From colonies to gateway communities and beyond: an overview of Cretan-Cycladic relations in the FN-EB II phases

This presentation deals with the so-called 'Kampos group' pottery in Crete (Greece), dated to the end of the Early Bronze I period (c.2800 BC). Although it is encountered of Cycladic origin on the basis of pottery shapes and technology of manufacture. From this point of view, the 'Kampos group' pottery constitutes a key element in the debate concerning the relationship between Crete and the Cyclades, the presence of islanders in Crete, and the character of the 'International Spirit', an Aegean koine that characterises the Aegean Early Bronze Age.

The combined typological and analytical study of various 'Kampos group' pottery assemblages from sites in north and south Crete (e.g. Gournes, Pyrgos and Livari) contributes new evidence and allows a reconsideration of th eexisting interpretations. Moreover, recent evidence for strong Cretan-Cycladic contacts as early as the Final Neolithic (later 4th millennium) from Siteia (Kephala Petras), and a reconsideration of the evidence from later, Early Bronze II, assemblages (e.g. Phourni and Mesara tholos cemeteries) allow us to study the deeper history of this phenomenon, and understand the particularities of each period. The aforementioned studies suggest that phenomena of adoption, adaptation and hybridism constitute a long tradition in the relationships between Crete and the Cyclades, and involve not only the way ceramics were consumed in funerary contexts, but also the way they were produced.

On the basis of theories about the social aspects of technology, it is suggested that these phenomena seem to represent a conscious effort of the potters to express in a materialistic way the mixture of Cycladic and Cretan cultural elements. Within this context, the problem of the 'Kampos group' pottery, and more generally of Cycladic-type pottery in Crete seems far more complex than the simple pseudo-dilemma of the Cycladic vs. the Cretan origin of the vessels and/or the potters.