Dining on the Fringe? A Possible Minoan- Style Banquet Hall at Ayia Irini, Kea and the Minoanization of the Aegean Islands

Since its excavation by John Caskey and the University of Cincinnati from 1960 to 1976, Ayia Irini has served as one of the principal catalysts for investigations into the spread of Minoan culture throughout the Aegean in the later Middle and early Late Bronze Age (Fig. 14.1). Indeed, the abundance, concentration, and range of ceramic, architectural, iconographic, technological, and administrative evidence at the site that was inspired by, adapted, and/or adopted from the Cretan cultural package suggests that it functioned as one of the key nodes in the complex web of exchange networks that facilitated the dissemination of non-local traits across the region throughout this period (Abell 2014; Berg 2006, 2007; Davis 1979; Davis and Gorogianni 2008; Dietz 1998; Graziadio 1998; Knappett and Nikolakopoulou 2005; Knappett, Evans, and Rivers 2008; Knappett 2011; Nikolakopoulou 2007; Papagiannopoulou 1991; Schofield 1982a, 1982b, 1983, 1984a). Despite the quantity, quality, and variety of such evidence at Ayia Irini, however, only a single structure in the settlement, House A, has been hitherto recognized as betraying any indication of Minoan architectural influence (e.g. Berg 2007: 114; Cummer 1980; Cummer and Schofield 1984; Hitchcock 1998: 173; Letesson 2009: 298–303; Whitelaw 2005: 56). Currently located in the south-east quadrant of the site, though originally probably closer to its centre if changes in sea level are taken into account (Caskey 1962: 266, 278; 1964: 321; 1966: 365; 1971: 362), House A underwent a series of remodellings over the course of the Late Minoan IA through LM II periods (Cummer and Schofield 1984: 30–5; or Periods VI and VII in Caskey’s local pottery terminology), the end result of which produced an interesting blend of local and Minoanizing features.