1354067

Wanax to Wanax: Regional Trade Patterns in Mycenaean CreteAuthor(s): Halford W. HaskellSource: Hesperia Supplements, Vol. 33, ΧΑΡΙΣ: Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr (2004),pp. 151-160Published by: The American School of Classical Studies at AthensStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1354067 .

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CHAPTER 8

WANAX T 0 WANAX:

REGIONAL TRADE PATTERNS

IN MYCENAEAN CRETE

by Halford W. Haskell

INTRODUCTION

1. Immerwahr 1960. 2. I1 am grateful to the anonymous

reviewer for helpful comments, and to Peter G. van Alfen and Thomas G. Palaima for allowing me to cite proofs of forthcoming articles (now van Alfen 1996-1997, Palaima 2000).

3. Conveniently discussed by Palaima (1991).

4. Smith 1992-1993, p. 213. 5. Shelmerdine 1985. 6. Foster 1977. 7. As, for example, Minoan Crete as

postulated by Wiener (1991, p. 340).

Sara Immerwahr's seminal work on Bronze Age trade1 remains the foun- dation upon which much subsequent scholarship is based. It is, therefore, most appropriate, as well as a great honor, to dedicate this work to Profes- sor Immerwahr, my teacher and mentor.2

Late Bronze Age trade is most readily apparent through 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 administrative complexes 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 to- ward 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 fuller understanding of Mycenaean involvement in trade. For example, the large-scale bronze-working industry at Pylos certainly required the importation of bronze in bulk, yet there are only indirect references to this in the tablets.4 The perfumed oil industries at Pyloss5 and Knossos6 necessitated 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 pal- aces were involved include several possibilities, none exclusive of another, with various mechanisms most likely existing side by side.7 Directed trade might seem to have the most obvious connection with a palatial administration, but such control would not have excluded semi-independent trad- ing activity or even purely privately managed trade. Linear B evidence for palatially directed trade or at least movement of goods includes the references already noted, that is, cloth for Thebes and chariot wheels for Pylos, and this evidence is supplemented by archaeological evidence.



HALFORD W. HASKELL

A series of fine, medium-size stirrup jars 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.8 Even though one cannot be certain as to whether local Mycenaean bureaucrats or 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, presumably this

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 ex-

change.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 primarily from "his religious/ritual/cultic/ceremonial activities."'? His special status is re- inforced by, among other things, his being the only nondivinity to be allot- ted offerings of perfumed oil."1

What was the role of the wanax in the palatial economic system gen- erally and in trade specifically? In what ways did trade or exchange en- hance 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, well- defined segment of the palatially directed economy, as references to the wanax occur only thirty-one times in the Linear B corpus."3 His chief associations are with the textile industry and the oil industry-each an

important component within the Mycenaean palatial economic system- and now also with javelins.14 The 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" qual- ity.'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.17 At 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 authority over the purple-dye industry there. It has been suggested that Knossos also maintained a monopoly over this enterprise in the Mycenaean period.18

8. See Hirschfeld 1996. 9. See Cline 1995. 10. Palaima 1997, pp. 411-412;

see also Palaima 1995, pp. 119-133. 11. Palaima, 1995, pp. 133-134. 12. Carlier 1984. 13. Carlier 1996, pp. 569-570. 14. See Shelmerdine and Bennet

1995, pp. 123-132; Palaima 2000, pp.269,271.

15. Shelmerdine 1985, pp. 129-130; 1997, pp. 390-393.

16. Palaima 1997, p. 407. At Pylos also the wanax apparently is associated with the Northeast Workshop: see Shelmerdine and Bennet 1995, pp. 123-132; Palaima 2000, pp. 269, 271.

17. Palaima 1997, pp. 407-408. 18. Palaima 1991, pp. 289-291;

1995, p. 133.

