Dr. James Wright “Revisiting the Ancient Port at Kommos” video

Professor James Wright’s video “Revisiting The Ancient Port of Kommos” , presented by The National Arts Club, summarizes the importance of Kommos in the Aegean Bronze Age and  discusses the ongoing conservation efforts for the site.  The current conservation plans build on earlier efforts presented extensively on this site.  A previous video about Kommos by Professor Wright (URL) also appears here.

Professor Wright sometimes uses a possibly unfamiliar term “Monopalatial” while describing the archaeology of Kommos. Sturt Manning ¹ defines the term “Monopalatial” as referring to  “Knossos in late Minoan II to IIIA2 early, when Knossos appears to have been the only functioning palace on the island and to have exerted control over much of central and west Crete at least.”  The large variety of sources for the foreign pottery found at Kommos,which were extensively analyzed by Professor. Jeremy Rutter, testifies to its importance during the Monopalatial period.

Excavator Joseph Shaw’s published chronology, also included on this web site,² implies that the Monopalatial period at Knossos is 1425-1375 BCE  which Professor Shaw characterizes as “continued occupation at Kommos and the destruction of Knossos at the end of the period.”  As Manning observes: ³ “Absolute chronology is simple in concept but fiendish in practice.” thus, absolute dates need to interpreted cautiously since there is no widespread agreement on them.

1. “The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean”(E. Cline Ed.) p10,
2. See “About” tab -> Chronology of Ancient Kommos
3. Op Cit, p18