Wanax to Wanax: Regional Trade Patterns in Mycenaean Crete

Author(s): Halford W. Haskell

Source: Hesperia Supplements, Vol. 33, : Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr (2004),
pp. 151-160
Published by: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens
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CHAPTER

WANAX T 0

WANAX:

REGIONAL

TRADE

IN MYCENAEAN

PATTERNS

CRETE

by Halford W.Haskell

INTRODUCTION

1. Immerwahr1960.

2. I1amgratefulto the anonymous

reviewerfor helpful comments, and to
Peter G. van Alfen andThomas G.
Palaimafor allowing me to cite proofs
of forthcomingarticles(now van Alfen
1996-1997, Palaima2000).
3. Convenientlydiscussedby
Palaima(1991).
4. Smith 1992-1993, p. 213.
5. Shelmerdine1985.
6. Foster 1977.
7. As, for example,Minoan Crete as
postulatedby Wiener (1991, p. 340).

Sara Immerwahr'sseminal work on Bronze Age trade1remains the foundation upon which much subsequent scholarship is based. It is, therefore,
most appropriate,as well as a great honor, to dedicate this work to Professor Immerwahr, my teacher and mentor.2
Late Bronze Age trade is most readilyapparentthrough the exchange
of prestige goods, ranging from fine ware pottery to oil to precious stones
and metals. Exchange of at least some of these goods would seem to be of
high-level, and perhaps "palatial"-level,interest, and indeed the findspots
of much of this material in administrativecomplexes at Mycenae, Tiryns,
and Knossos confirm this interest.
Surprisingly,Linear B documents provide relatively little in the way
of direct references to trade or directed movements of goods.3 Among the
few references are MY X 508, which records the movement of cloth toward a certain Thebes, PY Sa 751 and Sa 787, which document chariot
wheels of Zakynthian type at Pylos, and PY Ta 641 and Ta 709, which
record Cretan tripods at Pylos. One must rely, therefore, on indirect evidence to develop a fullerunderstandingof Mycenaean involvement in trade.
For example, the large-scale bronze-working industry at Pylos certainly
requiredthe importation of bronze in bulk, yet there are only indirect references to this in the tablets.4The perfumed oil industries at Pyloss5and
Knossos6necessitated the importation of scents not indigenous to Greece
or Crete, and surely palatial administrators had an interest in managing
this importation.
The models of trade or trade mechanisms in which Mycenaean palaces were involved include several possibilities, none exclusive of another,
with various mechanisms most likely existing side by side.7Directed trade
might seem to have the most obvious connection with a palatial administration, but such control would not have excluded semi-independent trading activity or even purely privately managed trade. Linear B evidence for
palatially directed trade or at least movement of goods includes the references alreadynoted, that is, cloth for Thebes and chariot wheels for Pylos,
and this evidence is supplemented by archaeological evidence.

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HALFORD

I52

W. HASKELL

A series of fine, medium-size stirrupjars bears incised Cypro-Minoan

signs on the handles. In the Aegean these jars are found almost exclusively
at Tiryns, but they have a wide distribution in Cyprus and the Levant,
where Cypro-Minoan was the norm.8Even though one cannot be certain
as to whether local Mycenaean bureaucratsor visiting Cypriot administrators oversaw the marking of these vases, the important point is that
goods within an Aegean Late Bronze Age economic environment could
be intended for a specific overseas market, rather than being restricted to
tramp-style exchange.

