YANNIS HAMILAKIS

WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE

CRETE: A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE

Summary ‘Mediterranean polyculture’ (the systematic exploitation of

olives and vines in addition to cereals from the beginning of the Bronze
Age) has been considered as one of the main factors which led to the
development of palatial institutions in Bronze Age Crete and mainland
Greece. This paper reviews all the available, direct archaeological evidence
for olive and vine exploitation and oil and wine production and use from
Bronze Age Crete (microbotanical, macrobotanical, artefactual, epigraphic),
discussing at the same time their taphonomic, analytical and interpretative
problems. It is suggested that, at present, there is no reliable direct
archaeological evidence to substantiate the ‘Mediterranean polyculture ’
model. More significantly, research on wine and oil, if disconnected from the
discourse of subsistence and the cultural-evolutionav models such as that of
subsistence-redistribution and viewed within the framework of the
anthropology of consumption, can more fruitfully illuminate important issues
related to the dialects of power such as establishment and legitimation of
authority, exploitation of labour and factional competition.

Bronze Age, led to local and regional

INTRODUCTION
In 1972 Colin Renfrew in his highly
influential book The Emergence of Civilisa-
tion, launched the so-called ‘Mediterranean
polyculture’ hypothesis, as part of his attempt
to explain the development of palatial
institutions in Bronze Age Crete and southern
Greece by using a non-diffusionist, endo-
genous model (C. Renfrew 1972). In general
terms, the hypothesis suggests that the
systematic exploitation of vines and olives
(in addition to the cereal-dominated agri-
cultural basis) in the extremely diverse
Cretan landscape from the beginning of the
specialization in agriculture, as some crops
were better suited in some areas than others.
This specialization led to the need for a
redistributive authority to ensure the circula-
tion of the different products, initially at a
local level. This authority eventually became
the authority of the palatial institutions.
The model was admittedly based on a
more or less literal transfer of the cultural
evolutionary idea developed by Service
(1962), who himself built on data from
Polynesia which, as recent research has
shown (Earle 1977), was rather different
from the picture that Service presented.

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 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
Renfrew’s model received extensive
criticisms mainly on theoretical grounds
(Cherry 1984, 1986; Gamble 1979, 1981,
1982; Gilman 1981, 1991; Halstead 1988,
1992a, 1994; Halstead and O’Shea 1982;
Lewthwaite 1983; van Andel and Runnels
1988). Most of his critics paid little attention,
however, to the issue of tree-crops which
occupied a prominent position in Renfrew’s
argument. They either accepted his hypo-
thesis or they chose to ignore it altogether
and to concentrate on other issues.
The archaeological study of the issue of
tree-crops is, therefore, of obvious import-
ance, not only because agricultural develop-
ments in Bronze Age Crete carry significance
on their own right, but also because the initial
development of institutionalized hierarchy in
Europe has been attributed to this factor.
Furthermore, the investigation of this
problem can shed light on wider issues
concerning the relations between agricultural
products and the processes and dynamics of
production and reproduction of authority and
power.
The empirical foundation of Renfrew’s
hypothesis regarding tree-crops and their
products has been questioned by some
researchers (Halstead 1994; Hansen 1988;
Runnels and Hansen 1986) but a systematic,
detailed and combined critical evaluation of
all the archaeological evidence was yet to
appear. This article aims to do just that. It
presents the direct archaeological evidence
for the occurrence of olives and grapes and
their products in Bronze Age Crete and
discusses its reliability and significance.
The final aim is twofold: to illustrate and
discuss briefly the picture these data provide
and to point to the problems of using direct
data in the investigation of viticulture and
olive cultivation (and oil and wine consump-
tion) in prehistory in general, and in our case
in particular.
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BOTANICAL, ARTEFACTUAL AND
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE FOR OLIVES/OIL
AND VINESNINE AND THEIR TAPHONOMIC
PROBLEMS
The direct evidence of grape and olive
from Minoan Crete can be grouped into the
following categories: 1 ) plant macrofossils;
2) plant microfossils; 3) artefacts associated
with the processing of grapes and olives for
wine and oil production; 4) documentary
evidence. Different categories of data may
shed light on different problems. In other
words, there are many questions of a
different nature, related to the problem of
olives and grapes in Minoan Crete which can
be (and indeed are) very easily conflated in
the archaeological literature. These are: a) the
availability of wild progenitors of the species
in the island and their geographical extent; b)
the possible husbandry of these wild species
by humans for different purposes; c) the date
and the biological and social conditions of
the domesticating process of these plants; d)
the systematic exploitation of these plants by
humans.
Plant Macrofossils
The plant macrofossil category includes
seeds which have been preserved by carbon-
isation, waterlogging (rarely) or fossilisation
(very rarely). The preservation of olive and
grape botanical remains is less likely in
storage conditions than, for example, the
preservation of cereals or legumes, for two
main reasons: a) most of the known
processing stages of the olive and grape do
not involve fire, though an exception is the
process of boiling olives before crushing, a
practice recorded ethnographically from
Crete (e.g. Vickery 1936,52); b) large caches
of stored grain are easily preserved archaeo-
logically after destruction caused by fire;
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 YANNIS HAMILAKIS
preservation of this kind is not possible with
stored wine and oil or olives; only dried
grapes are an exception. On the other hand,
olive and grape pips as rubbish, being
durable, have good (better than cereals)
chances of preservation. Also, the (ethno-
graphically recorded) practice of using olive
pips as fuel can result in their archaeological
preservation, as seems to have been the case
with the recent find of an olive pip
concentration in a pottery kiln at LM I
Mochlos (Table 1).
Another issue which complicates the
taphonomy of the olive and has implications
for the archaeological investigation of the
problem, is that of the crushing of olive pits
when the fruits are pressed. Oil production
requires pressing of olives on hard surfaces
which in most cases results in the crushing of
pits. Thus the finds of crushed pits, especially
when they exhibit fractures with rounded
edges suggesting fracturing when fresh (cf.
Neef 1990, 298), is a more or less positive
indication of olive-pressing for oil. There are
installations and practices, however, which
do not produce crushed pits: they just bruise
the olives to separate the skin from the stone,
but this practice produces less oil and needs
greater effort (Foxhall 1990, 115-16). Most
olive presses known, including the Roman
trupetum, would crush the olive stones.
According to Drachman, Roman authors
thought that the crushed stone would spoil
the flavour of oil (1932, 9), a belief which,
according to Foxhall (1990, 115-16) is not
true.
Thus in most cases where olive stones are
crushed, the possibilities of their archaeo-
logical recovery are reduced. On the other
hand, complete olive stones found in
excavations can equally be the remains of
fruits eaten fresh, and are not necessarily
remains of oil production. The recovery pro-
cedures followed by Minoan archaeologists
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introduce another bias. As in the majority of
cases seeds have been collected by hand,
fragmented olive pips would have less
chance of being noticed by the eye of the
excavator and, therefore, of being collected.
The potential remains of olive-pressing
activity are thus missing.
Although it is usually thought that the
remains of wine production survive less well
than those of grapes eaten as fruits or as
raisins (mainly because the former have
passed through many processes and may
have been dispersed after pressing), this is
not necessarily true: wine production
involves large quantities of grapes, thus
creating concentrations of grape seeds which
can be archaeologically more visible than the
isolated remains of grapes eaten as fruits.
Furthermore, unlike olives, grape pips are not
usually crushed during pressing. It is also
worth mentioning that finds of grape pips
with skins are usually interpreted as an
indication of wine making (e.g. Kyllo 1982,
433 for Vrysi-Ag. Epiktitos, Cyprus;
Valamoti and Mangafa 1993 for Toumba
Thessalonikis).
Leaf impressions in clay and charred wood
do not directly indicate cultivation of the
plant. Both might have been collected from
the wild, for purposes other than making
wine and oil or eating grapes and olives. For
example, as J. Renfrew notes (1972), vine
leaves are often used as a base for drying pots
during pottery manufacture, as was the case
at EM Myrtos (see also below). Leaves can
also be used as fodder, and wood can serve
several purposes: firewood, construction
material, etc. In addition, charcoal poses
many analytical problems as archaeological
evidence. The taphonomic problems of
charcoal are not very well understood (Boyd
1988) and, furthermore, for some taxa,
including Oleu and Vitis, distinction between
wild and domesticated plants is impossible.
