ΚΕΙΜΕΝΑ ΚΑΙ
ΠΕΡΙΕΧΟΜΕΝΑ: ΠΑΡΑΓΩΓΗ ΤΕΧΝΗΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΝΕΟΑΝΑΚΤΟΡΙΚΗ ΠΕΡΙΟΔΟ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΓΙΑ ΤΡΙΑΔΑ ΚΡΗΤΗΣ
TEXTS AND CONTEXTS:
CRAFT PRODUCTION AT NEOPALATIAL
AYIA TRIADA
Του PIETRO MILITELLO
Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζεται
μια συγκριτική ανάλυση των κειμένων και των αρχαιολογικών δεδομένων για την
βιοτεχνική παραγωγή στην Αγία Τριάδα.
Υπάρχουν πινακίδια/δισκία Γραμμικής Α. Μερικά κείμενα φαίνεται να ασχολούνται
με το μαλλί (HT 12, 24), το ύφασμα (HT 16, 20, 38), τα αγγεία (HT 26, 31, 38,
39, 93, 110). Το μαλλί ίσως χρησιμοποιήθηκε ως μέσον πληρωμής (HT 12, cf. PY An
35)! Υφάσματα και αγγεία συλλέγονταν (HT Wc 3019) προκειμένου να χρησιμοποιηθούν
κατά την διάρκεια της διοργάνωσης ειδικών εκδηλώσεων (HT 38 με κρέας προβάτου
και χοίρου), κλπ. Τα HT 97 και 110 ίσως μιλούν για κατανομή χαλκού στους
εργαζόμενους!
Καλλιέργειες παρήγαγαν προς
κατανάλωση: δημητριακά, κριθάρι, σύκα, κρασί, λάδι κ.ά. προϊόντα. Από την
ανάλυση αυτή προκύπτει μια συνεκτική εικόνα: Η μινωική διοίκηση ενδιαφερόταν
μόνο για ορισμένα τελικά προϊόντα (μαλλί, υφάσματα, αγγεία, κρασί, ελαιόλαδο,
άρωμα) αλλά όχι για την παραγωγή τους (εκτροφή προβάτων, καλλιέργεια σταφυλιών
και ελιών), με εξαίρεση τα βασικά για την διατήρηση του εργατικού δυναμικού και
την πληρωμή των ατόμων. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι τα μινωικά ανάκτορα και οι επαύλεις
ήταν «πτωχοί παραγωγοί» και κυρίως καταναλωτές αγαθών, μέσω φορολογίας,
υποχρεώσεων ή εισφορών (HT 15, HT 123).
Αυτό το σύστημα προϋποθέτει
την ύπαρξη μερικών μονίμων δημοσίων ή ημι-μονίμων τεχνιτών, καθώς και ενός
«ιδιωτικού» ή ανεξάρτητου τομέα, ο οποίος αποτελούσε μεγάλο μέρος της
οικονομίας της νέο-ανακτορικής περιόδου. Δεδομένου ότι μόνον μερικές από αυτές
τις συναλλαγές είναι καταχωρημένες σε δισκία, πρέπει να καταλήξουμε στο
συμπέρασμα ότι πολλές από αυτές έγιναν χωρίς γραφή, άγραφα, μέσω «διαδικασιών
συναλλαγής... μεταξύ γνωστών και εμπιστοσύνης» (Palaima).
Καταναλώνονταν και αγαθά που
προέρχονταν από δώρα ή εμπόριο (χαλκός, πέτρινα αγγεία και πίνακες ζωγραφικής εκ
Κνωσού), ίσως μέσα σε ένα περιφερειακό σύστημα ανταλλαγής...
Αναλυτικότερα:
In this paper I presented a comparative analysis of textual and
archaeological data regarding craft production at LM I Ayia Triada in order to
understand which activities concerned Minoan (written) administration and which
instead lay beyond its control.