THE ROLE OF THE WANAX

If the palace was in fact involved with trade or exchange, presumablythis
activity was for the primary benefit of the elites. Benefit can be understood in two non-mutually exclusive ways, one related to status and the
other to wealth. Possible models of exchange within this framework run
the gamut from large-scale commercial-type enterprises to elite gift exchange.9
Certainly the figure in the Mycenaean social system with the greatest
status was the wanax. The functions of the wanax have been described by
various scholars as embracing the military,judicial, and religious spheres,
although Thomas G. Palaima sees his authority as deriving primarilyfrom
"his religious/ritual/cultic/ceremonial activities."'?His special status is reinforced by, among other things, his being the only nondivinity to be allotted offerings of perfumed oil."1
What was the role of the wanax in the palatial economic system generally and in trade specifically? In what ways did trade or exchange enhance the status/wealth of the wanax?
To approach this issue, one must start with a general assessment of
the role of the wanax within the Mycenaean economy as a whole.12 It
seems that the wanax had a direct interest in only a very small, welldefined segment of the palatially directed economy, as references to the
wanax occur only thirty-one times in the Linear B corpus."3His chief
associations are with the textile industry and the oil industry-each an
important component within the Mycenaean palatial economic systemand now also with javelins.14The textile and oil industries were partly
interrelated,as oil (sometimes perfumed) was disbursed to cloth workers;
oil could make the fabric more supple and imbue it with a "shining"quality.'5 It might be noted here that the only craftsmen associated with the
wanax with certainty are a potter and a fuller (both at Pylos).16
The connection of the wanax with the textile industry is well attested
in the Linear B archives at Pylos, Thebes, and Knossos.17At Knossos,
further evidence of the special interest taken by the wanax in this industry
is that the wanax is the only nondivine official to be listed as having controlling authorityover the purple-dye industry there. It has been suggested
that Knossos also maintained a monopoly over this enterprise in the
Mycenaean period.18

8. SeeHirschfeld1996.
9. See Cline1995.
10. Palaima1997,pp.411-412;
see alsoPalaima1995,pp.119-133.
11. Palaima,1995,pp.133-134.
12. Carlier1984.
13. Carlier1996,pp.569-570.
14. See Shelmerdine
andBennet
1995,pp.123-132;Palaima2000,
pp.269,271.
15. Shelmerdine1985, pp. 129-130;

1997,pp.390-393.
16. Palaima1997,p. 407.At Pylos
also the wanax apparentlyis associ-

atedwiththe NortheastWorkshop:
see Shelmerdine
andBennet1995,
pp.123-132;Palaima2000,pp.269,
271.

17. Palaima1997,pp.407-408.
18. Palaima1991, pp. 289-291;
1995, p. 133.

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REGIONAL

TRADE

PATTERNS

IN

MYCENAEAN

CRETE

I53

The wanaxhas a documenteddirectconnection,albeitlimited,with

the oil industry,to judge from the few inscribedstirrupjar inscriptions
that includethe adjectivewa-na-ka-te-ro(TI Z 29, TH Z 839; abbreviatedto wa on EL Z 1;the singlesign wa incisedon diskof KH Z 16). He
also receivesallotmentsof oil at Pylos.
Both the textileandoil industriesillustratethatvariationin management or beneficiarycould existwithin a given industry.The wanaxwas
intimatelyconnectedwith a highlyrestrictedsegmentof these industries,
while "collectors,"
officialswho maintainedsome sortof connectionwith
the palace,"9
managedothersectors.Privateentrepreneurship
probablywas
practicedas well.
Palaimabelievesthat the interestof the wanaxin such commodities
as cloth and oil indicatesspecialstatusfor these goods when so designated,for they arenoted separatelyfromotherpalatiallydirectedbut not
Such"setasides,"disbursedto him throughthe palatial
"royal"
products.20
distributionsystem,mighthavebeenforusein his officialfunctions,which
Palaimasees as primarilyreligious.Oil couldbe givenby the wanaxas an
offeringand/orused on his clothing.

THE WANAXAND TRADE

That a given wanaxon Cretewas not alwaysthe recipientof oil for his
personaluse is indicated,however,by the fact that all stirrupjarsbearing
an indisputablereferenceto the wanaxwere shippedfrom Crete to the
mainland.21The wanax somehow may be seen, therefore, as associated

19. For the function(s)of"collectors,"see Bennet 1992, Carlier1992,

Driessen 1992, Godart 1992.
20. Palaima1997, p. 411.
21. For the purposeof these inscriptions,see van Alfen 1996-1997,
pp.264-271.
22. Haskell et al. in preparation.
23. Catling et al. 1980, Haskell et al.
in preparation.

