Ayia Irini (Grece): ‘A room with a view’ on the island of Kea

Lyvia Morgan

Source - http://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2015/03/06/room-view-island-kea/

In her lecture entitled “”A room with a view’: Kea paintings and social context” Lyvia Morgan present s new reconstructions of the Miniature Frieze and Plant Panels from the Northeast Bastion at Ayia Irini, Kea, placing the images within their physical setting and socio-cultural context. The lecture is part of the Cycladic Seminar series, organized by Marisa Marthari at the Archaeological Society of Athens.

Ayia Irini in Period VI (LC I / LM IA), showing the painted rooms (Adapted from the site plan showing the walls according to the current state of research on stratigraphy).

According to Mrs. Morgan: “The Northeast Bastion and its paintings were created to accommodate the phenomenal impact of the expansion of trade and cultural exchange between the islands at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. Strategically placed within the newly extended fortification wall of Period VI, the room with the Miniatures had a crucial view of the approach to the town. The paintings speak of social relationships and the sharing of produce, hunting, preparation for a feast, and ceremonial display on land and sea.

Visualization of one of the ships, plus a photograph of the fragment of hull with dolphins.

Extraordinary attention has been paid to landscape – marsh, river, rocky hills, sea and, uniquely, sky.

Reconstruction of the rocky landscape, plus photographs of two of the fragments.

The Bastion is interpreted as a meeting place and banqueting hall for elites, its paintings being pivotal in expressing the local fabric of cultural life and the social role of this harbour settlement.”

Fragment of men with cauldrons, plus study drawing.