• 1 On the East Cretan White‑on‑Dark Ware see Betancourt 1984; Hall 1904–1905.

1The study of the ceramic material retrieved from soundings made by Olivier Pelon under the rooms to the north of the Central Court of the Malia Palace led to the discovery of what appears to be a prototype of the well‑known lampe à piton of Malia. It is a lamp composed of a footed bowl with a central pricket and two opposed lugs below the rim, made in a local red semi‑fine fabric and decorated on a red slip with a creamy-white colour that imitates the patterns of the well‑known East Cretan White‑on-Dark Ware, also known as “White Style”.1

• 2 Pelon 1980, pp. 184–191.

2Eight specimens were identified. They all come from late Prepalatial (i.e. EM III–MM IA) levels reached by O. Pelon in the northern part of Room IX b, to the east of the Salle Hypostyle (Room IX 2) in the North Wing of the Malia Palace (fig. 1).2

• 3 Fieldwork notebooks C_MAL_167 (year 1978) and C_MAL_174 (year 1985) of Olivier Pelon describing the (...)
• 4 Pelon 1980, p. 191; Graham 1987, pp. 125–126, figs. 87–88.
• 5 See context 5.C.1 in Devolder, Caloi, Gomrée 2019, pp. 223–250, and table 12; Caloi 2019, pp. 265–2 (...)

4In the framework of an extensive program of stratigraphic soundings made from 1964 to 1992 in the Malia Palace, O. Pelon explored in 1978 and 1985 the early levels in the northern part of Room IX b,3 which in its latest form comprised the second flight of a staircase that led from the North Portico of the Central Court to a series of elaborate spaces above Rooms IX 1 and IX 2 (fig. 1).4 Under the remains of a stucco floor associated with walls that belonged to an early stage of the Palace, the excavator reached a layer that contained large quantities of ceramic material which he dated preliminarily to the EM III–MM I phases. Under it a fill was found, which contained numerous fragments of EM IIB vases mixed with small stones and which may belong to a major levelling episode dating to the beginning of the EM III phase.5 O. Pelon provides only limited information on the stratigraphy, but the coherence of the EM III–MM I assemblage uncovered in different soundings in the room indicates a late Prepalatial occupation on top of the EM IIB fill. However, the excavator resolutely expresses in his notes that no floor level could be identified.

• 6 A new book devoted to the EM II-LM I occupation levels in the North Wing of the Malia Palace is in (...)
• 7 On the typical fabrics from the Mirabello region, see Nodarou 2017.

5The revision of the late Prepalatial material uncovered by O. Pelon in 1978 indicates that it is mainly composed of EM III and MM IA pottery, although sherds discovered in 1985 in association with it may date as late as the early Protopalatial period (likely MM IB).6 The late Prepalatial assemblage primarily consists in imports from the Mirabello region,7 mostly goblets, and deep and shallow bowls produced in East Cretan White‑on-Dark Ware, as well as eight fragmentary lamps in local White‑on-Dark Ware that imitate the decorative patterns of the above-mentioned imports (L1–L8 ; fig. 2).

• 8 Rueff 2020, pp. 232–233, 259–261. This study offers the first detailed examination of function and (...)

15The conical foot –whether high or low– is decorated with a white band at the junction with the bowl. This decoration is well visible in L1, L2, and L5 (fig. 2), but not easily readable in L3 and L4. The pricket is usually painted with a white, spiralling band, clearly evident in L1 and L2 (figs. 2, 3). In a recent study on the function and use of lamps in Minoan Crete, Bastien Rueff first suggested the use of a textile dipped in fuel and rolled around the pricket of the Malia-style lampes à piton on the basis of ethnographical parallels from Tunisia,8 thus confuting the long-lasting theory that these lamps were used with candles made of wax or tallow. The white spiralling band painted around the pricket of some lamps (L1 and L2 in figs. 2–3) seems to depict exactly this rolling up textile, thus supporting B. Rueff’s hypothesis.

• 9 Rueff 2020, pp. 232–233.