with producerorworkshopforexport,ratherthanaspatron.Thesejarsare
of the transportvariety(FS 164), most holdingabouttwelveto fourteen
litersof oil.The productionandexportof inscribedstirrupjarsareprimarilya functionof the LM IIIA2-IIIB period.It is likelythat all inscribed
jars(seebelow)andnearlyalluninscribedjarsintendedforoverseastranson Crete.22
The industrywas dominatedby west
portweremanufactured
Crete,whichproducedsomeninetypercentof the inscribedjarsaswell as
most uninscribedpieces for export.CentralCrete participatedtoo, on a
smallerscale,yieldingthe remainingten percentof the corpusof inscribed
piecesanda fairnumberof exporteduninscribedpieces.The majormainlandrecipientsof inscribedstirrupjarswerethe palatialcentersatThebes,
Tiryns, and Mycenae.Single pieceshavebeen recoveredat sites such as
Eleusis,Orchomenos,and Kreusis.
The threecertaininstancesof wa-na-ka-te-roor the abbreviationwa
(TI Z 29, TH Z 839, EL Z 1;the incisedwa on KH Z 16 is a singlesign,
in contrastto the inclusionof the referenceto the wanax as part of a
formulaknownbest on the textileindustrytabletsat Knossos)areall on
jars manufacturedin west Crete and then exportedto mainlandsites.23
Althoughone can hardlydrawsecureinferencesfroma statisticalsample
of three,it may be significantthat these three pieces (also the Khania
piece)aresomewhatanomalous.Neitherof the two whole piecesbelongs
to a certaintypologicalgroup,in contrastto most otherinscribedstirrup

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I54

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W. HASKELL

jars:24TH Z 839 is a slightly piriform (most west Cretan transport stirrup

jars are ovoid to conical) light-on-dark jar that bears painted signs that are
unusually large; EL Z 1 bears the only ruled, two-line stirrupjar inscription, its inscription closest to a tablet-style inscription.25These jars are not
ordinary pieces; TI Z 29 is a dark-on-light fragment that cannot be assessed typologically.
These three jars are part of the larger corpus of Linear B inscribed
stirrupjars, numbering in all over 150 pieces. The inscriptions consist of
one, two, or three words. Those of three words match the formulas seen on
the Knossian sheep tablets, providing the names of the manufacturer,collector, and the place from which the jar, or more likely its contents, originated; it is the collector's name that is replaced on three jars by
wa-na-ka-te-ro.
Keeping in mind that the corpus of inscribed stirrupjars represents a
relatively small database,Palaima nevertheless has made some interesting
observations.26He has noticed that the place-names recorded on stirrup
jars reflect a pattern that suggests regional exportation. The toponyms
e-ra, *56-ko-we, da-*22-to, o-du-ru-wi-jo, wa-to, and probably ]-ka-mo
and si-ra-]ri-jo, known on the Knossos tablets, appear also on inscribed
stirrupjars exported to the Greek mainland. Through contextual analysis
of the tablet toponyms, many of these places have been located, at least in
general terms. Palaima has noted the following points: no toponym appears on stirrupjars found at different locations on the mainland;the toponyms found on stirrupjars at Thebes and Tiryns (o-du-ru-wi-jo, wa-to,
*56-ko-we, and si-ra-ri-jo) are from the outer group of toponyms, that is,
of west Crete, while those on jars at Mycenae (e-ra, ka-mo) are of the inner
group, to be associated with south central Crete (the Phaistos area);the
place-name on the Eleusis jar (da-*22-to) is in the transitional inner/outer
group. wa-na-ka-te-ro appears only on jars bearing outer or inner/outer
toponyms, that is, places some distance from the palace at Knossos.
Palaima goes on to note that, in the well-documented wool industry,
officials at Knossos were interested primarily in activities within its own,
central province.With respect to towns of the outer group, it appearsthat
officials in such places enjoyed a level of autonomy; Knossian bureaucratswere concernedwith these places only when there was a specific need,
on a sort of ad hoc basis. Under these circumstances,the presence or absence of Knossos would not have been crucial to the functioning of these
centers.
Palaima'soverall point is that, from the perspective of inscribed stirrup jars, there appearsto be evidence of a pattern of regional exportation,
a given region concerned with specific markets:west Crete was concerned
with Tiryns, Thebes, and Eleusis, central Crete with Mycenae. Such a
regional pattern could have existed with or without a central controlling
authority at Knossos. It should be noted that Palaimarightly demonstrates
that the activities involving inscribed stirrupjar cannot be used, therefore,
as supporting evidence for the later dating of the Knossian Linear B archives, as has been done by Leonard Palmer and others.27
While Palaima'spoint remains valid from the perspective of inscribed
stirrup jars, such jars represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of
LM IIIA2-IIIB transport stirrupjar production on Crete. In fact by far

