PACHEIA AMMOS Alatsomouri - 2008

Pacheia Ammos, Alatsomouri. S. Apostolakou (Director, ΚΔ' ΕΠΚΑ) reports on the rescue excavation of a rock-shelter exposed during construction work for the cemetery of Pacheia Ammos.
In addition to a M pithos burial, an assemblage of Prepalatial pottery was discovered in one of a series of trenches opened along the length of the site, along with stone tools and an almost square pit dug into the soft rock. The latter was probably part of a rock-shelter destroyed by the mechanical digger, leaving its contents undisturbed. A G-shaped wall closed the opening of the shelter. Inside, a layer ca. 0.4m d. contained a large quantity of vases, almost 100 stone tools, 8 loomweights, a few obsidian flakes and 2 or 3 fragments of potters’ turntables. The pottery is entirely handmade in local clay. While many vessels, including wide-mouthed prochoes, pithoi, amphorae and tripod cooking pots, are made from a red, coarse-looking clay, a greater number in a wide variety of shapes are made from a yellow-ochre coloured clay and in some cases are decorated with dark-coloured bands or drips. A smaller number belong to the Light on Dark style, with the linear decoration characteristic of the end of the Prepalatial period in E Crete. The function of the rock-shelter remains unknown, although the complete absence of bones precludes the usual use as a tomb. An explanation in terms of storage of materials also has weaknesses, because the quantity of vessels exceeds that of usual household storage. An answer may be provided by chemical residue analysis of the 500 samples which have been taken from the pottery assemblage.