Knossos, the Little Palace

Book excerpt: The Little Palace at Knossos, excavated by Evans and Mackenzie from 1905 - 10, remains the largest neo-palatial building within the Minoan town of Knossos, and to a large extent mirrors the history of the Palace itself. The present work effectively constitutes an excavation report of the LP, publishing for the first time entries from the daybooks of Evans and Mackenzie and many original excavation photographs. The volume provides an extremely detailed architectural account, supported by numerous plans and elevations. It incorporates the results of the 1995 restoration programme carried out by the 23rd Ephoreia and publishes sherd material then collected. A lengthy pottery chapter presents the LP sherd material from Evans's excavations, housed in the Stratigraphical Museum, and also complete vases in Herakleion. Clay tablets and sealings are discussed; small finds presented (many for the first time). The final chapter offers a thorough appraisal of the LP's history, and, in particular, deals with the thorny issue of 're-occupation' and the final destruction of the building in LM IIIA2 (i.e. contemporary with the Palace itself).