24. Haskell et al. in preparation.

25. Bennett 1986, p. 143.
26. Palaima1984.
27. See Hallager 1987, with references.

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REGIONAL

28. See Haskell 1981, esp. p. 227,

fig. l:a-d, p. 229, fig. 2:a-d, p. 233,
fig. 4:a-c; unusualfor a west Cretan
jar is that on p. 231, fig. 3:c, with its
somewhatelaborateshoulderdecoration, but this may be a reflectionof its
relativelyearlydate (IIIA2).
29. Tzedakis 1969, p. 399, figs. 810, p. 400, figs. 11-14.
30. Haskell 1981, p. 234, fig. 5:a, b.
31. Vandenabeeleand Olivier 1979,
pp.266-267.
32. E.g., at Knossos:Popham 1964,
pls. 3:a-i, 4:a-c; analyzedcentralCretan octopusjars at Thebes: Raison
1968, figs. 33, 45, 48, 53, 56.
33. Popham 1984, pl. 110:a-c;
Sacconi 1974, p. 178, pl. LX, bottom.
34. Tzedakis 1996, p. 1124.
35. Demakopoulouand DivariValakou1994-1995, pp. 326-327,
pl. II:a,b.
36. Ca. 0.30 m in height (most inscribedstirrupjars are at least 0.40 m
in height). Aravantinos(1980) discusses the name Glaukos,which has
mythologicalassociationswith Mycenaean Greece and Crete.
37. Farnouxand Driessen 1991,
pp. 80-81, 82-84, 83, figs. 13, 14.

TRADE

PATTERNS

IN

MYCENAEAN

CRETE

I55

most Cretan transport jars found on the mainland are not inscribed. In
terms of numbers,west Crete dominated this export enterprise, reflecting
the situation suggested by the inscribed pieces. Central Crete too exported
to Greece, but on a smaller scale.
The pattern of export of uninscribed pieces to Greece does not seem
to match very nicely the pattern noted by Palaima in the case of inscribed
pieces:west Cretan uninscribedjars arefound in high numbers at the three
major mainland sites under consideration,Tiryns, Thebes, and Mycenae,
whereas Mycenae had seen only inner-group toponyms on the inscribed
pieces. South central pieces are found at Thebes and are palaeographically
dominated by outer-group sources. It is difficult, therefore, to maintain
the exclusive bilateral arrangementssuggested by the inscribed pieces, but
to be fair to Palaima, the corpus of inscribed stirrupjars makes such conclusions tentative at best.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that inscribed pieces explicitly referring to the wanax are all of west Cretan provenience, according to the
relevant toponyms and chemical analysis of the clay fabric.The region of
west Crete produced oil destined for export to the mainland, and somehow "royal"workshops were involved in this.
The regional pattern of production and export hinted at by the inscribedpieces receivesfurthertypological and palaeographicsupport.West
Cretan jars tend to be fairly tall and ovoid in shape, demonstrating a remarkabledegree of uniformity.28Many arelight-on-dark. Most often decoration consists of simple bands; seldom is more elaborate decoration in
evidence, such as the octopus motif seen so commonly on Chaniote fine
ware stirrupjars.29Occasionally a jar is left undecorated. Inscriptions usually appear on shoulders, outnumbering body inscriptions in about a 3:2
ratio.The charactersare relativelylarge, competently done, but sometimes
carelessly rendered.
Central Cretanjars mark a typological and palaeographicalcontrast.30
Body shape and proportion vary far more than is the case for west Cretan
jars. Shape ranges from ovoid to piriform to biconical. On broader examples, the maximum diameter may be at less than half the vessel's height.
At times a disk foot or splaying base is seen. It is curious that the ideogram
for a stirrupjar at Knossos (K 778)31seems to show a disk foot, although
one must not draw too much from a simple schematic rendering. Decoration is alwaysdark-on-light;light-on-dark is not seen. Motifs can be simple
bands and more elaborate schemes such as the octopus motif (a displayed
body or a derivative deep wavy line);32shoulder zones often bear fairly
complex patterns. A very few central Cretan jars are inscribed, representing just about ten percent of the entire inscribed stirrupjar corpus. This
group includes the well-known piece from the Unexplored Mansion at
Knossos (KN Z 1716;33cf. AR Z 134 and MI Z 435) and most likely two
relativelysmall inscribed stirrupjars found at Mycenae (MY Z 715, 717);36
the Mycenae pieces may be the smallest extant inscribed stirrupjars anywhere. Inscriptions nearly always appear on the shoulder and usually are
in carefullyrendered, small characters.
A subgroup of central Cretan inscribed jars reflects a surprising level
of apparentilliteracy,typified by jars found at Mallia and Thebes. MA Z 2
at Mallia37bears a somewhat odd inscription. Its second character,-no, is