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 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
The distinction between wild and
domesticated plants is a problem not only
in wood but also in seeds. Firstly, there are
conceptual difficulties in this attempt. As the
Cambridge Palaeoeconomy School has
shown, there is a variety of human strategies
for plant management which lie between the
above two extremes, making the dichotomy
between ‘wild’ and ‘domesticated’ a false
one and the attempt at their separation in
many cases rather meaningless (see for
example Higgs and Jarman 1969). Secondly,
the practical archaeobotanical problems in
distinguishing between wild and domesti-
cated forms of grape and olive seeds are no
less severe: i) the charred remains have
changed in shape because of heating, so
metrical indices based on fresh seeds may be
quite misleading (for grapes see Logothetis
1970, 28; Smith and Jones 1990; cf. Sarpaki
in press 1; for olives Liphschitz et al. 1991,
444); ii) the morphological change which
occurs in the olive after domestication
involves mainly an increase in the size of
the mesocarp - the fresh, oil-containing part
- and not so much the stone (Liphschitz et
al. 1991, 441-2); iii) the biology of the olive
and especially its propagation method com-
plicates the issue further: the stones from
domesticated trees produce a phenotypically
wild (feral) tree and not a domesticated one;
iv) there exist many different varieties of
olives and vines producing seeds which are
morphologically variable both in shape and
size (cf. Nliiiez and Walker 1989, 206).
The distinction between wild and cultivated
olives and vines can be attempted in cases
where a large sample exists, provided that the
above limitations are taken into account and
corrective formulae and indices (e.g. Smith
and Jones 1990) are used. Given the reduced
chances of the preservation of olive
(especially oil) and grape (especially wine)
remains in storage conditions, however, the
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acquisition of such a large sample (especially
of olive seeds) is very difficult.
On the whole, leaves and wood indicate
the availability of the taxa in the surrounding
environment and its use by humans for a
variety of purposes. They are not proof of
olive and vine domestication, systematic
exploitation or their use for oil and wine.
The mere presence of seeds certainly reflects
the use of plants for a specific purpose on an
occasional or regular basis but they do not
necessarily reflect systematic use and
exploitation of fruits for oil, wine or other
uses. In order to deal with these last issues
other parameters must be taken into account,
such as the quantity of material, its pre-
servation status, its contextual associations
and its association with certain implements
suggesting specific processing activities.
Plant microfossils
The most common microfossil trace of
olive and grape in the archaeological record
is pollen. Olea, being primarily an
anemophilous species, produces relatively
large quantities of pollen. With Vitis the
situation is rather more complicated: wild
Vitis produces fairly large amounts of pollen,
whereas the domesticated one being self
pollinated produces very little (Zohary and
Hopf 1993, 143-8). We should not expect to
find much Vitis pollen, therefore, even in
situations where extensive grape cultivatlon
is practised. The climatic and geological
conditions prevailing tn Crete are in any case
not very favourable for pollen preservation
and reduce further the chances of using this
type of evidence in the context of this
problem. Furthermore, even with the more
readily available olive pollen, the identifica-
tion problem is acute: not only is the
distinction between wild and domesticated
plants impossible, but its confusion with
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 YANNIS HAMlLAKlS
other species of the same family is likely,
especially when SEM microscope is not used.
Pollen, therefore, indicates at best only the
availability of specific taxa in the sur-
rounding environment. Very high percent-
ages of pollen, especially in olive, may
reflect cultivation but this has to be proved
after considering all the alternative
possibilities and taking into account pollen
taphonomy.
Artefacts associated with the processing of
olives and grapes
Oil production from olives involves three
basic steps (for discussion on olive-
processing technology see Drachman 1932;
Frankel 1984; R. J. Forbes 1993; Hadjisavvas
1992; Sarpaki 1989, 28; Sordinas 1971; cf.
also several articles in Amouretti and Brun
1993): the crushing of fruits, the pressing of
the crushed pulp, and finally the separation of
oil from water in the juicy product of the
pressed pulp (it contains 6 6 7 5 % water and
6 2 5 % oil - Forbes and Foxhall 1978, 39).
For the first stage a hard surface (a crushing
bed), over which a stone can be rolled, is
employed or even a simpler device involving
a mortar and pestle can be used. Implements
made of other materials like wood can also
be employed, resulting in the de-fleshing of
the olives without crushing the olive stones
(but see above). The second stage involves
more perishable materials like wood and
sacks, with low archaeological visibility. The
third involves open containers or tanks,
preferably with a spout near the base which
allows the water to be poured off, leaving the
oil in the tank. The above process can be
simplified by compressing the first two steps
in one. It can also include other comple-
mentary steps like the boiling of olives before
crushing (see above). The final step of
separation can be carried out in simple,
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multi-purpose containers by merely skim-
ming the oil from the surface. The wine-
producing process is less elaborate and
involves only the pressing of grapes and the
collection of the juice. Here, only pressing
equipment (permanent or portable) and
storage vessels are necessary.
This category of material is not without its
problems: apart from the low survival of
some parts, the generalized form of the
equipment allows them to function for
several purposes. For example, the vessels
usually described as oil separators can also be
used for wine pressing. Indeed, archaeo-
logists ascribe either or both functions to very
similar objects. Furthermore, a simple con-
tainer with a spout does not necessarily imply
either wine making or oil production: it may
have been used for more common, everyday
activities such as washing (cf. Warren 1972,
139). Despite these problems, this type of
material has better chances of survival than
botanical remains and, given a reliable
identification, can be a quite useful piece of
evidence. Attribution to the processing of
liquids is more reliable when such vessels are
found in situ accompanied by collecting
vessels and other relevant equipment, e.g.
pithoi, amphorae. Most importantly, this
category of evidence gives the most unequi-
vocal material evidence for olive and grape
processing and oil and wine consumption in
relation to the other categories discussed
above. As Dennell has suggested (1974, 283;
1976), it is the identification of the crop-
processing activities rather than any other
procedure in archaeobotanical analysis which
allows us to put the discussion of plant
exploitation on a sound basis.
Textual evidence
The documentary evidence provided by the
archives of tablets written in Linear A and
5
 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
more especially Linear B, despite its wealth
of information, cames with it a great many
interpretative problems which have been
discussed repeatedly in the relevant literature
(e.g. Finley 1957; Halstead 1992a, 1992b;
Killen 1985; Olivier 1994). Documents
provide information on a certain sector of
the overall economic system, that of the
palaces, or rather on specific transactions
within this palatial sector. Despite all their
biases and ambiguity, they are invaluable as
one sategory of evidence among the whole
range discussed here.
Finally, before presenting the data, a
warning should be made that the picture
which they illustrate always runs the risk of
being biased, both in terms of chronology (as
the later Minoan periods are better known
than the earlier ones) and in terms of
settlement hierarchy (higher rank sites being
better investigated than lower rank ones). But
as we will see later, this is not always the
case. In some areas the combined efforts of
intensive surveys, extensive expeditions and
chance finds, coupled with the rescue
archaeology boom, have to some extent
improved the situation.
RESULTS
The macro-botanical data: conventions
Plant macrofossil remains of olive and
grape from Minoan Crete are summarized in
Tables 1 and 2. It can be seen from these
tables that the quality and quantity of
evidence varies but overall there is a clear
lack of substantial specialist reports on
botanical remains from Minoan Crete.
Collection of plant remains by flotation has
been carried out only on seven sites,
Kommos (Shay et al. 1995 ), Kasteli (Sarpaki
in press 2), Mochlos, Palaikastro (Sarpaki,
pers. comm.), Pseira (Jones and Smith in
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press; Jones and Snowdon in press),
Monastiraki (Mylona, pers. comm.) and
Knossos Stratigraphic Museum (Jones, pers.
comm.), and sampling and recovery were not
systematic in all these cases. The remaining
evidence comes from isolated finds, usually
identified by the excavators in the trench. In
order to provide a rough assessment of the
reliability of this evidence, a reliability index
was used, with scores from 1 (least reliable)
to 6 (most reliable). This index provides a
measure of the validity of evidence with
regard to the systematic exploitation of olive
and vine for their fruits (eaten raw or dry,
pressed for wine and oil etc.). It does not
measure the validity of the finds as regards
the presence of species on the site or their
husbandry (occasional or not) by humans.
The criteria for attributing scores to different
finds were: a) the quantity of specimens. This
is a relative criterion but the relatively low
archaeological visibility of grape and olive
remains, especially in storage conditions, has
been taken into account. So, for example, 1-
10 specimens of seeds are considered too few
to be reliable. The frequency of olive and
grape remains (their presence in a given
number of samples) where applicable, has
also been taken into account. b) The pre-
servation status of the material. Thus, charred
material was considered relatively reliable
evidence but the so-called fossilized material
was not, since the possibility of recent
intrusion is very high. In cases where the
form of preservation is not stated, the
material is considered equally unreliable. c)
The examination of the material by a
specialist, either archaeobotanist or botanist
was also considered proof of reliability. d)
Finally, the contextual association of the
material has been considered important. For
example, grape seeds or skins found in jars or
pithoi are considered to be more reliable
evidence than an isolated seed found without
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 YANNIS HAMILAKIS
any artefactual association. Wood and leaf
impressions will gain a low score since, as
has been explained above, they do not
necessarily reflect systematic use of the fruit.
So, for example, a sample of 30 carbonized
grape seeds found at the bottom of a pithos
and identified as such by a specialist will
score 6, whereas a sample of 1-2 seeds
reported as seen by the excavator in the
trench and of which the preservation status is
not stated will score 1.
