AGIOS CHARALAMBOS CAVE - 2007

Agios Charalambos Cave. P. Betancourt (ASCSA/Temple) reports on the 2007 study season.
The pottery, numbering 15,000 sherds and vases, extends from FNeo−MM IIB, with less than 10 sherds from LM I−III. The bones (all disarticulated) and the offerings were in a mixed state within the cave. This pattern suggests that burials of an earlier date were put in the cave during MM IIB, and that the cave was closed by the end of the BA. The pottery includes both local vessels and pieces imported into Lasithi from other parts of Crete. The local wares are recognizable by their soft red clay fabric, which has fragments of phyllite as inclusions. The imported sherds include pieces of Pyrgos Ware (EM I), Vasiliki Ware (EM IIB) and several MM styles. Among the MM pieces are goblets from central Crete, Chamaizi pots, vases with white spirals, and polychrome sherds. The human bones, of which over 10,000 have been catalogued to date, include those of children, as well as both men and women. Fragments of a single skeleton have been excavated from different levels and from different rooms. Many animal bones are also represented. Some of them have cut marks on them, showing that they are the remains of food offerings that accompanied the deceased. Animals include sheep or goats, cattle, pigs, and smaller numbers of bones from dogs and cats. Hares and other wild animals are also present.