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HALFORD

I56

W. HASKELL

unique with its horizontal strokes, and suggests that the painter may not
have been intimately familiarwith Linear B. The signs on a series of similarly poorly inscribed jars at Thebes (TH Z 866-868) seem to be more a
part of the decoration than informational in character,38although Peter G.
van Alfen argues that even these and other challenging inscriptions were
meant to be read.39Another series of jars at Thebes may be related as well
(TH Z 859-862), the jars bearing single marksthought by many to be pot
marks ratherthan Linear B signs; in any case these marks are paralleledat
Knossos itself.40
In the 1980 analysis program of inscribed stirrup jars,41the poorly
inscribed jars at Thebes (the Mallia piece had not been excavated) were
thought to be of local Theban manufacture,a safe conclusion, for at that
time chemical analysis was unable to distinguish between the Boiotian
and central Cretan profiles. Recent petrographicwork by Peter Day, however, shows that the pieces at Thebes in fact come from central Crete, and
specifically south central Crete.42
It is well to note here the significance of the petrographic contribution to our understanding of the proveniences of these jars. Petrography
has resolved the chemical Boiotia/central Crete overlap-in favor of central Crete-in reassigning "local"inscribed stirrupjars at Thebes to central Crete, thereby showing that inscribing stirrup jars was not at all a
mainland custom. Remember that these are the pieces that had been
thought to be local Theban in the most economical interpretation, given
the chemistry's inability to discriminate. Petrographyalso placed a central
Cretan fabric type squarelyin southcentral Crete. The fabric of these jars
is typical of much of the pottery found at Knossos, and originally was
thought, therefore, to be of a clay source not far from Knossos. The petrographic work reminds us that a "local"ware, as defined by its high frequency of occurrence at a site, does not necessarily imply nearby production. Everydaylocal wares could be producedat some distance,near suitable
clay sources, and then transportedto the place(s) of use. At this point it is
impossible to resolve the issue of "control":did Knossos control pottery
production in south central Crete, or did centers operate semi-independently or entirelyindependentlyas suppliersof a dominantware at Knossos?
The south central Cretan attribution for this fabric has further implications. Recall that Palaima has noted that toponyms found on jars at
Mycenae (MY Z 202 with e-ra, MY Z 664 with ka-mo) were of the inner,
that is, south central, Cretan zone. MY Z 202 has been analyzed chemically and it seems quite certain to be of west Cretan clay.43If e-ra truly is of
the inner group of toponyms, and there seems to be little thought otherwise, then the south central zone as defined by toponyms shades into the
west Cretan chemical zone. This should neither surprise nor alarm us, as
we cannot expect ancient activity to conform to modern reconstructions
of pottery production zones!44

Archaeological support for the productivity of south central Crete as

it relates to transportstirrupjars is provided at Kommos. Transportstirrup
jars, including examples decorated with the octopus motif, occur at this
south central Cretan port site in relatively high numbers.45The role of

38. Killen in Catling et al. 1980,

p. 91.
39. Van Alfen 1996-1997, pp. 254259.
40. Raison 1968, pl. CXX. Inspec-

tionof the fragments

at Knossosshows
them to belong to an amphora.
41. Catling et al. 1980.
42. R. E. Jones and P. M. Day in
Farnouxand Driessen 1991, p. 97; Day
and Haskell 1995, pp. 97-98 (Day's
"NorthcentralCrete"attributionis
now, in the light of more detailed
study,to be understoodas "South
centralCrete").
43. Catling et al. 1980, no. 45.
44. Killen in Catling et al. 1980,
p. 92.
45. Watrous1992, pp. 135-136,
143.