Macro-botanical data for olives and oil
I ) As can be seen from Table 1, all the
relatively reliable olive stone finds come from
later contexts and mainly from the period of
the second palaces but also from the later
‘Mycenaean’ periods. The only reliable
evidence for the presence of olives in the first
palace period comes from MM I1 Kommos.
The isolated olive stones from the EM period
(one each from Vasiliki, Myrtos, Knossos) are
very unreliable as evidence: apart from their
low number there are other pioblems related
to their preservation status and their
contextual associations. The Myrtos stone is
described as ‘fossilized’ (an indication that it
could be recent ) and for Knossos and Vasiliki
the preservation status is not stated. Besides,
neither the Vasiliki nor the Knossos stone
have been examined by a specialist. Similar
problems apply to the find from the tholos
tomb at Lebena. In addition, this tholos tomb
was used from EM I to MM Ia and so the exact
dating of the find is uncertain.
The charcoal evidence from EM Myrtos
has been attributed to cultivated olive trees
by Rackham (1972). The distinction between
wild and cultivated olives is not possible
from charcoal as we have seen, and Rackham
based this conclusion on the observation that
the olive wood resembles the degenerated
material which comes from trees that have
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been previously managed by pruning or
pollarding (1972, 299-300). This is based
on the unjustified assumption that cultivated
trees are managed repeatedly and wild trees
not so. To strengthen his argument, he also
notes that some pieces of charcoal come from
thin olive poles (5-8 cm in diameter). Indeed
the branches of a shrubby wild olive plant are
thin and one wonders how it would be
possible to separate charcoal from the
pruning of cultivated trees, from that coming
from wild maquis olives which had been
previously harvested for wood or fodder. The
charcoal from Myrtos, therefore, is not
conclusive evidence for olive cultivation
during the EM period.
2) The contextual associations of some
olive finds imply uses other than subsistence.
The olive stones from the tholos tombs at
Lebena and Kamilari were found together
with other food remains, indicating some sort
of funerary feast (cf. Branigan 1993). (The
stones from Poros were not accompanied by
any other food remains and it has been thus
suggested that they were introduced by
rodents - Muhly 1992, 167.) The finds from
LM I Zakros and from LM I1 Knossos
Unexplored Mansion, the latter found in a
conical cup together with unidentifiable
herbs, also point to some ritual use. Olives
in a cup were also noted from LM 111 Knossos.
3) All the relatively reliable evidence
comes from either palatial contexts, elite
buildings (Knossos Unexplored Mansion) or
large towns with a presumably high rank in
the settlement hierarchy (Kommos, Khania,
Palaikastro, etc.) (Fig. 1).
Macro-botanical data for grapes and wine
Table 2 summarizes the botanical evidence
for grape and wine from Minoan Crete. Most
of the evidence comes from LM contexts
(especially the period of the second palaces),
7
 TABLE I
MACROFOSSIL OLIVE REMAINS FROM MINOAN CRETE. FOR THE RELIABILITY INDEX SEE THE TEXT. AT THE ‘PRESERVATION
STATUS’ COLUMN, THE FIRST LINE IN EACH CELL REPRESENTS THE FRAGMENTATION STATUS (FOR SEEDS ONLY) AND THE
SECOND LINE INDICATES WHETHER THE REMAINS ARE CARBONIZED, MINERALIZED, ETC.

Site Date Context Type. of Quantity Preservation Studied Reli- Source

remains status by ability
specialist
Myrtos EM village, complete, Renfrew, J.
unspecified seed I ‘fossilized’ Yes 1.5 1972.
Myrtos EM village, Wood carbonized Yes 3 Rackham
various loc. Dieces 1972.
Knossos EM I well seeds ? ? No 1 Hood 1971,
? 86.
Lebena EM I- tholos tomb, ? Alexiou
Tomb I MMI associated seeds ? ? No 1 1960,226;
with food Daux 1960,
remains 844.
Vasiliki EM I1 settlement, seed and I and I ? No I Zois 1992,
unsp. leaf ? 109.
impression
Kamilari MM I- tomb, ? Levi 1976,
MM I1 associated seeds *some’ carbonized No 2 715.
with other
carbonized
seeds
Kommos MM I town, seeds many frag- fragmented Yes 6 Shay et al.
unspec. ments in carbonized 1995.
one sample
~~~~~ ~ ~

Phaistos First palace Wood few carbonized Yes 3 Folieri and

palace pieces Coccolini
period 1986.
Kommos MM I1 town, seeds many frag- fragmented Yes 6 Shay et al.
unspec. ments in carbonized 1995.
four samples
Sklavo- MM 111 ‘villa’ seeds ? ? Yes 1.5 Neuweiler
kambos ? 1935, 116;
Netolitzky
1935, 175.
Kommos M M Ill town, 29 in I1 ? Shay et al.
unspec. seeds samples carbonized Yes 6 1995.
Kommos MM 11- town, seeds many frag- fragmented Yes 6 Shay et al.
III unspec. ments in carbonized 1995.
two samples
Kommos MM town, hearths wood abundant carbonized Yes 3 Shay et al.
or building 1995.
material
Palaikastro MM 111- town, ? Sarpaki,
LM I unspec. seeds ? carbonized Yes 4 pen. comm.
Poros MM Ill- tomb olive ? Lebessi
Herakleion LM I stones ‘few’ ? No 2-3 1969,200.
Knossos LM I palatial seed I clay Yes 3 .&om and
Royal Road settlement, impression Hjelmqvist
unspec. 1971.

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 TABLE 1 (continued)
~ ~~~

Zakros LM I palace, well; olive ? complete, Platon

ritual? fruits ‘many’ waterlogged No 4 1966e. 159;
1971, 196.
Mochlos LM I settlement, olive ‘many’ somecorn- No 4 Soles and
building 4, stones plete, some Davaras
room 2, by a fragments 1993, 59;
stone mortar ? 1994,
41 7-19.
Mochlos LM I town, olive ‘many’ ? No 4 Soles and
building 4, stones ? Davaras
room 4, 1993, 57.
rubbish pit
Mochlos LM I town, olive ‘many’ ? No 4 Soles,
contents of a stones ? Aegeanet
wttery kiln 4-10-94.
Pseira LM I town olive 2 fragmented Yes 4 Jones and
stones carbonized Smith in
press.
Archanes: LM I building in seeds ? ? No I Sakellarakis
Phourni the cemetery; ? and
contents of Sakellarakis
a pot 1978, 171.
Kommos LM I1 town, seeds 7 in 8 ? Yes 5.5 Shay er ul.
unspec. samples carbonized 1995.
Knossos LM I1 dlite building; seeds 3 complete Yes 3 Jones 1984,
unexplored 2 in a conical carbonized 304.
mansion cup; ritual ?
Kommos LM 111 town, seeds 22 in 23 ? Yes 6 Shay et ul.
unspec. samples carbonized 1995.
Knossos LM 111 ‘sanctuary’; seeds ? complete, No 2 Evans 1928,
caravan (Ilk) contents of carbonized 135; cf.
Serai cup. Gesell
1985, 101.
Phaistos LM bottom of seeds ? ? No I Savignoni
Liliana IiUIlaX ‘many’ ? 1904,635.
tomb A
Kommos LM town, wood abundant carbonized Yes 3 Shay et ul.
unspec. 1995.
Palaikastro LM town, seeds ‘few’ ? No I Bosanquet
unspec. ‘some’ ? 1902-3,
288.
Kasteli LM town seeds 14 frag. fragmented; Yes Sarpaki
Khania carbonized 4 I992a;
in press 2
Knossos Strat. LM palatial seeds ? ? Yes 3 Jones.
Museum settlement carbonized pers. comm.
Phaistos M? unspec. seeds ? complete, Yes 1,5 Neuweiler
? 1935, 116;
Netolitzky
1935, 175.

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 TABLE 2
MACROFOSSIL VINE REMAINS FROM MINOAN CRETE. FOR THE RELIABILITY INDEX SEE THE TEXT.

Site Date Context Type. of Quantity Preservation Studied Reli- Source

remains status by ability
specialist
Myrtos EM II village; seeds, stalks, 68 carbonized Yes 6 Renfrew, J.
room floor skins, vine measurable 1972.
(sample I); leaf seeds
content of impression
pithos
(sample 2)
Pseira MM I? town, seed I carbonized Yes 3 Jones and
unspec. Smith in
press.
Phaistos First palace. seeds and more than carbonized Yes 6 Logothetis
palace content of skin 50 1970.42.
period pithos
Monastinki MM II (palatial?) seeds ? ? No I Matz 1951,
settlement, 38.
bottom of
pithos
Monastiraki First (palatial?) seeds and ‘possibly carbonized No 5 Mylona,
palace settlement, skins thousands’ pers. comm.
period content of
a pithos
Knossos MM I1 settlement, seed I clay Yes 3 Astrom and
or 111 unspec. impression Hjelmqvist
1971
Zakros LM I palace, seeds 2-3 waterlogged Yes 3 Logothetis
well 1970, 104;
Platon
1971, 196.