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REGIONAL TRADE PATTERNS IN MYCENAEAN CRETE

The wanax has a documented direct connection, albeit limited, with the oil industry, to judge from the few inscribed stirrup jar inscriptions that include the adjective wa-na-ka-te-ro (TI Z 29, TH Z 839; abbrevi- ated to wa on EL Z 1; the single sign wa incised on disk of KH Z 16). He also receives allotments of oil at Pylos.

Both the textile and oil industries illustrate that variation in management or beneficiary could exist within a given industry. The wanax was intimately connected with a highly restricted segment of these industries, while "collectors," officials who maintained some sort of connection with the palace,"9 managed other sectors. Private entrepreneurship probably was practiced as well.

Palaima believes that the interest of the wanax in such commodities as cloth and oil indicates special status for these goods when so desig- nated, for they are noted separately from other palatially directed but not "royal" products.20 Such "set asides," disbursed to him through the palatial distribution system, might have been for use in his official functions, which Palaima sees as primarily religious. Oil could be given by the wanax as an offering and/or used on his clothing.

THE WANAX AND TRADE

19. For the function(s) of"collectors," see Bennet 1992, Carlier 1992, Driessen 1992, Godart 1992.

20. Palaima 1997, p. 411. 21. For the purpose of these in-

scriptions, see van Alfen 1996-1997, pp.264-271.

22. Haskell et al. in preparation. 23. Catling et al. 1980, Haskell et al.

in preparation.

That a given wanax on Crete was not always the recipient of oil for his personal use is indicated, however, by the fact that all stirrup jars bearing an indisputable reference to the wanax were shipped from Crete to the mainland.21 The wanax somehow may be seen, therefore, as associated with producer or workshop for export, rather than as patron. These jars are of the transport variety (FS 164), most holding about twelve to fourteen liters of oil. The production and export of inscribed stirrup jars are primarily a function of the LM IIIA2-IIIB period. It is likely that all inscribed jars (see below) and nearly all uninscribed jars intended for overseas transport were manufactured on Crete.22 The industry was dominated by west Crete, which produced some ninety percent of the inscribed jars as well as most uninscribed pieces for export. Central Crete participated too, on a smaller scale, yielding the remaining ten percent of the corpus of inscribed pieces and a fair number of exported uninscribed pieces. The major mainland recipients of inscribed stirrup jars were the palatial centers at Thebes, Tiryns, and Mycenae. Single pieces have been recovered at sites such as Eleusis, Orchomenos, and Kreusis.

The three certain instances of wa-na-ka-te-ro or the abbreviation wa (TI Z 29, TH Z 839, EL Z 1; the incised wa on KH Z 16 is a single sign, in contrast to the inclusion of the reference to the wanax as part of a formula known best on the textile industry tablets at Knossos) are all on jars manufactured in west Crete and then exported to mainland sites.23 Although one can hardly draw secure inferences from a statistical sample of three, it may be significant that these three pieces (also the Khania piece) are somewhat anomalous. Neither of the two whole pieces belongs to a certain typological group, in contrast to most other inscribed stirrup

I53



HALFORD W. HASKELL

jars:24 TH 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 stirrup jar inscription, its inscription closest to a tablet-style inscription.25 These 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

stirrup jars, 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, col-

lector, and the place from which the jar, or more likely its contents, origi- nated; 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 stirrup jars represents a

relatively small database, Palaima nevertheless has made some interesting observations.26 He 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

stirrup jars 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 stirrup jars found at different locations on the mainland; the toponyms found on stirrup jars 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 appears that officials in such places enjoyed a level of autonomy; Knossian bureaucrats were concerned with 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's overall point is that, from the perspective of inscribed stir-

rup jars, there appears to 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 Palaima rightly demonstrates that the activities involving inscribed stirrup jar 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's point remains valid from the perspective of inscribed

stirrup jars, such jars represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of LM IIIA2-IIIB transport stirrup jar production on Crete. In fact by far

24. Haskell et al. in preparation. 25. Bennett 1986, p. 143. 26. Palaima 1984. 27. See Hallager 1987, with refer-

ences.