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REGIONAL

46. Haskell et al. in preparation.

47. Hirschfeld 1996, pp. 291,294.
48. See Palaima 1991, pp. 280-281,
293-295.

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MYCENAEAN

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Kommositselfin the internationaloil tradecannotbe adequatelyassessed,

althoughit is temptingto assumethat,givenits positionon the sea,it may
haveparticipatedto some degree.
It appears,then, that centralCretanvasepainterswere quitecapable
of producinga few highly competentinscriptions(as on AR Z 1, KN Z
1716, MI Z 4, MY Z 715, 717), as well as some trulyincompetentones
suggestingan impressivedegreeof illiteracy.How this relatesto the issue
of the dateof the Knossosarchivesremainsuncertain,as the sheeptablets
at Knossosdemonstrateclearlythat palatialofficialshad varyingdegrees
of interestwithin the industry,rangingfromthe exerciseof tight control
to payingsporadicattention.Certainlythe workshopsproducingthe vases
with illiteratepaintersmust have enjoyeda certaindegreeof autonomy
froma literateKnossianpalace,an indicationof managementat a localor
regionallevel.
The overallpatternthat emergesfrom the typologicaland palaeographicalsurveyof Cretantransportstirrupjarswithin the Aegeanreinforcesthis pictureof independenceandregionalism.Khania,the Kydonia
of the tablets,operatedas a secondordercenterat the time of the tablets,
andmaywell havemanagedthe productionandexportof oil to mainland
Greece.If at this time Knossosno longeroperatedas a centralcontrolling
wouldhavebeen ableto
authority,then placessuchas Khaniapresumably
continueon theirown in theirregion,now entirelyindependently.Some
sites correspondingto toponymsthroughoutwest Crete may have operated at the behestof Khania,othersindependently.
Thus far we have restrictedourselvesto intra-Aegeantrade or exchange.A few transportstirrupjarswereshippedfartheraway,mostnotably east to Cyprusand the Levantbut alsowest to Sardinia,SouthItaly,
and Sicily.The currenttransportstirrupjaranalysisprojectis revealingan
MostAegeantransinterestingpatternespeciallywithrespectto the East.46
found
on
and
in
the
Levant
come from central
port stirrupjars
Cyprus
Crete,perhapssouthcentralCrete.Manyof thesepiecesbearthe octopus
motif,which as we haveseen is a hallmarkof centralCrete.As expected,
none bearsa LinearB inscription,but severalbearincised charactersof
the Cypro-Minoanscript.In view of the relativeabsenceof this scripton
it is likelythatthesejarsweremarkedaftertheirarrivalon Cyprus.
Crete,47
Veryfew,if any,west Cretanjarsappearat sites in the East,althoughthe
mixedcargoof the Uluburunshipwreckremindsus to be cautious.In any
case,the generalpatternis clear:whereasthe regionof west Cretedominatedactivitywith the Greekmainland,providingsome ninetypercentof
the knowninscribedstirrupjars and an equalproportionof uninscribed
jars intendedfor that market,the centralCretanregion had the upper
hand in the East, sendingsome numbersof octopusand bandedjars to
Cyprus,wheresome mayhavebeen transshippedfarthereast to destinationsin the Levant.The generalpictureagainis one of Creteoperatingon
a regionalbasis,with or without some degree,greator small,of cooperation or supervisionfromKnossos.
That Knossositself at the time of the tabletshad an interestin the
The
Cypriotmarketis madeclearby the termku-pi-ri-join the tablets.48

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term modifies, among other things, oil, perhapsdestined for Cyprus.

John Killenhas gone one step furtherand has madethe suggestionthat
one of whose
ku-pi-ri-jo at Knossosmay be the name of a "collector,"
In anycase,it is
functionswasto managetradewith the Cypriotmarket.49
quiteclearthat Knossoshad some sortof interest(s)in Cyprus.