Psein LM I town seed 1 carbonized Yes 3 Jones and
Snowdon
in press
Vathypetro LM I ‘villa’ Wood few pieces carbonized No 2 Marinatos
1951, 104.
Kommos LM I town, seed 1 carbonized Yes 3 Shay et a1
unspec. 1995.
Knossos Strat. LM I palatial seeds ‘many’ carbonized Yes 5 Jones,
Museum settlement, pen. comm.
unsw.
Knossos LM II high rank seeds 4 carbonized Yes 3 Jones 1984.
unexplored residence,
mansion unspec.
Kommos LM I1 town, seeds 4 in 3 carbonized Yes 3 Shay et al.
unspec. samples 1995.
Kommos LM 111 town, seeds 5 in 3 carbonized Yes 3 Shay et al.
unspec. samples 1995.
Kasteli LM town, seeds 3 4 mineralized Yes 3 Sarpaki
Khania unspec. 1992a;
in press 2

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9 W

-
A
0 IS 30Km
Q
Figure 1
Location map with the Cretan Bronze Age archaeological sites which produced finds related to vinelwine and olive/
oil

with some exceptions: the large assemblage
from Monastiraki, the finds from Phaistos
and the single clay impression from Knossos,
all from the first palace period, and the EM
finds from Myrtos. The Myrtos seeds are the
only finds from a pre-palatial context in
Minoan Crete. Again, all finds from the later
periods come from palaces and palatial
centres (Phaistos, Knossos, Zakros, Kasteli,
Monastiraki), large towns (Kommos) and
high rank ‘villas’ (Vathypetro; see below)
(Fig. 2).
The micro-botanical data
Plant microfossil evidence for olive and
vine in Crete come from the pollen diagrams
at Tersana and Limnes on Akrotiri (the
second being poorly dated) in north-west
Crete (Gennett 1982; Moody 1987; Moody et
al. 1990) and Ag. Galini in the south central
part of the island (Bottema 1980). The only
well dated data directly related to the period
under investigation is the olive pollen from
Tersana (Fig. 2). This evidence shows high
olive pollen values during the EM period and
a dramatic decrease of these values during
the MM period. This has been interpreted by
the researchers mentioned above as evidence
for extensive olive cultivation.
These anthropogenic changes of the EM
and MM landscape, as proposed by Moody
(1987), Moody et al. (1990) and Gennett
(1982) and mentioned above, require some
discussion here. The above researchers have
interpreted the Akrotiri cores, in particular
the Tersana diagram, as evidence for exten-
sive cultivation of olive during the EM period
which declined (together with cereal cultiva-
tion) during the MM period (Fig. 2). Firstly,
as has been shown by Liphschitz et a f .
(1991), it is almost impossible to distinguish
between wild and domesticated Olea pollen
as they are morphologically identical (the
same applies to wood as well). Moreover, as
the same authors state, the identification of
pollen using a light microscope may confuse
Olea with Phillyrea media, and only with the
use of SEM is their distinction secure. So,
there are serious doubts as to whether we are
really dealing here with domesticated olive
pollen and not with that of a wild one or even

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 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
of another species. In addition, as Moody
states, the Gramineae pollen could be
anything from reeds to cereals (1987, 74).
Secondly, the hypothesis of intensive
cultivation of olive in the EM period and
rapid decline in the MM period, during which
the area was continuously occupied, fails to
meet a number of objections: the same study
has shown an increase in the number of
settlements in the area from 31 during EM to
94 during MM (Moody 1987,302). What was
the main subsistence crop, especially if, as
Moody claims (1987, 94), the decline of
grass pollen indicates a decline of cereal
cultivation as well? And why should people
abandon such an expensive investment in
capital, labour and time as olive cultivation?
Why does the Limnes diagram from the same
geographical area not show a similar picture?
Given the paucity of archaeoenvironmental
data from Bronze Age Crete, it is extremely
dangerous to argue conclusively for
extensive olive cultivation during the EM
period or for a decline during the MM period
(cf. Runnels and Hansen 1986).
The proposed human impact inferred from
the Tersana diagram cannot be seriously
supported for the moment. It seems that an
alternative hypothesis emphasizing climatic
factors is more plausible, although a con-
vincing interpretation should perhaps await
further studies. The fluctuations in Olea
pollen indicate wild plants rather than
cultivated, especially in north-west Crete
where the high precipitation (in relation to
other parts of Crete) would favour the wide
natural presence of this species. The rise of
Olea pollen together with the rise of grass
pollen may simply mean a decline of
woodland (especially deciduous) species like
Quercus, Fruxinus and Pinus which in a very
humid climate can outcompete the shrubby
form of wild olive. This species, being quite
drought resistant, can survive in cases in
12
which the above woodland species and
especially the deciduous forms cannot; free
of their competition it can thrive. Moreover,
being a wind-pollinated species, it is likely to
be over-represented in relation to other plants
which, it must be stressed, are still repre-
sented, especially the Mediterranean trees
and shrubs. At the same time, the decline of
woodland species leaves a more open
environment and therefore more chances for
grasses to develop. Consequently, the decline
of Olea and grass pollen may indicate that
the conditions again became humid enough
to allow the regeneration of woodland
species. This suggestion is supported by the
observation made by Gennett (1982, 282)
that the increase of Olea pollen follows an
increase of Cistaceae pollen (grouped under
‘Herbs’ in Fig. 2), a very common com-
ponent of the garrigue. The maquidganigue
clearance which Moody suggests (1987, 93)
as an indication of Olea cultivation,
therefore, is not substantiated. The presence
of Cistaceae, a xerophytic plant family,
points to dry and hot conditions (and possible
fires - Bottema 1990, 124) and so supports
the above re-interpretation. The argument for
the regeneration of trees as a result of
changing climatic conditions is supported
by the presence of Ericaceae which has been
interpreted elsewhere as an indicator of ‘an
increase of precipitation or moister con-
ditions’ (Bottema 1990, 125). This family
shows its lowest values at the same time as
oaks and deciduous trees and peaks during
the MM period, after the decline of Olea,
when other tree species return. It is also
worth noting that during the EM period there
are indications of the occurrence of fires in
the high values of the well known
pyrophilous family of Cistaceae (le Houerou
198 1 ; Bottema 1990, 124) and the presence
of many pieces of charcoal in the sediment
from that period (Moody 1987, 85). This
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 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
phenomenon is to be expected during hot and
dry conditions, although anthropogenic
factors should not be excluded. Furthermore,
charcoal is absent from the MM sediment
(Moody 1987, 86), a fact which coincides
with the decline of Cistaceae and the
presence of several water-demanding species,
all indicating humid conditions.
A second alternative hypothesis is that the
above picture reflects changes in grazing
pressure: the Olea-Cistaceae zone may reflect
increased grazing pressure leading to the
decline of more palatable taxa and the
survival of less palatable ones like Cistaceae
(which due to the oils they contain are
unattractive to animals; cf. Ellenberg 1988,
21) and Olea (in its wild form is spiny with
very narrow leaves and therefore not very
attractive). This hypothesis, however, does
not explain the co- presence of grass pollen
with Olea and Cistaceae and so the first
alternative hypothesis seems more plausible
at present.
It is worth mentioning that Vitis pollen is
present in all three diagrams before the
Minoan period indicating the presence and
the availability of the genus in the island. In
Ag. Galini, Vifis is present from c. 7500 BC
to c. 5300 BC while in Tersana and Limnes it
is present before the end of the sixth
millennium.
A rfefacts
Objects of different form have been
associated with wine and oil production in
Minoan Crete (Table 3). One very common
artefact is the clay lekane, usually with
handles and a spout at the base. Objects of
similar shape made of stone have also been
found (two examples, one from Petras and
one from Knossos). Such finds have been
interpreted by some Minoan archaeologists
(e.g. N. Platon, S. Marinatos) as wine presses
14
and by others as oil separators (e.g.
Bosanquet, Boyd-Hawes). Others like
Warren (1972, 138-9) believe that they could
have been used for both activities, since these
do not clash in terms of time-scheduling (cf.
Kopaka and Platon 1993 for a typology and a
thorough discussion).
Other installations include elevated built
structures with spouts at their bases, some-
times with collecting vessels, which are
usually interpreted as wine presses
(Palaikastro, Zakros), stone basins with
spouts sometimes with collecting vessels
(Mochlos, Zou, Knossos, Phaistos, Kommos,
Palaikastro: Kouremenos, Vathypetro), or
amorphous stone tables (Knossos Strati-
graphic Museum), the last two types usually
interpreted as olive-crushing installations.
The same interpretation has been attributed
to the peculiar circular stone object of 52 cm
diameter found at Palaikastro ‘with a circular
runner at the upper face and rim raised above
the central part’ (Dawkins 1904-5, 276-77).
