Thérèse Claeys

Les panneaux en bois de l'Adoration des bergers et de Jésus chez Simon le Pharisien, conservés au sein des collections artistiques de l'Hôpital Notre-Dame à la Rose, présentent d'étranges marques sur le revers. Bien que ces dernières semblent plus stylisées sur le panneau de Jésus chez Simon le Pharisien, dans les deux cas, elles se caractérisent par la combinaison de deux « pattes » et d'une forme oblongue flanquée de deux motifs évasés. De même que les tailleurs de pierre au Moyen Age gravaient leur empreinte personnelle dans la pierre au moyen de signes lapidaires, ces marques pourraient être identifiées comme autant de témoins tangibles de la signature des fabricants de supports à peindre. La ressemblance frappante entre ces marques et les armoiries de la ville d'Anvers, à savoir deux mains surmontant l'ancienne porte triangulaire de la Ville, semble corroborer l'hypothèse de l'origine anversoise de ces panneaux.

Preliminary report of the 2013 study campaign on the 'Magasins Dessenne' at Malia. Further work on the architectural sequence is presented, as well as the MM IIB material discovered in 1960, including the pithoi then left in the ruin by André Dessenne and taken in 2013.

The site of Pyla-Kokkinokremos, located ca. 15 km east of Larnaka along the coast of Cyprus, represents a singularly short-lived settlement in the island’s Late Bronze Age history. Established only a generation or so prior to its eventual abandonment in the early 12th c. BC, the settlement is a valuable ‘time capsule’ of the Late Cypriot IIC/IIIA (1230-1170 BC) critical phase.

Located on the southeast coast of Cyprus, Pyla-Kokkinokremos was only founded a few decades prior to its eventual abandonment at the beginning of the 12 th c. BC. This limited occupation makes the site an excellent case study to explore the impact of the so-called crisis years on the island. Since the settlement was never reoccupied and has an overall lifespan of less than fifty years, Pyla's material culture can be considered a 'time capsule' for this LC IIC-IIIA critical phase.

The site of Pyla-Kokkinokremos, located in Larnaka Bay in south-eastern Cyprus, was explored on different occasions but continues to be of archaeological interest, in part because it is one of the few settlements that was occupied for a relatively short period during what are called the ‘Crisis Years’ of the Eastern Mediterranean (ca. 1200 BCE). The ethnic mix of its material culture is also astonishing, with imports from Mycenaean Greece, Minoan Crete, Nuragic Sardinia, Hittite Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt—a variety unparalleled at other contemporary Cypriot settlements. Since 2014, an international team consisting of members of the University of Ghent and Louvain in Belgium and of the Mediterranean Archaeological Society in Heraklion, Crete, has continued its exploration, concentrating on different areas of the 7-hectare hill. The aim of the new excavations is to obtain a better understanding of the social structure and internal organization of the site and of its importance for the continuing discussions on migration, interaction, and acculturation, which typify the late 13th and early 12th centuries BCE in the Eastern Mediterranean. The volume is a detailed but preliminary account of the first six excavation campaigns (2014–2019) with a presentation of the archaeological material found in the different sectors of the hill. It also includes the first analyses of the different ceramic categories encountered and a report on the topographical work executed.

This book offers the final publication of a Protopalatial edifice excavated by André Dessenne near the Palace at Malia in 1960. The architectural study of the ruin and the detailed presentation of the material discovered by the archaeologist allows a better understanding of the role of the Dessenne Building in the settlement at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Complemented by a series of archaeological soundings, the present research also provides original data regarding the occupation of Malia during the Prepalatial period, including late 3rd millennium BC large-scale levelling works that prefigurate the construction of the Protopalatial Palace. Architecture, ceramic, stone vases, weights and tools, seals and sealings, and archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains are studied by specialists whose research coalesce into a synthesis on the Bronze Age site development. This book thus not only offers the detailed presentation of an elite structure, it sets it into a broader historical perspective and offers a revision of the Pre- and Protopalatial sequence of the occupation at the core of the settlement of Malia.

Cet ouvrage offre la publication définitive d’un ensemble architectural protopalatial découvert en 1960 par André Dessenne aux abords immédiats du palais de Malia. L’étude architecturale de la ruine et la présentation détaillée du matériel mis au jour par l’archéologue permettent de considérer le rôle du Bâtiment Dessenne au sein de l’établissement au début du IIème millénaire av. J.-C. Complétées par de nouvelles fouilles, les recherches à l’origine de cet ouvrage produisent également des données inédites sur l’occupation de Malia au Prépalatial et sur les grands travaux d’aménagement de la fin du IIIème millénaire qui préfigurent la construction du palais au Protopalatial. Architecture, céramique, vases, poids et outillage en pierre, sceaux et scellés, faune terrestre et marine et restes archéobotaniques sont envisagés par des spécialistes dont les travaux produisent une synthèse importante sur le développement du site à l’Âge du Bronze. L’ouvrage présente ainsi de manière détaillée un édifice minoen d’élite tout en l’insérant dans une perspective historique plus large, en offrant notamment une révision de la séquence pré- et protopalatiale au cœur de l’établissement maliote.

Following its initial recognition in 2011, the excavation of the Minoan Ceremonial Center at Sissi (Kinotita Vrachasiou, Mirabello, Lassithi, Crete) continued for three campaigns, in 2015, 2016 and 2017. By the end of the 2017 campaign, most of the plastered Central Court and large parts of the east, north and west wings of the complex were uncovered but only the north boundary has been securely identified. While some parts of the east wing were reoccupied and remodeled during the Late Minoan III period, the rest of the complex seems largely to date to the Neopalatial period or 17th–16th B.C.E. (MM III–LM IA), although reusing earlier constructions, some of which are Prepalatial (25th century B.C.E.). The presence of Santorini ash in the abandonment levels suggests that the complex had a relatively short life span. The paper will discuss a series of particular architectural features that were found in the last three seasons including: a finely paved road or corridor which leads from the west straight into the court where it is flanked by a large platform and installation; a rectangular ashlar building and adjacent area which seems largely devoted to water collection; and certain other features in and around the central court which potentially suggest a ritual use. Incremental evidence has for a sequence of phases within the Neopalatial building complex will also be presented.

Summaries of a colloquium at the 120th annual meeting of the AIA in Washington DC, 2020. It was the occasion to present synthetic papers on the various sectors of the Sissi site revealed (cemetery, settlement, central building) , to note parallels and stress the importance of differences, but also to discuss to what degree the excavations have
added, modified, or confirmed past ideas on Minoan civilization.

In the fifth installment of the international ScapeCon conference held at Louvain-la-Neuve, we invite MA students, PhD candidates and early career researchers to explore the concept of fragmentation in the Aegean Bronze Age and its application to the following topics: people, material culture, and archaeological data.