CONCLUSIONS
Within the Aegean,Cretehad a nearmonopolyoverthe movementof oil
in FS 164 stirrupjars,to judgefromthe productionplacesof largestirrup
jars intendedfor export.Virtuallyall, if not all, FS 164 stirrupjars intendedfortradefoundthroughoutthe centralandeasternMediterranean,
from Sardiniato the Levant,were manufactured
on Crete,most in west
Cretebut also a fairnumberin centralCrete.
Vastnumbersof Cretantransportjars appearin domesticbasement
depositsat sites such as Thebes,Tiryns,and Mycenae.At Mycenae,inspectionof suchdepositsin the House of the Columns,the House of the
Oil Merchant,andthe House of the Wine Merchantindicatesthattransportstirrupjarsof Cretanorigingreatlyoutnumberlocallyproducedpieces.
Mainlandpotteryshopscertainlydid producetransport-sizestirrupjars,50
thebest-knowndepositperhapsbeingthatof the Potter'sShopat Zygouries
(ten nearlyidenticaljars51
plusthreelargeronesof similarshapeanddecoration).52
Manyof thesevasesareof relativelyfine fabric,however,in contrastto the gritty"oatmeal"
fabricof largeCretanstirrupjars.In typological terms,mainlandlargestirrupjars aremuch like overgrownfine ware
stirrupjars,with straphandles(versusthe roundor ovalhandlesof Cretan
on the
transportjars) and firingholes. Most likely,no jar manufactured
mainlandbearsa LinearB inscription.
Evidencefor the participationof mainlandersin the movementof oil
maybe restrictedto the ubiquitousclosedfinewarevesselsfoundthroughoutthe easternMediterranean.
The questionof atwhosebehestwasCretan
oil preparedand shippedto the mainlandand even beyondthe Aegean
opens up all sorts of scenarios,and goes well beyondthe scope of this
paper.Possibilitiesincludemainlandexploitationof Cretanresourcesdirectly,or throughthe interventionof Knossosand/or Kydonia,etc., or
exploitationby Knossiansand/or Kydoniansand othersfor theirbenefit
alone.
Within Crete,highlydistinctivetypologicalandpalaeographical
differencesbetweenjarsproducedin west Creteandthose producedin centralCretesuggesta regionallybasedsystem,whetheror not bureaucrats
at
Knossosexercisedfinal,overarchingauthority.John Bennet has pointed
out thatwith the risein prosperitythatwouldaccompanythe Mycenaean
administration
at Knossosandwith an improvementin the techniquesof
massproduction,one mightexpectto see localpotteryshopsflourishing.53
Such regionalismcould be seen equallywell in the absenceof a central
controlling authority sitting at Knossos.54

Furthersupportfor the regionalnatureof this activitycomes from

the exportof transportstirrupjars to the easternMediterranean,
which
seemsto havebeencontrolledlargelyif not exclusivelyfromcentralCrete.

49. Killen 1995.

50. For discussionsof the typology
and petrographicwork on three characteristicallymainlandpieces at Thebes,
see Day and Haskell 1995, pp. 96-98;
for illustrations,Raison 1968, figs. 68,
70 (TH 825), and 69, 71 (TH 826).
51. Blegen 1928, p. 141, fig. 132,
right, p. 149, fig. 139, p. 151.
52. Blegen 1928, p. 150, fig. 140,
p. 151.
53. Bennet 1985, p. 248.
54. Haskell 1983.

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REGIONAL

TRADE

PATTERNS

IN MYCENAEAN

CRETE

I59

Relative to all Aegean pottery in eastern contexts, Cretan transportstirrup

jars form a tiny proportion. Here, as noted above, mainland producersand
packagers seem to have had the controlling position, as reflected by the
masses of mainland-producedfine ware closed shapes, many of which may
have contained perfumed oil.
The three inscribedstirrupjarsbearingdefinite referencesto the wanax,
all of west Cretan manufacture (according to the clay analysis and the
evidence of the associated toponyms), reflect high-status interest in a segment of what certainly was a flourishing export enterprise on Crete. It is
likely that central bureaucratshad radicallyvarying interests in this activity, as was the case with the wool industry.The contents of the wanax jars
must have been of special status, sent from one region of Crete to mainland centers.These jars provide a glimpse, still imperfectly understood, of
the specific role of the wanax in the economy of the Late Bronze Age
Aegean.

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