It is doubtful, however, whether this last
object has been used as an oil press because it
is too narrow for a cylindrical stone or
similar object to be rolled over it. Finally, the
clay lekane with the long spout from LM I11
Kommos, initially thought to be a possible oil
separator by Shaw, the excavator, is very
dubious as such, not only because of its small
diameter (0.34m) but also because of its
unnecessarily long spout. Blitzer’s inter-
pretation as a metallurgical installation is
probably closer to reality. Vats with base
holes such as those found at Mallia (Palmer
1994a, 25) have been excluded from this
analysis because there is no proof that they
were used as wine presses.
As for the reliability of the interpretation
of the rest of the objects, little can be said. It
is obvious, however, that the occurrence of
clay and stone lekanai in sifu, especially
when accompanied by collecting vessels is a
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TABLE 3
OBJECTS IDENTIFIED AS WINE PRESSES OWAND OLIVE PRESSES AND OIL SEPARATORS FROM MINOAN CRETE.
THE SUGGESTED USE IS THAT OF THE EXCAVATOR.

Site Date Context TypelSuggested Number Comments Source

use
Myrtos EM I1 village clay lekanai with 4 (2 more no collecting vessel Warren 1972, 138-9.
spout; various uses fragmented) is mentioned
Knossos EM I1 house; ‘Royal fragmented clay I no evidence for Warren 1981, 230,
road’ lekane; oil separator spout or collecting pl. 202a-b;
or wine press vessel Kopaka and Platon
1993.44.
Mallia, MM I town spouted clay lekane; I accompanied by van Effenterre 1980,
quartier G oil separator a pithos fig. 238; Kopaka and
Platon 1993, 44.
Mallia MM 111- palace spouted clay lekane; 1 accompanied by Chapoutier and
LM I? oil separator collecting vessel Demarge 1942, 20,
fig. 24; van Effenterre
1980, 370.
Sphaka, MM IIlB ? clay spouted lekane; I no information unpubl.; Kopaka and
Sitias wine press Platon 1993, 53.
Choiromandres, MM Ill- ‘guard post’ ‘Bassine et grand I no information Tzedakis er ul. 1990.
Zakros LM I seau de pressoir 51.
avec ecoulement
pour le mout’
Palaikastro MM 111- town spouted clay lekane; I accompanied by MacGillivray el ul.
LM I wine press pithos 1992, 126-7.
Profitis Ilias, MM 111- ‘villa’ spouted clay lekanai; 3 in one case with Platon 1960, 259;
Tourtouloi LM I wine presses collecting vessel in Platon 1961b. 209;
Sitia siru (similar to the 1966b. 297, 300.
one at Vathypetro)
Azokenmos, MM 111- ‘villa’?; with wine press I no information Davaras 1967, 642.
Sitia LM I second floor
Kato Zakros MM 111- town by the spouted clay lekane; I accompanied by Hogarth 1900-1,
LM I palace wine press collecting vessel 130-1; Kopaka and
and another lekane Platon 1993, 58.
ZOU MM 111- ‘villa’ spouted stone basins; 2 no information Platon 1960
LM I olive-crushing beds
Archanes LM I isolated spouted clay lekane; 1 it flushes into a Sakellarakis and
building wine press depression carved Sakellarakis 1978.
within the in the rock; 172; Sakellankis and
Phoumi evidence for dried Sapouna-Sakellarakis
cemetery must? I99 1, 86-7.
Kato Zakros LM I town by the spouted clay lekane; I collecting vessel Hogarth 1900- I ,
palace wine press and another vessel 130-1 ; Kopaka and
Platon 1993, 58.
Kato Zakros LM I town by the spouted clay lekane; I collecting vessel and Hogarth 1900- I , 14 I .
palace wine press built supportive walls

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TABLE 3 (continued)

Kato Zakros LM I town by the spouted clay lekane; I built depression for Platon 1964, 221;
palace wine press collecting vessel 1966~.149.
Kato Zakros LM I town by the spouted clay lekane; I accompanied by Platon 1966d. 164.
palace wine press collecting pithos
Kato Zakros LM I town by the built platform; 1 accompanied by Platon 1966~.144,
palace wine press collecting pithos pl. 143b
Kato Zakros LM I town by the spouted clay lekane I no collecting vessel Platon 1980,425.
palace is mentioned
Kato Zakros LM I town by the spouted clay lekane; I collecting vessel Platon 1989, 149;
palace wine press 1991,234; 1992, 117;
Kopaka and Platon
1993, appendix.
Epano Zakros LM I ‘villa’ with two spouted clay I they flush to a Platon 1966~1, 136;
second floor lekanai; double pithos; two 1966e. 165-6; 1967,
and frescoes wine press collecting vessels 218-19.
underneath
Petras LM I town stone spouted I two pithoi sunk Tsipopoulou 1990;
lekane; wine press in front Catling 1987. 59.
Knossos LM I palace, central stone spoited I no collecting Raison 1969, pl. 88
court lekane; vessel above; Kopaka and
? Platon 1993.44. fig.8.
Vathypetro LM I ‘villa’ spouted clay lekane; I accompanied by Marinatos 1952, 266,
wine press collecting vessel 272; Marinatos and
Hirmer 1960, 140,
fig. 62 above.
Mochlos LM 1 settlement stone mortar ‘for I 0.35m height, Soles and Davaras
crushing olives’ 0.50m diam. with 1993, 59.
spout; olive stones
nearby
Vathypetro LM I ‘villa’ stony flat surface; I stone made Marinatos 1951, 103,
olive-crushing bed collecting vessel fig. 3; 1952, 272;
or wine press Marinatos and Hirmer
1960, 140, fig. 62
(below).
~~ ~~

Palaikastro LM Ib? town spouted clay lekane; 2 accompanied by Bosanquet 1902-3,

oil separator pithos 279.
Palaikastro LM I town wine press 1 a raised cement Bosanquet 1902-3,
floor slipping 279.
towards a sunken jar
Palaikastro LM I town wine press 1 ‘bed’ supported by Dawkins 1902-3,
two house walls and 295.
by another wall built
for this purpose;
collecting vessel
Palaikastro LM town spouted clay lekane; I associated with Bosanquet 1902-3,
(LM Ib?) oil separator pithos 288.

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TABLE 3 (continued)

Palaikastro LM IA town spouted clay lekane; I on the floor; no MacGillivray er al.

oil separator collecting vessel 1987, 151, pi. 24f.
Gournia LM I town spouted clay lekane; I no collecting Boyd-Hawes er al.
oil separator vessel 1908, 28.
Gournia LM I town spouted clay lekane: 1 originally placed Boyd-Hawes er 01.
oil separator on a bench 1908, 27-8, fig. 1 I;
Silverman 1978,
158, fig. 25f.
Kommos LM IVlII town slab with spout and I standing on a built Shaw 1978, 119,
circular cavity; wine platform; remains pl. 35; Blitzer 1995.
press (Shaw); oil of pithos
press (Blitzer) underneath
~~~

Kommos LM 1-Ill town, stone spouted I from the fill Shaw 1986 pl. 51a; cf.
building T shallow basin Palmer 1994% 24.
Kommos LM Ill town spouted stone basin; 1 on a built platform; Shaw 1982, 170;
oil andlor wine evidence for Blitzer 1995.
processing equipment collecting vessel
(Shaw); oil press
(Blitzer)
~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~________

Knossos Strat. LM Ill ‘palace’ stone table, olive- 1 no information Warren 1983, 73.
Museum crushing bed
Knossos LM 11-111 town spouted trough; 1 large, ovoid in Popham er al. 1984,
unexplored installation for shape 6, 233; PI. 242c.
mansion ‘washing processes
or producing
olive oil’
Phaistos LM Ill? ‘palace’ ? I ovoid stone basin Kopaka and Platon
bending in a 1993, 63. fig. 27.
U-shape reservoir
Palaikastro LM Ill? town ‘primitive form of I circular stone in a Dawkins and Tod
Kouremenos olive press’ raised platform; 1902-3, 334; cf.
trough immediately Kopaka and Platon
west of it 1993.66.
Palaikastro LM town olive-crushing bed I circular shape stone, Dawkins 1904-5,
0.52 m in diameter 276-7.
‘with a circular
runnel on the upper
face and rim raised
above the central
Part’
Kommos LM 111 town clay lekane with I circular shape, Shaw 1977,208,
long spout; oil 0.34 m diameter pl. 49b; Blitzer 1995.
separator?; for
perfume production?
(Shaw); metallurgical
installation (Blitzer)

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 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
positive indication of their use as wine
presses in particular, since oil separators
would not require collecting vessels under-
neath for the water: a channel carved in the
floor would have been sufficient, unless
drainage is very difficult. Also, the stone
basins with spouts are perhaps rightly
attributed to olive crushing, for two main
reasons: first, being made of stone they are
suitable for this task which requires hard
surfaces and, secondly, being shallow they
are not suitable for other tasks such as grape
pressing, washing etc. which involve
relatively large quantities of liquid. Serious
doubts must be expressed, however, about
the ‘olive-crushing bed’ of the Stratigraphic
Museum at Knossos. Neither its morphology
(shapeless stone table) nor its context or
comparative evidence (none) justify its
interpretation.
