab splaced lightlyo thenorth f thevestibulecentralaxis, he wodoorwaysreofunequalize.Thesmaller, orthern oorwayleadsto staircase 2 or corridor ,while he arger,outhern oorwayeadsto corridor and then o room 3. Corridor leads toward oom14,theshower-room nd toilet 13)as well as the ustral asin 7).Corridors ,

5,and room6 alsoprovideccessto this rea.Great ttention as paid oroom , he ustral asin r dytonFig.10.4).

Evidence of thisconcerns the designof its ayout nd its decoration,which onsists f red bands demarcatinghe whitepanelsdrawn n thefloor nd walls.6n the enter f heroom, heredbands ntersecto formmotif hat s also found n the Protopalatial(?)loor f HouseE,althoughin that ase thecolors rereversed,hebandsbeingwhite nd the panelsred.7n the final ccupationalhaseof the house,room 7 wasprobablyfilledn, ince hepaving f room also extended ver he opof room7ssouthwall.Room7,to udge by tsparticularrchitecturalharacter ith

a but-and-ben ntrance,ts central ocation urroundedycorridors,tspartiallyubterraneanorm, nd the care avished n its decoration nddesign,musthave had an important unctionn contemporaryociety.Its fillingn at theend of LM I isevidence,nmy pinion, f a profoundchangencustoms.

Room 13 is situatedgainst he xterior orthwall n closeproximityto the ustral asin 7)and room6. It contains n installation hat an bedescribedsa toilet r atrine Figs.10.2, 10.4-10.6),precededn the astby steeplyloping aved pace. hisspacewasenclosedypartition alls,

6.Square-shapedoomforms,togetherith he ccesstaircase,rectangleofharmonicroportions,as describednSchmid 985.

7. For he aintedloor,eeDaux1965,p. 000-1001,igs., .




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SPATIALANALYSIS OFHOUSEÀOCAT MALIA II3

Figure0.4.Planof lustralasin 7)and shower-room13).M. Schmid

Figure0.5. Shower-oom ndlatrineeast t top).View romabove. hoto .Schmid.

the remains f which re easily isible n the ground, nd it was enteredthrough doorwaywhoseambsare still n place.The steep lope 17%grade)ofthepavingn front f the atrine acilitatedhedisposalfwastematter, hichwas flushedwaynthedrain hat assedbeneath henorthexterior all.This drainmust lso have erved ocarry way hedirty aterconnectedwithdomestic ctivities. he Minoans washedthemselvesnd




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114 MARTIN SCHMID

Figure0.6.Shower-roomndlatrine. iew romhe ast. hotoM. Schmid

Figure0.7.

Representationf

shower. . Schmid

perhaps lso took howers sing method hat ompensatedor he ackofrunning ater Fig.10.7).

Alarge aved oom3)withmultipleoorways,alled polythyron,rhall,s associatedith he maller ooms o thenorth. ogether hey ormforehallorporch)with central olumn nd an open ight-wellounded ya owwallnwhich passagewasmade ocarrywayhe ainwaterFig.10.8).Thisensemble ormedart f he canonical inoan hall ystemsdefined




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SPATIALANALYSIS OF HOUSE ДаAT MALIA II5

Figure0.8.Minoanall ystemroom .View romhe outh. hotoM.Schmid

byJ. Lloyd.8Herein House Aocheroomswereplacedagainst n exteriorwall a locationthat has numerous arallels lsewhere.9his imposingarchitecturalnit,whoseplanwas laid outaccordingo rules ntendedto invokeharmonic eometricalelationshipsFig.10.2),thusdoesnotconstitute passagewayut nstead orms type f cul-de-sac n the ide

of the building pposite he formal ntrance.

SOUTH SECTOR

The SouthSectorhousedmagazines,erviceooms,ndspacesfor omes-tic activities,s is evidenced ythe presencef a large andstonemortarinstalledn the northwest orner f room 9.This partof the househasundergoneeveral hasesofconstruction.he wallalongsidehe treet othe south musthaveformed he southwall of the original rotopalatialhouse onthis pot.Linesof stoneperpendicularothiswall, n fact, assunderneath heNeopalatialconstructionnd continuento the nterior.It is

probablehat he north-south all

forminghe eastwall ofroom10

anda foundationeneath hepierbaseson thewest ideof hepolythyronhall 3)constituted he eastern imit f thisProtopalatialouse.The en-trance f he arlier ousemust avebeen ituatedo the outh, ssuggestedbythepresencef a largeflat aving tone; nother ntrancewas locatedto the southwest. ther phasesof construction re also evident.n thepenultimatehaseroom 10was apolythyron,ut n thefinal hasesomeof ts bayswere losed,nd staircase 1 was createdo thenorth Fig.10.9).

Among hediscoveriesadeduring he1981 excavationsyOliviersa leadring etting ith representationf threewomen,whichwasfound

8.Lloyd997-1998,p.123-130.9.TheArchanesodels an xam-

ple f light-welllacedgainstn x-terior all. ee lsoHouse aatMalia,the outh ouse nd heHousef heFrescoestKnossos,ndHouseС atTylissos.




