The Kamares Cave, one of the four major Minoan sacred caves in central Crete, was the focus of a study conducted in 2002 and 2003 by the Kamares Cave Project (KaCP). This project was carried out as a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Herakleion and the Canadian Institute, and was co-directed by Loeta Tyree (American School of Classical Studies at Athens) and Aleydis Van de Moortel (University of Tennessee, Knoxville).
Visible from the Palace of Phaistos, the cave attracted considerable scholarly interest in the early 1890s, when Cretan shepherds first discovered pottery that came to be known as Kamares Ware. To better understand the cult activities that took place at the sanctuary and re-evaluate its importance in the Minoan world, KaCP reinvestigated the finds from the 1913 excavation of Kamares by the British School in Athens. The various pottery styles found within the cave suggest that Minoans visited the site during all periods of the Bronze Age. Although human or animal figurines commonly found at other Minoan sacred sites are relatively scarce, as are votive offerings made from precious materials, the vast assemblage of ceramic deposits firmly establishes the cave as a site of ritual activity. Notably, a large number of collar-necked jars associated with the First Palace at Phaistos suggest a connection between the cave sanctuary and the palatial elites.
Select Bibliography
Van de Moortel, A. 2006. “A reexamination of the pottery from the Kamares Cave.” 73-93. In Pottery and Society: The impact of recent studies in Minoan pottery. Gold medal colloquium in honor of Philip P. Betancourt. 104th annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, New Orleans, Louisiana, 5 January 2003. M. Wiener, J.L. Warner, J. Polonsky, & E.E. Hayes eds. Boston: Archaeological Institute of America.
Van de Moortel, A. 2011. “The Phaistos Palace and the Kamares Cave: A Special Relationship.” 306-318. In Our Cups Are Full: Pottery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age. Papers Presented to Jeremy B. Rutter on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. W. Gaus, M. Lindblom, R.A.K. Smith & J.C. Wright eds. Oxford: Archaeopress.
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