The great majority of these installations
comes from the second palace period, with
three exceptions. Myrtos is one, but the clay
lekanai from Myrtos are found without any
accompanying vessel and it is therefore very
doubtful whether they were used as wine
presses or oil separators. As the excavator
notes (Warren 1972, 138-9), they could have
been used for washing vegetables or wool.
Indeed, the chromatography analysis of one
of them has shown that the lipids found in it
were of animal origin rather than plant,
pointing to its possible use for wool washing
(Bowyer 1972). The second exception is the
fragment of a clay lekane from EM I1
Knossos but since there is no evidence for a
spout or collecting vessel connected to this
artefact it is again doubtful whether it had
been a grape- or/and olive-processing
facility. The third exception is the clay
lekane with pithos from MM I Mallia.
It is also interesting that the artefacts
associated with oil production come from
the new palace period and the later phases
18
and that during the ‘Mycenaean’ period they
become larger in shape and possibly more
specialized in function with separate crushing
and pressing equipment (cf. Kommos-Blitzer
1993, fig. 2 probably for crushing and fig. 3
probably for pressing).
The spatial context of these artefacts is
also of interest: with the exception of the
finds from EM Myrtos discussed above, they
all (with one possible exception, that of Zou)
come either from palaces or from settlements
of relatively high rank (Fig.1). These are the
important large towns of Gournia, Kommos,
Palaikastro and Petras and country buildings
or ‘villas’. It is worth noting that at
Palaikastro the wine press comes from a
room with frescoes (MacGillivray et al. 1992,
126-8) and the ‘oil separator’ from Building
2 which has been described by the excavators
as ‘amongst the richer’ of the town
(MacGillivray et al. 1987, 151). The Petras
find comes from a house with a second floor
and wall paintings (Catling 1987, 59). The
Zakros presses come from the ‘town’ and not
directly from the palace but this does not
mean that wine processing is an activity
unrelated to the palace. First, at Zakros there
are no clear boundaries between the palace
and the town and, secondly, all the food-
processing activities seemed to have taken
place in buildings outside the main palatial
complex (Chrysoulaki and Platon 1987, 83).
As for the ‘villas’, leaving aside the interest-
ing but unsolved problems of their precise
social function (see Bonias 1986; Cadogan
1971; Cherry 1978; Hagg and Marinatos, in
press; Halstead 1981; Hood 1983; Watrous
1984), it is commonly recognized that many
of the neopalatial ‘villas’ are not ordinary
country houses since their architecture and
finds imply concentration of wealth and high
status occupants, as well as some sort of
relation with the palaces. In our case, the
‘villas’ of Vathypetro, Epano Zakros, Profitis
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 YANNIS HAMILAKIS
Ilias, Azokeramos all seem to be high-rank
settlements (note the existence of frescoes at
Profitis Ilias, of a second floor at
Azokeramos, of both at Epano Zakros, etc.;
also Vathypetro is probably the ‘villa’ which
architecturally is closest to the palaces -
Marinatos and Hirmer 1960, 66). The same
can be said for the isolated house (Building
4) from Archanes: Fourni cemetery. Not only
its clear connection with the palatial centre of
Archanes: Tourkogeitonia (Sakellarakis and
Sapouna-Sakellarakis 1991) but also its
architectural arrangement and finds (which
included seal stones, for example) point to a
high-rank building.
Most of the above artefacts are accom-
panied by in situ collecting vessels, sug-
gesting a more probable use as wine presses
than oil separators. Artefacts which have
been classified as olive-crushing beds are
relatively rare. The Kommos installations
require some further discussion here, given
the controversy surrounding their functional
attribution. Blitzer’s interpretation of arte-
facts as oil installations is accepted here
(contra Shaw, and Palmer 1994a who regard
them as wine presses), for the following
reasons: a) although the two artefacts found
in situ are accompanied by collecting vessels,
their raw material (stone) makes them more
suitable for olive crushing or pressing which
require a hard surface; b) the two basins are
shallow and thus unsuitable for grape
pressing which produces abundant liquid
and so requires deep basins. The circular
table with the spout (Blitzer 1993, fig. 3) is
totally flat and could form the basis for a
wooden basket, functioning thus as a wine
press (similar to examples illustrated in
classical vases) but close observation reveals
that the spout is very narrow and so meant to
facilitate the pouring of a liquid running in
small quantities such as oil produced after
pressing, and not the abundant liquid and
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solid substances of the must, produced by
grape pressing; c) close to the installations,
stone weights were found which might have
been used with wooden beams (Blitzer 1993,
167), an apparatus typical of oil presses in
later periods.
Documentary evidence
i) Olivedoil
The ideograms for olives and oil exist not
only in Linear B but also in Linear A and
Cretan ‘hieroglyphic’ (Ventris and Chadwick
1956, 31) indicating their use by humans
from the period of the first palaces. Linear B
offers information on the subject which,
despite the large volume of studies, remains
ambiguous. We certainly know that the
palaces kept (or controlled?) olive orchards
(e.g. the Gv series from Knossos-Ventris and
Chadwick 1956, 2 7 2 4 ) but archival evid-
ence for the use of olive oil as a basic
foodstuff is very doubtful or non-existent. In
contrast, the archives offer very clear
evidence for the use of oil in the perfume
and unguent manufacturing industry
(possibly for anointing garments, as well
- Palmer 1963; Shelmerdine 1985, 125)
controlled by the palaces (Chadwick 1976;
Foster 1974; Georgiou 1973; Killen 1995;
Melena 1983; Palmer 1963; Shelmerdine
1985) and point to the ritual character of, at
least some, oil consumption. E.L. Bennett
long ago noticed that in the olive oil tablets
from Pylos the names of the persons
mentioned are chiefly divine, the places are
partly sanctuaries and the occasions are
mostly festivals (1958, 37-8). It is also
important to note that sometimes the oil is
earmarked for a particular festival (as in the
Pylian tablets Fr 343, 1217, 1222 -
Shelmerdine 1985, 124). The ritual character
of some olive oil in the tablets is confirmed
by the Knossian finds as in the series Fp
19
 WINE. OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
(e.g. Chadwick 1966, 27-30). Thus olive oil
moved towards the palaces as a sort of
tribute and within the palace it was used
either for festivals and other ritual activities
or for allocations to palace personnel and
officials for perfume and unguent
manufacture and probably for personal
use. Killen (1995, 220) has recently
suggested that quantities of oil were also
allocated to palace officials and Clites (see
below) who may have used it in external
transactions.
The quantity recorded in the tablets
refemng to religious offerings is relatively
small: it is usually c.91. and sometimes
reaches c.291. (Baumbach 1979, 203) but
for other transactions quantities are large: in
Fh 372, for example, c.5400 1. are mentioned,
possibly allocated to the palace official ku-
pi-ri-jo for his own benefit (Killen 1995,
2 18).
Of considerable importance is also the
suggestion that the majority (a ratio of 7 to 2)
of oil used in perfume manufacture came
from wild rather than domesticated olives.
This suggestion, first expressed by Chadwick
(1976, 122) although with reservations, was
recently repeated by Melena (1983) who
points out that oil from domesticated olives
has a high fat content which makes it
unsuitable for perfume use, in contrast to
the oil from wild olives.
Was (1973, 15) has suggested that the
Linear A tablet from Agia Triada HT 101
bears evidence that olive oil was also used as
‘payment’ for labour but given the
speculative character of the discussion based
on Linear A, the above information should be
viewed with caution.
ii) Grapes- Wine
Wine and vines do not occur in the Linear
B tablets with the same frequency as olives
and oil (although, the ideogram for wine
20
occurs in Linear A - Ventris and Chadwick
1956, 35 - and even in hieroglyphic at the
Phaistos early palace - Palmer 1994, 27), a
fact which not only explains the lack of many
systematic studies on the subject but, more
importantly, reveals something of their status
within the Mycenaean economy. Palmer’s
recent Ph.D. thesis (1989; 1994) has usefully
summarised and discussed the evidence.
According to her (1988; 1994, 60) vines
were trained to climb up trees (possibly figs
as they occur together in the tablets) as
anudendrades, a cultivation method which
reproduces the growth habit of the plant in its
natural habitat. Wine (which was not
produced by the palace directly) was not a
staple of the Mycenaean diet but enjoyed a
high status listed with foods such as meat,
cheese and honey and it was never part of
rations for lower palace personnel. Although
the majority of references to wine are
associated with ritual offerings there are
indications of other uses such as in perfume
manufacture and as for ‘part of the price for
imported alum’ (Palmer 1989, 183). Also of
considerable importance is her observation
that wine was not distributed by the palace on
a regular basis as was done with other
commodities, such as barley for example.