I54




28. See Haskell 1981, esp. p. 227, fig. l:a-d, p. 229, fig. 2:a-d, p. 233, fig. 4:a-c; unusual for a west Cretan

jar is that on p. 231, fig. 3:c, with its somewhat elaborate shoulder decoration, but this may be a reflection of its relatively early date (IIIA2).

29. Tzedakis 1969, p. 399, figs. 8- 10, p. 400, figs. 11-14.

30. Haskell 1981, p. 234, fig. 5:a, b. 31. Vandenabeele and Olivier 1979,

pp.266-267. 32. E.g., at Knossos: Popham 1964,

pls. 3:a-i, 4:a-c; analyzed central Cre- tan octopus jars 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. Demakopoulou and Divari-

Valakou 1994-1995, pp. 326-327, pl. II:a, b.

36. Ca. 0.30 m in height (most inscribed stirrup jars are at least 0.40 m in height). Aravantinos (1980) dis- cusses the name Glaukos, which has mythological associations with Myce- naean Greece and Crete.

37. Farnoux and Driessen 1991, pp. 80-81, 82-84, 83, figs. 13, 14.

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 uninscribed jars are found 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 arrangements suggested by the inscribed pieces, but to be fair to Palaima, the corpus of inscribed stirrup jars makes such conclusions tentative at best.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that inscribed pieces explicitly refer-

ring 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 inscribed pieces receives further typological and palaeographic support. West Cretan jars tend to be fairly tall and ovoid in shape, demonstrating a re- markable degree of uniformity.28 Many are light-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 stirrup jars.29 Occasionally a jar is left undecorated. Inscriptions usually appear on shoulders, outnumbering body inscriptions in about a 3:2 ratio. The characters are relatively large, competently done, but sometimes carelessly rendered.

Central Cretan jars mark a typological and palaeographical contrast.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 ex-

amples, 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 stirrup jar at Knossos (K 778)31 seems to show a disk foot, although one must not draw too much from a simple schematic rendering. Decora- tion is always dark-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);32 shoulder zones often bear fairly complex patterns. A very few central Cretan jars are inscribed, represent- ing just about ten percent of the entire inscribed stirrup jar corpus. This group includes the well-known piece from the Unexplored Mansion at Knossos (KN Z 1716;33 cf. AR Z 134 and MI Z 435) and most likely two relatively small inscribed stirrup jars found at Mycenae (MY Z 715, 717);36 the Mycenae pieces may be the smallest extant inscribed stirrup jars any- where. Inscriptions nearly always appear on the shoulder and usually are in carefully rendered, small characters.

A subgroup of central Cretan inscribed jars reflects a surprising level of apparent illiteracy, typified by jars found at Mallia and Thebes. MA Z 2 at Mallia37 bears a somewhat odd inscription. Its second character, -no, is

I55



HALFORD W. HASKELL

unique with its horizontal strokes, and suggests that the painter may not have been intimately familiar with Linear B. The signs on a series of simi- larly poorly inscribed jars at Thebes (TH Z 866-868) seem to be more a part of the decoration than informational in character,38 although Peter G. van Alfen argues that even these and other challenging inscriptions were meant to be read.39 Another series of jars at Thebes may be related as well (TH Z 859-862), the jars bearing single marks thought by many to be pot marks rather than Linear B signs; in any case these marks are paralleled at Knossos itself.40

In the 1980 analysis program of inscribed stirrup jars,41 the 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 petrographic work 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 contribu- tion 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 stirrup jars 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. Petrography also placed a central Cretan fabric type squarely in south central 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 fre- quency of occurrence at a site, does not necessarily imply nearby production. Everyday local wares could be produced at some distance, near suitable clay sources, and then transported to 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 entirely independently as suppliers of a dominant ware 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 chemi- cally and it seems quite certain to be of west Cretan clay.43 If e-ra truly is of the inner group of toponyms, and there seems to be little thought other- wise, 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 transport stirrup jars is provided at Kommos. Transport stirrup jars, including examples decorated with the octopus motif, occur at this south central Cretan port site in relatively high numbers.45 The role of

