The development of Minoan Orthostates

6 p. : ill. - This article is not intended for distribution, but for personal use only. Anyone wanting to use the article for coursework or any other purpose must obtain copyright permission from the Archaeological Institute of America. - This article has been scanned and reformatted by the T-Space Digitization Project Assistant. If a researcher is interested in referencing this work, it is recommended that the citation listed above be consulted, as the page numbers of the PDF file do not match those of the original publication.The development of ashlar masonry in Crete is thought to originate in the Early Minoan (EM) period when rubble socles were surmounted by rubble and/or mudbrick construction, as at Vasiliki. Then, shortly after the beginning of the Middle Minoan (MM) period, the bases of exterior walls of important buildings started to be lined with cut stone blocks set rather like dadoes, as in the MM IB facade of the Early Palace at Phaistos where the base of the wall consists of a projecting krepidoma with large orthostate blocks on top. A similar method of construction was employed at the early MM ossuary at Chrysolakkos, north of the Palace of Mallia, where the Minoans first experimented with the cutting of hard limestone blocks ("sideropetra") with saws of copper or, more likely, of bronze. At the MM II "Agora" at Mallia, thin slabs were set along the edge of the court