16While nearly all the Malia samples examined by B. Rueff bear soot and burnt traces localised on the pricket,9 the late Prepalatial lamps from beneath Room IX 2 show black stains also on the inside of the bowl (fig. 3), and in some cases outside as well. It is possible that they result from the burnt fuel (likely plant oil) used to impregnate the textile.

• 10 The term encompasses the phases now identified separately as EM III, MM IA, MM IB, MM IIA and MM II (...)
• 11 Stürmer 1993, p. 173.
• 12 Poursat 1993, pp. 604–605.
• 13 Poursat 2013, p. 125, n. 5.

17The pricket lamps or lampes à piton are a typical form of Maliote ceramics, characteristic of the so‑called “Première Époque”, a term used by the excavators of the Malia town to date contexts and deposits ranging from the late Prepalatial to the early Protopalatial phases.10 Veit Stürmer was the first to briefly discuss the lampes à piton in his study of the Chrysolakkos ceramic material published in 1993. He noticed that this type of lamp was quite common at Malia in MM I–II, but then disappeared in MM III. He also underlined the exclusivity of this shape in the Malia necropoleis and its absence in the Palace and the settlement.11 This statement was, however, rapidly challenged by Jean‑Claude Poursat, who mentioned examples from Quarter Theta, from the Seal Workshop –under MM II levels– and from the unpublished soundings under the latest floors of Quartier Mu.12 Later, in 2013, J.‑C. Poursat stressed the absence of the lampe à piton in the MM IIB destruction levels of Quartier Mu.13

• 14 Van Effenterre H., Van Effenterre M. 1963, p. 99, pl. XL, no. 8473 (indicated as no. 8476 on the il (...)
• 15 Rueff 2020, p. 64, type 5b, fig. 25, pl. 10 (N1533).
• 16 Rueff 2020, pp. 64–65, XXIII–XXVI.
• 17 Knappett et al. 2017, p. 522, fig. 51, no. 213; Rueff 2020, p. 109, fig. 63, pl. 82, no. PI 5.124.0 (...)

18Our survey of the published pricket lamps from Malia –both from settlement and necropoleis– shows only a few close parallels in terms of shape and decoration with the eight lamps under discussion. The best comparanda come from late Prepalatial contexts, but similar examples have been retrieved also from Protopalatial and mixed contexts (i.e. dating to the Première Époque), as illustrated in Table 1. The best morphological parallel is represented by a complete lamp retrieved from the necropolis of the Pierres Meulières.14 Its shape is very similar to that of L2 (figs. 2‑3) –conical deep bowl, conical foot, two opposed lugs below the rim pointing downwards. It is described as plain, without any kind of surface treatment. Despite coming from a disturbed context, it could fit well with a late Prepalatial date, as it was found in association with MM I ceramic material. A fragmentary lamp found in a sounding undertaken to the north of the Chrysolakkos building by P. Demargne, and first published by B. Rueff,15 closely matches our lamps. Despite its fragmentary state, it recalls them in fabric, shape, and decoration: it is produced in White‑on-Dark Ware and shows a white band at the junction of bowl with foot. The context is dated to MM I–II,16 but the example could be easily attributed to the late Prepalatial period on the basis of its stylistic affinities with the Palace specimens. Another good comparison, similar in terms of shape, except for the absence of lugs, comes from a MM IIA context of Quartier Pi.17 It shows a conical deep bowl with straight walls standing on a conical foot and is black‑burnished.

• 18 Demargne 1945, pp. 27, 30.
• 19 Stürmer 1993, p. 138, fig. 6, no. 49 (N2106); p. 130, fig. 3, no. 17 (N401); p. 132, fig. 4, no. 28 (...)
• 20 Rueff 2020, pp. 64–66.
• 21 Rueff 2020, pl. 10, p. XXII–XXVI.
• 22 One specimen dated to the Première Époque is published in Chapoutier, Demargne, Dessenne 1962, p. 5 (...)
• 23 Demargne 1945, p. 16, pl. XXXIV, 2. The lamp is dated to the Première Époque.
• 24 Van Effenterre H., Van Effenterre M. 1963, pp. 73–74, pl. XXX, nos. 8472 and 8474. The two examples (...)