Moreover, there is no indication of the
existence of an administrative section or
even a simple scribe specialising in the
distribution of wine (1989,80). Significantly,
however, there are indications that wine may
have been distributed by the palace in order
to be consumed at certain ceremonies
and feasts (Palmer 1989, 67-70; see also
below).
The recorded quantities of wine vary
considerably (Palmer 1989, 191). In the case
of religious offerings it is usually small (1-
31.) especially at Knossos, but there are
occasional tablets with large quantities, such
as PY Un 2 listing 585 I., although this
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 YANNIS HAMILAKIS
ambiguous record probably lists menu for a
large ceremonial banquet and it does not,
therefore, represent strictly religious offer-
ings (Killen pers. comm; cf Killen 1994;
Palmer 1994, 107). The distribution tablets
usually list larger quantities as do the
collection tablets (e.g. distribution tablet PY
Vn 20: 1 1 OOO1.; possible collection tablet
KN Gm 840: 140001.).
Miscellaneous evidence
We will not discuss in detail other finds
which are sometimes used to support argu-
ments for olive and grape cultivation or use.
One such class of evidence is lamps. The EM
lamps found in the Mesara tholos tomb (see
for example Xanthoudides 1924, 14, 52, 63,
71, 97) have been used by Renfrew (1972,
286) as evidence for olive cultivation in the
EM period. Lamps may, however, have used
wax, animal fat or other sorts of vegetable oil
such as poppyseed, sesame, flax, etc. (cf.
Runnels and Hansen 1986), substances from
plants documented archaeobotanically from
Bronze Age sites outside Crete (e.g. flax:
Argissa, Kastanas, Lerna, Pefkakia, Tiryns-
Kroll 199 1, 174-5; Assiros-Wardle 1989;
opium poppy: Assiros, Kastanas, Tiryns-
Kroll 1991, 174-5) and the use of which is
recorded in the Mycenaean documents
(Melena 1983).
Sometimes excavators encounter soil with
a greasy texture which they interpret as
evidence for oil (e.g. Cadogan 1978, 83;
Evans 1921, 459), but this could have come
from other sorts of lipids and not necessarily
from olive oil. Any further speculation on
this subject would require chemical
examination of the soil.
Finally, the pictorial representation of
olive and grape (e.g. Mobius 1935) is highly
unreliable evidence, given the subjectivity of
artistic expressions. Moreover, the artistic
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representation of a plant does not necessarily
imply its use and vice versa.
DISCUSSION
The evidence presented above, taken as a
whole, hardly illuminates the issue of olive
cultivation and viticulture in Bronze Age
Crete. The problems of the relatively low
archaeological visibility of olive and grape
remains especially in storage contexts,
coupled with the drawbacks of Minoan
archaeology, do not allow us to draw a
conclusive picture of the issue. The first
conclusion to be drawn from the above
discussion is that a thorough investigation
of the issue of olive cultivation and
viticulture in Minoan Crete cannot rely only
on the primary, direct archaeological evid-
ence. Alternative approaches should be
considered. Undoubtedly, however, the
quantity and, to some extent, the quality of
data have improved since the publication of
The Emergence. Moreover, the attempt
undertaken above to clarify the chronological
and spatial correlates of the material allows
for a more valid discussion.
The direct botanical and artefactual evid-
ence does not support the idea that the
systematic exploitation of olive and vine
initiated in the EM period. Most of the
evidence points to a later, more or less
systematic, use of olives and vines which
falls certainly within the palatial period. This
is more so for olive exploitation since the
isolated finds of one or two seeds from the
EM period are very unreliable, the artefactual
evidence doubtful and the pollen rain
ambiguous in interpretation. The same
applies to viticulture (note that none of the
early clay spouted lekanai, for example, even
when found in situ, resembles the later
elevated installations with the collecting
vessel at a lower level) with the exception
21
 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
of the relatively large assemblage from
Myrtos. Within the palatial period, the great
majority of the evidence of all kinds points to
a later palace and ‘Mycenaean’ date. Of great
interest is also the fact that for the
‘postpalatial’ period there are no unambig-
uous installations related to wine production.
The occasional early finds of olive stones,
grape pips and olive wood, and the Myrtos
grape-pip assemblage in particular, may
indicate opportunistic use of both crops from
the beginning of the EM period in ‘wild’,
‘domesticated’, ‘feral’, or ‘semi-wild’ form.
It is well known that the Mediterranean and
the Aegean in particular falls within the
geographical range of wild grapes and olives
(Zohary and Hopf 1993). The author has
encountered in Crete an uncultivated vine in
a habitat resembling that of the true wild vine
(stream bank), climbing other trees. Turland
et al. (1993, 157) have also recorded its
presence in the Fasas valley in west Crete.
There exists the possibility that wild vines
have survived until today, therefore, and
anyway the presence of wild vines and olives
from the Neolithic onwards is confirmed by
the palynological record (cf. above the
Tersana pollen diagram for olives -
assuming that the identification of olive
without SEM is correct - and Ag. Galini
diagram for vines where their presence is
documented from Neolithic times; cf also
Turland et al. 1993, 120; Hamilakis unpubl.
field notes, for the widespread Occurrence of
wild or feral olives in pre-modern times). The
above finds, therefore, may well illustrate the
occasional use of both plants during the EM
period for many different purposes: as
firewood, as fodder, as a source of oil and
perfume or for the production of an alcoholic
drink. It must be stressed here that wild grape
fruits are edible and according to some
authors (Nuiiez and Walker 1989,220; Olmo
1976; Zohary and Hopf 1993, 144), the
22
production of a kind of wine does not
necessarily need the sweet, cultivated grapes,
though others (e.g. Sherratt 1995 n. 90)
disagree, pointing that in the later case an
additional source of sugar is needed, which
may alter the nature of the drink. Also, as
NLiiiez and Walker remind us,
grape berries may be eaten by both human
and animals, grape seeds may be pressed
to give grape seed oil and the fermentation
products of grape berries not only may be
consumed as wine but also as vinegar . ..
(vinegar) plays important roles not only in
preserving foodstuffs but also in pottery,
where it prevents the sloughing and
enhances the joining elements before
vessels are dried and fired (1989, 228).
During the EM period, a sort of low-level
management, control and protection strategy
(from grazing, for example) might have been
practiced, along with occasional use, which
gave way to a more systematic exploitation
during the later Minoan periods. (cf. Olmo
1976; Zohary and Spiegel-Roy 1975, for
management of wild vines). Undoubtedly,
considerably fewer EM settlements have
been excavated than later (especially
neopalatial) ones, but if systematic wine
and oil production was practised in the EM
period we should expect to find at least some
artefactual evidence (of the sort we find in
the later periods) in EM settlements such as
Myrtos, Vasiliki, Trypiti, Ag. Photia, in EM
buildings below later structures at sites such
as Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia, Palaikastro, Ag.
Triada, or in smaller settlements such as that
of Debla and cave settlements in west Crete
(Zoniana, Melidoni; see Branigan 1988 for
EM settlements up to 1987, and
Archaeological Reports for more recent
excavations).
Systematic production of oil seems to have
started during the second palace period and
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 YANNIS HAMILAKIS
increased in importance, at least in some
areas such as Kommos, during the ‘post-
palatial’ period. It is worth noting here that
the stirrup jar, a shape which has been
connected to a specific precious liquid (it is
very likely that this completely new shape
was introduced for a new commodity and
was established as a marker of that
commodity, most probably oil: the narrow
spout indicates a liquid which should be
poured in small quantities and with care -
cf. Haskell 1985, 223-5), is introduced
during the neopalatial period but becomes
more common and more widespread during
the later periods (Haskell 1985). West Crete
seems to have played a significant role in the
circulation of stirrup jars in the Aegean
(Catling et al. 1980; Haskell 1981, 245). By
contrast, artefactual evidence for wine
production during the ‘post-palatial, period
is lacking, assuming that the stone
implements such as that from Kommos,
Phaistos, etc. (Table 3 ) are for oil. Never-
theless, we know from the tablets that the
production of wine continued, although the
scale seemed to be lower than that of oil. This
lack, however, may be related to a change in
the scale of wine production and possibly to a
change in the sphere of its circulation and
consumption. The suggestion that wine in
Linear B is an Clite item may be significant in
this respect.
