Kamares Cave Excavation 1913
Excavation: Research excavation
R.M. Dawkins, Director of the British School at Athens began a small excavation at the Kamares Cave in the summer of 1913. The cave consisted of two parts, an outer and an inner cave. The outer cave with a wide mouth runs down at a fairly steep slope increasing considerably in width as it descends. The floor of this part of the cave was strewn with rocks of various sizes, which have clearly fallen from the roof. At the bottom of this outer part is the entrance to the inner cave. This is very low and, although at one time of considerable width, it has been so much choked by fallen blocks that the present entrance is narrow and difficult. The interior is an oblong hall with a floor consisting of a steep scree of small stones. The finds were exclusively in the outer cave, and excepting for a few sherds of pottery at the mouth of the cave and higher up the slope, all amongst the large fallen rocks at the bottom of the outer cave near the entrance to the inner cave. Here an immense quantity of pottery was found mixed with soft black mould and lying in the crevices between the broken masses of rock. The excavators inferred that in Minoan times the cave was in much the same condition as it was found at the time of the excavation. There was no evidence that the ancients penetrated to the inner cave at all. The scree which forms its floor is crossed by four rough retaining walls, but the date of these cannot be fixed; the bones of animals certainly not as old as Minoan times found in the cave shew that it has been a good deal used from time to time, probably as a refuge. The pottery, with a very few somewhat later sherds, were greatly broken, scattered and all Middle Minoan, some of which were fine painted ware. Besides the painted jars and cups there was a great mass of unpainted ware, big jars and what seem to have been tied-on covers. Judging from vegetable remains found in some quantities in one place, it seems that corn of some kind was amongst the offerings originally contained in them. That all this mass of pottery is Middle Minoan and most of it Middle Minoan II, and that Late Minoan sherds of any kind are so rare, indicates that the vogue of the cave as a sanctuary lasted for only a comparatively short period.
Active from /06/1913 to /07/1913.
Droop, Professor John Percival
Halliday, Sir William Reginald
Laistner, Mr Max Ludwig Wolfram
Lambert, Mr Richard Stanton
Dawkins, Mr Richard McGillivray