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Il6 MARTIN SCHMID

Figure0.9.Room0 and tair-case11.View romhe outh.Photo .Schmid

below he evel f the final loor f room8 near hewall between oomsand10. n a ditch n the outhwest orner f the room9,50fragmentsfseal-making craps, sharpeningtone, tone ools, nd a stone xewere

also discovered.akentogether,hese rtifacts tronglyuggest he exis-tence f seal-stone arving orkshop.arlier xcavationsnroom10 haduncovered woCycladic igurines,kernos ragment,stone epresentingtwopeople, bronzedoubleaxe,and a largequantity f MM III-LMIvasesplacedon an earthen loor.10hus, t appearshat hepolythyron asturned nto storagerea n the ast phaseofoccupation.

ANALYSIS OF FUNCTIONS

Given hepoorpreservationf heSouthSector,t s difficult o determinepreciselyhe riginalunctionsf he ooms hat nderwent uch ignificant

modificationsuring he ife-cyclef this house apartfrom hat f thepolythyron10), which, s we havealready oted,wasturned nto stor-agemagazine.he only learly reservedndication f domesticctivitysthepresencen room9 of a mortar or rushing rain. he earthen loorsin the South Sector ontrast trongly ith he pavedfloors f the NorthSector,uggestinghat hese ectorsmayhave served ifferent unctionsorhousedpersonsfdifferentocial lasses.Alternatively,heground loorof the South Sectormayhave hadonly limited r specializedunction,while he iving paceswereon the floor bove.

10.DemargnendGallet e San-terre 953,p. 7-59, 2,nos.80,1589, 232,315,ls.XVI,XXVIII,XXIX. or he ases oundnroom0,seeDemargnendGallet e Santerre1953,ig.,pl.XX.




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SPATIALANALYSIS OFHOUSE Да AT MALIA II7

The architecturalvidenceuggestshat hehousewas used to receivevisitors.We can notethat he argepavedroom 3)in theNorthSector saccessible

ymeansof entrance estibule and corridor . It could also be

reached rom he first loor ystaircases2 and 11andmayhave consti-tuted meeting ointfor isitors nd residents. his room has an area ofca. 40m2 nd could,n fact, ccommodatelargenumber f persons.tssize, ccessibility,nddesign uggesthat t serveds a receptionoom, rperhaps ceremonialhamber, nd therefore ad a social function. helarge ntrance o the house,which mplies desire or pennessndgivesthehouse public s well as a domesticr familial spect, urtherupportsthis hypothesis.n addition, herewas at least oneupperfloor, ccessedvia staircase 2.The total reaof the house perhaps s much s 340m2)seemsmore uitable or n extended amilynd/or he receptionfgueststhanfor singlenuclear amily.

DISCUSSION

Architecture,s theprojectionf structure f houghtntophysicalpace,canaid us nfinding he ssential tructure f hat hought rocesshat edthe rchitect ocarry ut this project.ndeed, froomsike hepolythyronand tsforehall ave a socialsemipublicunction,he ustral asin 7)andthe shower oom nd toilet 13),which arecloseby, an be placedinthe samecategory.We may supposethat they lso served heresidents,the extended amily,nd others household ervants?)aking art n thedomesticctivities f the household.

Observingheplanofthishouse,we are struck ythebalanceof the

architectural assingnd are mpressedy heharmonyf ts ayout. lato(77.87cd)says hat thebeautifuls not withoutmeasure. nd, n fact,wefind hat heplanofHouse Даcan almost einscribed ithin square(Fig.10.2),the engths f the facades re n proportion nd conform oharmonic elations,he east-west xisof the housepassesthrough hemiddle f he ntrance,nd the north-south xispasseshroughhe enterof the ustral asin.The architect ho conceivedheplanof HouseДаwasdeliberate:e tookas aunit he width f the polythyron,ntroducedtherelationsf he number into henorth acade,nd usedtherelationsof the quareroot engthmeasurementsf the redans r recessed ortionsof the walls n the west facade.11he samerelationshipsan, n fact, eobservedn the south ndwestfacades f the Palaceat Malia.

Theconception

f House Даisvery

laborate, nd it isrelativelyclear despite he transformationsarried ut at the time of the ast oc-

cupation that t was destined or n important ersonagewhohad athis disposalspacesfor ceremonies,eceptions,nd accommodationnthenorth art f the house, pacesntended or omestic ctivitiesn thesouthpart, nd,certainly,pacesfor esidencesn theupperfloor. iventhis rchitectural ophistication,t s easyto imagine hatHouseДа wastheresidencef the architect f the Palace.

11.Theseiguresre he esultfmeasurementsf emidiagonalsnddiagonalsf squareith unityfone;ee chmid985.

Spatial Analysis of House Δα at Malia

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