38. Killen in Catling et al. 1980, p. 91.

39. Van Alfen 1996-1997, pp. 254- 259.

40. Raison 1968, pl. CXX. Inspec- tion of the fragments at Knossos shows them to belong to an amphora.

41. Catling et al. 1980. 42. R. E. Jones and P. M. Day in

Farnoux and Driessen 1991, p. 97; Day and Haskell 1995, pp. 97-98 (Day's "North central Crete" attribution is now, in the light of more detailed study, to be understood as "South central Crete").

43. Catling et al. 1980, no. 45. 44. Killen in Catling et al. 1980,

p. 92. 45. Watrous 1992, pp. 135-136,

143.

I56




46. Haskell et al. in preparation. 47. Hirschfeld 1996, pp. 291,294. 48. See Palaima 1991, pp. 280-281,

293-295.

Kommos itself in the international oil trade cannot be adequately assessed, although it is tempting to assume that, given its position on the sea, it may have participated to some degree.

It appears, then, that central Cretan vase painters were quite capable of producing a few highly competent inscriptions (as on AR Z 1, KN Z 1716, MI Z 4, MY Z 715, 717), as well as some truly incompetent ones suggesting an impressive degree of illiteracy. How this relates to the issue of the date of the Knossos archives remains uncertain, as the sheep tablets at Knossos demonstrate clearly that palatial officials had varying degrees of interest within the industry, ranging from the exercise of tight control to paying sporadic attention. Certainly the workshops producing the vases with illiterate painters must have enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy from a literate Knossian palace, an indication of management at a local or regional level.

The overall pattern that emerges from the typological and palaeographical survey of Cretan transport stirrup jars within the Aegean rein- forces this picture of independence and regionalism. Khania, the Kydonia of the tablets, operated as a second order center at the time of the tablets, and may well have managed the production and export of oil to mainland Greece. If at this time Knossos no longer operated as a central controlling authority, then places such as Khania presumably would have been able to continue on their own in their region, now entirely independently. Some sites corresponding to toponyms throughout west Crete may have operated at the behest of Khania, others independently.

Thus far we have restricted ourselves to intra-Aegean trade or exchange. A few transport stirrup jars were shipped farther away, most nota- bly east to Cyprus and the Levant but also west to Sardinia, South Italy, and Sicily. The current transport stirrup jar analysis project is revealing an interesting pattern especially with respect to the East.46 Most Aegean transport stirrup jars found on Cyprus and in the Levant come from central Crete, perhaps south central Crete. Many of these pieces bear the octopus motif, which as we have seen is a hallmark of central Crete. As expected, none bears a Linear B inscription, but several bear incised characters of the Cypro-Minoan script. In view of the relative absence of this script on Crete,47 it is likely that these jars were marked after their arrival on Cyprus. Very few, if any, west Cretan jars appear at sites in the East, although the mixed cargo of the Uluburun shipwreck reminds us to be cautious. In any case, the general pattern is clear: whereas the region of west Crete dominated activity with the Greek mainland, providing some ninety percent of the known inscribed stirrup jars and an equal proportion of uninscribed jars intended for that market, the central Cretan region had the upper hand in the East, sending some numbers of octopus and banded jars to Cyprus, where some may have been transshipped farther east to destina- tions in the Levant. The general picture again is one of Crete operating on a regional basis, with or without some degree, great or small, of coopera- tion or supervision from Knossos.

That Knossos itself at the time of the tablets had an interest in the Cypriot market is made clear by the term ku-pi-ri-jo in the tablets.48 The

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HALFORD W. HASKELL

term modifies, among other things, oil, perhaps destined for Cyprus. John Killen has gone one step further and has made the suggestion that ku-pi-ri-jo at Knossos may be the name of a "collector," one of whose functions was to manage trade with the Cypriot market.49 In any case, it is quite clear that Knossos had some sort of interest(s) in Cyprus.

