A LM IA Ceramic Kiln in South-Central Crete: Function and Pottery Production (Hesperia Supplement 30)

An in-depth study of the Late Minoan IA cross-draft kiln found in excavation at Kommos, Crete. The kiln is of a type popular during the Neopalatial period and its good state of preservation has allowed the authors to speculate about its original internal layout and use as well as about the roof that covered it. Much of the large quantity of obviously locally produced pottery found associated with the kiln is analyzed in detail, allowing for the first time the study of the shapes, decoration, and technical characteristics of vases known to have been fired in a specific LM IA kiln. The book presents an integrated program of analytical techniques used both to illustrate the range of firing temperatures, the compositional similarities and differences in the clay used, and aspects of the firing process and to make suggestions about the upper kiln structure. Offered here is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of their technology and organization of ceramic production at the beginning of the Late Minoan period, which will form a basis for studies of pottery provenience and exchange.