Within the LM I settlement of Ayia Triada, some manufacturing processes
are clearly recognizable in the archaeological record. A few of them, such as
the pottery produced in the huge LM IB kiln, were undoubtedly sponsored by a
central authority. Others, such as textile weaving, were in part produced under
the supervision of the Villa and in part independently. Others still, such as
the manufacture of stone vases or low-cost jewellery, seem to fall beyond any
centralized control. Evidence for bronze working is absent from the Villa,
notwithstanding the large hoard of 19 copper ingots. All in all, craft
production does not seem to be highly centralized and the same can be said for
the circulation of artefacts. Restricted use can only be suggested for large
bronze tools, carved stone vases, and bronze figurines, all of which are found
exclusively in the Villa.
This range of crafts is only partially represented in Linear A tablets
and roundels. A few texts seem to deal with wool (HT 12, 24), cloth (HT 16, 20,
38), vases (HT 26, 31, 38, 39, 93, 110), and perhaps bronze (HT 97, 119). Wool
could have been used as a means of payment (HT 12, cf. PY An 35) or
redistributed for weaving in the south-western sector of the Villa (HT 24).
Specific interest in wool manufacture is demonstrated by the presence of
AB04/TE (a ‘transaction’s sign’ or an abbreviation for a kind of cloth) in two
loomweights from the Villa. Cloth and vases instead seem to be collected (HT Wc
3019) in order to be consumed during the organization of special events, as in
HT 38 (a set for a feast, including meat [sheep and pig], a rhyton, and a few
pieces of cloth [cf. PY Un 2]), or in HT 31 (assessment of vases for a large
feast). Finally, HT 97 and 110 could represent the allotment of bronze (with a
mean range of half a unit) to workers, but this interpretation is not devoid of
problems.
In the same way as crafts, crops in the texts represent only a selection
of what was really being produced and consumed: grain, barley, figs, an unknown
commodity (A304), with wine and oil registered only as finished products, as
was scented oil. A coherent picture emerges from this analysis: Minoan
administration on clay was only interested in some finished products (wool,
cloths, vases, wine, oil, perfume) but not in their production (sheep breeding,
cultivation of grapes and olives, perfume-making), with the exception of
staples for the maintenance of labour force and the payment of individuals.
This would imply that Minoan palaces and villas were ‘poor producers’ and
mainly consumers of goods collected through taxation, obligations, or
contributions, which are marginally reflected in texts like HT 15 or HT 123.
This system presupposes the existence of a few attached or
semi-dependent craftsmen, and of a ‘private’ or independent sector, which
constituted a large part of the Neopalatial economy. Since only a few of these
transactions are registered in tablets, we have to conclude that many of them
happened beyond the realm of writing, through ‘transactional procedures… among
parties known to one another and trusted by one another’, as proposed by
Palaima. Patronal enterprises like communal banquets or the construction of a
large kiln could support this long-lasting relationship and reinforce the
obligation of common people and groups towards the central authority.
This picture of production, circulation, and consumption cannot be
completed without mentioning the consumption of goods deriving from gifts or
trade (copper ingots, stone vases, and paintings of Knossian manufacture),
perhaps within a regional exchange system, whose reflection can be found in the
flat-based nodules applied to leather documents and impressed on seals, a few
of which have been found elsewhere in Crete and now in Thera.
13 Φεβρουαρίου 2013
ΠΗΓΗ: THE MYCENAEAN SEMINAR
2012–13.
© 2014 Institute of Classical Studies University of London.
ΛΕΞΕΙΣ-ΚΛΕΙΔΙΑ: ΚΡΗΤΗ, ΜΙΝΩΙΚΗ ΕΠΟΧΗ, ΑΓΙΑ ΤΡΙΑΔΑ, μαλλι, υφασμα, αγγεια, χαλκος, νομισμα, δημητριακα, κριθαρι, συκα, κρασι, λαδι ελαιολαδο, αρωμα, ΘΗΡΑ, ΚΥΚΛΑΔΕΣ, ΣΦΡΑΓΙΔΕΣ, ΣΦΡΑΓΙΔΟΛΙΘΟΙ
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