CONCLUSIONS

Within the Aegean, Crete had a near monopoly over the movement of oil in FS 164 stirrup jars, to judge from the production places of large stirrup jars intended for export. Virtually all, if not all, FS 164 stirrup jars intended for trade found throughout the central and eastern Mediterranean, from Sardinia to the Levant, were manufactured on Crete, most in west Crete but also a fair number in central Crete.

Vast numbers of Cretan transport jars appear in domestic basement deposits at sites such as Thebes, Tiryns, and Mycenae. At Mycenae, in- spection of such deposits in the House of the Columns, the House of the Oil Merchant, and the House of the Wine Merchant indicates that transport stirrup jars of Cretan origin greatly outnumber locally produced pieces. Mainland pottery shops certainly did produce transport-size stirrup jars,50 the best-known deposit perhaps being that of the Potter's Shop at Zygouries (ten nearly identical jars51 plus three larger ones of similar shape and decoration).52 Many of these vases are of relatively fine fabric, however, in contrast to the gritty "oatmeal" fabric of large Cretan stirrup jars. In typological terms, mainland large stirrup jars are much like overgrown fine ware stirrup jars, with strap handles (versus the round or oval handles of Cretan transport jars) and firing holes. Most likely, no jar manufactured on the mainland bears a Linear B inscription.

Evidence for the participation of mainlanders in the movement of oil may be restricted to the ubiquitous closed fine ware vessels found throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The question of at whose behest was Cretan oil prepared and shipped to the mainland and even beyond the Aegean opens up all sorts of scenarios, and goes well beyond the scope of this paper. Possibilities include mainland exploitation of Cretan resources di- rectly, or through the intervention of Knossos and/or Kydonia, etc., or exploitation by Knossians and/or Kydonians and others for their benefit alone.

Within Crete, highly distinctive typological and palaeographical dif- ferences between jars produced in west Crete and those produced in central Crete suggest a regionally based system, whether or not bureaucrats at Knossos exercised final, overarching authority. John Bennet has pointed out that with the rise in prosperity that would accompany the Mycenaean administration at Knossos and with an improvement in the techniques of mass production, one might expect to see local pottery shops flourishing.53 Such regionalism could be seen equally well in the absence of a central controlling authority sitting at Knossos.54

Further support for the regional nature of this activity comes from the export of transport stirrup jars to the eastern Mediterranean, which seems to have been controlled largely if not exclusively from central Crete.

49. Killen 1995. 50. For discussions of the typology

and petrographic work on three charac- teristically mainland pieces 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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Relative to all Aegean pottery in eastern contexts, Cretan transport stirrup jars form a tiny proportion. Here, as noted above, mainland producers and

packagers seem to have had the controlling position, as reflected by the masses of mainland-produced fine ware closed shapes, many of which may have contained perfumed oil.

The three inscribed stirrup jars bearing definite references to 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 bureaucrats had radically varying interests in this activ-

ity, 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.

REFERENCES

Alfen, P. van. 1996-1997. "The Linear B Inscribed Stirrup Jars as Links in an Administrative Chain," Minos 31-32, pp. 251-274.

Aravantinos, V. 1980. "The Inscribed Stirrup-Jar Fragment MY Z 717," Kadmos 19, pp. 83-85.

Bennet, J. 1985. "The Structure of the Linear B Administration at Knos- sos," AJA 89, pp. 231-249.

. 1992. "'Collectors' or 'Own- ers'? An Examination of Their Possible Functions within the Palatial Economy of LM III Crete," in Olivier 1992, pp. 65-101.

Bennett, E. 1986. "The Inscribed Stir- rup Jar and Pinacology," in 1iAt'a ?Tm t;q Fr?pytov E. MouAovav A: AO,'vat (BtLXioOxrl -vq ; ev A0iqvaCL

ApaxLoXoyLxjg; ETalpeoa; 103), Athens, pp. 136-143.

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