Looking at the spatial distribution of these
finds (Fig. I ) it is evident that most of them
come from high-rank sites, palaces, large
towns, or ‘villas’ of palatial character. This is
more striking in the case of wine presses (or
oil separators, according to some): all those
of which the context can be defined (with the
exception of the problematic material from
Myrtos - see above) are concentrated in and
around palaces (Mallia, Zakros), at Clite
houses in large towns (Palaikastro, Kommos,
Gournia, Petras) or ‘villas’ or other isolated
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buildings with an architectural arrangement
and finds indicating high rank (Archanes,
Vathypetro, Epano Zakros, Profitis Ilias
Sitias, Azokeramos Sitias; see above). One
could claim that this picture is an artefact of
archaeological research which is biased
towards the large and important sites. This
may be true to some extent, but in this
specific case our point carries at least some
validity: there is some evidence that lower-
rank sites lack finds indicating viticulture and
olive growing and processing. For example,
in the case of Petras, at least four sites of the
same date have been excavated completely or
partially in the same area: the settlement at
Agia Photia: Analoukas (Tsipopoulou 1991)
and the farmhouses at Achladia: Riza (Platon
1955b, 1965; possibly part of a settlement),
Piskokephalo: Klimataria (Platon 1955a,
1956) and Zou (Platon 1957, 1960, 1961a),
in all of which the architecture and finds
indicate lower rank in relation to Petras (cf
Tsipopoulou 1991; Driessen and MacGil-
livray 1989). None of these sites has yielded
any evidence for wine production and only
Zou yielded two artefacts which may have
been used for crushing olives.
Also the documentary evidence offers
some illuminating points: i) wine and oil
were treated differently from the other
agricultural products by the palatial authori-
ties. Culinary use (in contrast to industrial
and ritual use) is not documented and their
distribution was not as regular as with
cereals; ii) wine seems to have been a high
rank item and its consumption may have been
connected to feasting and drinking cere-
monies, at least in some cases.
Looking very briefly at the archaeological
evidence for vines and olives in the Eastern
Mediterranean, the following picture
emerges: according to Zohary and Hopf
(1993, 148) botanical evidence (seeds and
charred wood) point to signs of Vitis
23
 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
cultivation as early as the Chalcolithic and
Early Bronze Age in the Levant. This is
based on the ambiguous assumption that
since wild Vitis is absent today from Jordan
and Judea and it is unlikely that it was grown
wild in the area at the time, it therefore must
be domesticated (1993, 149). From further
east, from Godin Tepe, western Iran,
evidence for wine production comes from a
mid-third millennium BC jar which was
found to contain tartaric acid suggestive of
wine (Badler et af.1990). From the same site
and period, artefactual evidence (pressing
equipment) indicating wine production is
also found (Badler in press). Charred pips
are also found in Egypt from the beginning of
the third millennium (Zohary and Hopf
1993,149). Finds of olive stones and charred
wood from Chalcolithic Palestine have been
described by Zohary and Hopf (1993, 141) as
‘definite signs of olive cultivation’ on the
basis of the same assumption as with vine
cultivation. Probable evidence for oil pro-
duction comes from Chalcolithic sites in the
Jordan valley where large amounts of
crushed stones have been found (Neef
1990). In short, despite the ambiguity of
much of the evidence (see above on the
taphonomic and analytical problems), both
vine and olive use and wine and oil produc-
tion in the Eastern Mediterranean seem to
pre-date similar developments in Crete.
CONCLUSIONS
In the work of most researchers of the
Mediterranean Bronze Age until very
recently, the stereotype of ‘Mediterranean
Triad’ was dominant. They contemplated a
more or less stable agricultural pattern in
which cereals, vines and olives were
systematically exploited from the beginning
of the Bronze Age until a few years ago. The
uncritical use of ethnographic analogy is, to a
24
large extent, responsible for that. Recent
archaeological, ethnographic and historical
work suggests, however, that the picture is
far more complicated, both chronologically
and geographically (e.g. H. Forbes 1992,
1993; Triantafyllidou-BaladiC 1987). The
‘Mediterranean polyculture’ hypothesis
employed this stereotype in order to fulfil
the requirements of the cultural-evolutionary
model of ‘subsistence-redistribution’.
Admittedly, given the nature of the
evidence and the recovery and analytical
biases of the archaeological research
(Hamilakis in press l), problems such as that
discussed here, cannot be adequately
addressed by using only direct archaeological
data. Furthermore, in some respects, indirect
data (such as drinking vessels, for example)
can be more illuminating, provided that they
are used within a certain theoretical
framework, an attempt which is being carried
out elsewhere (Hamilakis 1995). Never-
theless, the data presented and evaluated
above (and mostly the processing instal-
lations which are more clearly connected to
wine and oil production) show some strong
indications which have to be taken seriously
into account in any subsequent investigation.
Agricultural patterns in Bronze Age Crete do
not seem to conform to the dominant picture
according to which vines and olives were
exploited systematically from the beginning
of the Bronze Age, constituting basic
elements of the Minoan agricultural
economy. Systematic wine production seems
to have started in the first-palace period,
reaching a peak in the second-palace period.
Systematic production of oil seems to have
started in the second-palace period and
intensified during the ‘post-palatial’ period.
Both products show a strong association with
the elites. This has implications not only for
the study of the Minoan agriculture (e.g.
status of the products under consideration,
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 YANNIS HAMILAKIS
scale of production and consumption), but
also for the investigation of the development
of authority in general and the palatial
institutions in particular. The ‘Mediterranean
polyculture’ hypothesis does not seem to find
support from the direct archaeological data.
Alternative models for the development of
institutionalised hierarchy in Crete should,
therefore, be investigated and tested. More
importantly, wine and oil production and
consumption disconnected from the ‘Medi-
terranean polyculture’ hypothesis, can
acquire a more active role shedding light on
crucial aspects of Minoan society involving
the relation between crops, consumption
patterns and the reproduction and
legitimation of authority.
The association of vine- and olive-related
finds with palatial and second-order centres
indicates that these crops and their products
may have played a role other than that of the
widely and systematically exploited sub-
sistence crops. This role has to be understood
within a different theoretical framework from
the one employed so far, framework which
should emphasise the aspect of demand and
the dialectics of consumption: the potential
of wine and oil as items participating in
complex social interactions such as feasting
and drinking ceremonies and intra-tlite gift
exchange. These social processes, the import-
ance of which has been repeatedly
emphasised in the anthropological literature
(for recent discussions on feasting and
drinking with some examples cf. Brumfiel
1987, 1989; Hamilakis 1995, in press 2;
Sherratt 1987, 1991, 1995; the literature on
the social significance of gift-exchange is
plentiful and well known), in their turn, may
be connected to the development of power in
Bronze Age Crete. The systematic production
and use of wine from the first-palace period
onwards may have served the need for large-
scale feasting and drinking. These events
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may illustrate a social strategy of the
established Clites aimed at the consolidation
and legitimation of power, exploitation of
labour (capitalising on what might have been
perceived as conspicuous generosity) and
attraction of a retinue, out-competing rival
tlites at the same time. This argument is
supported by the fact that wine-related finds
reach their peak at the second-palace period
when more first and second order centres
appear, some in close proximity, indicating
possible intensification of factional com-
petition (cf. Brumfiel and Fox 1994),
although some circulation of wine outside
Crete at the time is also likely. By the same
token, the evidence of the decrease of wine
consumption in the ‘post-palatial’ period
may indicate a decrease of such competition,
in a period when it is well known that
centralization of power was brought about
with very few centres still thriving. The
evidence for the beginning of the systematic
exploitation of oil during the second-palace
period coincides with the evidence for
intensification of external contacts from this
period onwards, supporting the argument for
its, use as an tlite item, most probably as a
base for perfumes and unguents. The above
arguments are discussed in greater detail and
tested elsewhere (Hamilakis 1995).
The results discussed above have also
wider implications (which require a more
extensive consideration) both for the theories
on the emergence of social stratification in
Europe, and for ecological archaeology in
general. For the first, they cast serious doubts
on the argument emphasizing the managerial
role of tlites, and suggest that consumption
rather than production might prove a more
illuminating approach to the problem. For
ecological archaeology, they suggest that
ecofacts alone can prove an inadequate
source of information, not only for
addressing complicated issues of social
25
 WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE
relations but even for reconstructing agri-
cultural practices. Moreover, they point to the
need to consider the potential of crops in
acquiring an active role in the dialectics of
power, rather than viewing them as simply
nutritional sources and ascribing to them a
passive role in the discourse of subsistence.
Acknowledgements
This paper is based on a Ph.D. dissertation submitted
at the Department of Archaeology and Prehistory,
University of Sheffield (January 1995). I would like to
thank Paul Halstead, my thesis supervisor, for reading
many versions of the chapter on which this paper is
based (saving me from many mistakes as well as
correcting the English) and for being such an invaluable
source of help, ideas and humour; Keith Branigan, my
thesis advisor for comments and support; and the
ABBREVIATIONS
A JA American Journal of Archaeology
AR Archaeological Reports
ArchDelt Arkhaiologikon Deltion
BCH Bulletin de Correspondance Hellknique
BICS Bulletin of the Institute of Classical
Studies (bndon)
BSA Annual of the British School at Athens
Cretological Proceedings of the International
Cretological Conferences (1-7)
Ergon Ergon tis Arkhaiologikis Etairias.
JAS Journal of Archaeological Science
PCPS Proceedings of the Cambridge
Philological Society
Prakt Praktika tis Arkhaiologikis Etairias.
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