Material Culture

I'm catching up... this is from Santorini.  We took students to see the Prehistoric Museum, which was a small selection of objects from Akrotiri, the site that had been destroyed when the volcano blew up.  I am used to things reconstructed from fragments or found out of context... it was a revelation to see these items which were in the rooms where they had been used before being abandoned in a hurry.  They were often whole pieces, and it was clear what the function was.  None of the usual displays that showcase a bunch of pots of a certain shape, but instead displays of items that really helped to connect with the ancient inhabitants.

Portable oven... coals go underneath, food goes inside the oven or maybe also on top.  It is basically a Weber...

Souvlaki cooker.

Plaster cast of a wooden table.  I think perhaps the first piece of ancient Greek furniture I've ever seen.

Small cooking pot that goes over the coals.  I could use this for camping!

Metal saucepan.

Cast of a reed basket!

Another metal saucepan

This experience completely changed my view of ancient Greece because it was the first time I was so easily able to connect with the people as people.  The next day, we went to the Folklore Museum, which was also a wonderful experience, and similarly helped to connect as it had a lot of material culture displays throughout a traditional house.  The house was a cave house, cut out of the soft pumice.  The temperature remained constant inside, and anytime they (or the museum, when it opened in the 1990s!) needed a new room, they just dug one out.

Wine processing room... you stomp them in the tub behind the small ladder and the juice pours into the basin at left.

One of the newer rooms cut out of the pumice

Traditional wine jugs and grape leaves

Travis may be strong, but this wasn't the test... the huge pumice stone was very light!

The kitchen.  Note on the right the cooking pots in a system similar to the portable tripods.