Firesiede : rooms with hearths in Early Helladic non-monumental domestic architecture

Abstrakt

The Early Helladic (EH) period in Mainland Greece lasted from 3100/3000 to 2050/2000 BC (chronology references after: MANNING 1993). Very scanty architectural remains have been dated to the EH I period ("Eutresis culture", ca. 3100/3000-2650 BC), i.e. Houses I from Eutresis (GOLDMAN 1931: 12-15) and a fragmentary building preserved at Lithares (TZAVELLA-EVJEN 1985: 8-9). In the EH II (EH II A - "Korakou culture", ca. 2650-2450/2350 BC and EH II B -"Lefkandi I culture", ca 2450/2350-2200 BC) dynamic development of settlements and architecture occurred (HEARTH WIENCKE 1989: 495-509). Many examples of domestic and defensive buildings have been uncovered, along with graves, high quality pottery, seals and sealings, and terracotta figurines. Extended fragments of settlements with streets (KONSOLA 1984: 197-210) and residential districts have also been excavated. At the end of EH II most of these settlements had been destroyed. In the following phase (EH III - "Tiryns culture", ca. 2200/2150-2050/2000 BC) corridor houses are not found, but ordinary houses of small size and simple design still existed, i.e. at Aghios Kosmas (MYLONAS 1959) or Kolonna on Aegina (WALTER et al. 1981). In EH II period most houses were rectangular in design, but structures with L-shaped or irregular plans have also been found. In EH II B and EH III houses with one apsidal wall appear. Ordinary houses consisted of a courtyard or portico and 1-3 interior rooms laid out axially, with a usable floor area of 25-45 sq. m. More complex houses were 60-100 sq. m. - like at Zygouries House of Pithoi (BLEGEN 1928: 9-14), House S/W (BLEGEN 1926: 16-20). Small dwellings with only one room were ca. 20 sq. m - like at Aghios Kosmas House I (MYLONAS 1959: 38-41), House E at Tsoungiza (PULLEN 1986: 75; PULLEN 1990: 344-346). In most cases houses were built with the same technique on all EH sites. Buildings were made of stone, mud brick, clay, earth, and perhaps wood. Foundations were constructed of stones of various sizes, usually laid in two parallel rows filled out with clay, rubble or smaller stones. The superstructure was made of mud brick, a feature discovered at many sites - in situ at Berbati in House N-P (SAFLUND 1965: 118). In wall construction wooden elements might also have been used (PRESS 1986: 88). The width of walls was usually ca. 0.6 m and it is not clear if they were massive enough to sustain upper storeys. Upper storeys are assumed only in cases where the foundations could have supported walls 1 m or more in width, such as Tsoungiza House A (PULLEN 1986: 73-75; PULLEN 1990: 339- 340); also in monumental buildings. Roofs in most cases were probably flat, made of wooden beams, reed and clay (pieces of clay from a roof were found in the House of Pithoi at Zygouries; BLEGEN 1928: 13). Wooden posts or columns may have been used in some interiors to support ceiling; stone bases from such constructions have been found in rooms at Aghios Kosmas - House H (MYLONAS 1959: 35-38) and at Eutresis - House H (GOLDMAN 1931: 24-25) or in porticoes - House A in Tsoungiza (PULLEN 1990: 339-340), Lerna - Building BG (WIENCKE HEATH 1986: 41). Floors were either paved with stone slabs, or covered with packed earth, clay or small stones mixed with sherds. Stone was also used in doorways - stone thresholds, jambs and door pivots have been uncovered (often in situ). Doors were probably made of wood, although leather, woolen fabrics and straw may also have been used (TZAVELLA-EVJEN et al. 1990: 119). The walls may have contained windows, but if so these have not been preserved in EH houses. Instances of monumental architecture (i.e. houses of tiles and corridor houses. THEMELIS 1984: 335-351; SHAW 1987: 59-79; SHAW 1990: 183-194) have also been found at EH II sites. The examples come from Lerna, Kolonna, Akovitika and Thebes. These structures were large (ca. 90-420 sq. m at the basement level) and complex. Most had rectangular plans with a series of rooms laid out axially, flanked by narrow corridors, sometimes with stairs to an upper storey. Their roofs were sloping, covered with fired clay or schist tiles. The function of monumental architecture is still debated. They are interpreted variously as public buildings, administrative or redistribution centres, houses for big families or palaces (THEMELIS 1984: 340, 351; RENFREW 1972: 364, 390; CASKEY 1955: 119; FELTEN 1986: 26). Ordinary houses are rarely the subject of research on the EH period, probably because of the poor state of their preservation and a lack of equipment. But it seems nevertheless that domestic architecture gives a better picture of the every-day life of its inhabitants than does monumental architecture. Houses of the EH period were quite small, probably used by one family, equipped with basic constructions, and almost certainly undecorated. Common objects, mostly coarse and fine ware and tools are found inside. People probably led very simple and ordinary lives, concentrated on agriculture, husbandry and handicraft. Houses of tiles and corridor houses, obviously more spectacular and elaborate in form, seem to have served as more complex structures than simple dwellings. In ordinary houses we can distinguish such different types of interior space as courtyards (or porticoes), rooms with hearths, rooms with other structures (pits, bothroi, pithoi, benches) and rooms without any fixed structures. It is possible to reconstruct the functions of the interiors based on a very detailed analysis of material found inside the rooms, such as pot-sherds, cooking pots and other ceramics, tools, and animal bones and other organic waste products. Rooms with hearths are of special interest, because in most cases they seem to be the main areas of their buildings, where the lives of the inhabitants were concentrated. Since other fixed structures have been uncovered in these interiors, rooms with hearths are supposed to serve many functions, reconstructed on the basis of the sorts of objects found there.