19Several mixed contexts from Malia have yielded pricket lamps composed of an open and shallow bowl standing on a low conical (or cylindrical) pedestal, which may be seen as a later development of the form in the early Protopalatial period (see infra). Most of these low pedestalled pricket lamps, characterised by a square rim and a short pricket, occur at Chrysolakkos. They were first mentioned and dated by Pierre Demargne to MM I,18 then partially catalogued by V. Stürmer, who dated them to MM IB‑II.19 The most recent and complete documentation of these lamps from Chrysolakkos is, however, provided by B. Rueff in his PhD dissertation.20 He shows that out of sixty‑five lamps found there, twenty-seven are lampes à piton. He dates them to MM I–II, proposing a MM IB–IIA for the ones coming from the soundings to the North of the building.21 Similar examples come also from non‑closed contexts, like the Maisons Sud (South Houses),22 the Second Charnier (Rock Shelter 2)23 and the necropolis of the so‑called Pierres Meulières.24

• 25 One example comes from House Zeta Gamma; the context is dated to MM I (Deshayes, Dessenne 1959, p.  (...)
• 26 Three specimens are reported from the “réduits B1 et B2” in Quartier Theta (also called Maison de l (...)

20The town of Malia has revealed other kinds of pricket lamps, quite different in profile from the above-mentioned ones; they are conical, footless bowls or cups.25 It is also relevant to add that in the Études Crétoises volumes many pricket lamps are mentioned to come from buildings, whose materials have not been studied and published, like Quartier Theta and Villa Alpha.26 These examples are not properly described and/or illustrated, and thus they cannot be compared with the lamps here discussed.

• 27 During the study of ceramic materials from Room IX b of the Malia Palace we realized that what appe (...)

22Precise parallels for the lampes à piton are quite rare outside Malia. In particular, the lampe à piton in White‑on-Dark Ware seems attested only at Malia. Necropoleis and settlements from late Prepalatial Crete have so far not provided comparanda. The possibility should, however, be considered that fragmentary shallow bowls may have not been properly recognized as the upper part of pricket lamps.27

• 28 For Vasiliki, Seager 1906–1907, fig. 3; Seager 1908; for Gournia, Hall 1904–1905, pll. XXVII–XXVIII (...)
• 29 See the examples from Vasiliki in Seager 1906–1907, p. 120, fig. 3, and from the EM III Alatzomouri (...)

23Despite the apparent absence of late Prepalatial counterparts outside Malia, we observe that the best parallels for the bowl shape and white‑on-dark decoration of our lamps are the EM III–MM IA deep bowls, well represented in East Cretan sites like Gournia, Vasiliki, and Alatzomouri.28 The main difference in shape concerns the two lugs: in the Malia lamps they are positioned below the rim and point downwards (fig. 2), while in the Eastern Crete bowls they are set horizontally on the rim.29

• 30 See Seager 1906–1907, p. 120, figs. 3a, c; Apostolakou, Brogan, Betancourt 2017, fig. 23, nos. 23–2 (...)
• 31 For the decoration of L2 and L6 see Apostolakou, Brogan, Betancourt 2017, fig. 24, no. 26; for that (...)
• 32 Hall 1904–1905, pl. XXVII, 17–19. In particular, L6 finds a very close parallel in the motif repres (...)
• 33 Hall 1904–1905, pl. XXVIII, 11, 20.
• 34 Hall 1904–1905, p. 201.

24We have already emphasized that the decoration imitates the “White Style”, commonly attested in the EM III–MM IA productions of East Crete. The exterior decoration of our lamps displays patterns very common in the EM III-MM IA pottery of Vasiliki, Gournia and Alatzomouri.30 In particular, the exterior decoration on L2 and L6, and the pattern visible on the outer face of L7 match those represented in several deep bowls from the EM III deposit of Alaztomouri.31 Concerning the interior decoration, for lamps L2 and L6, which display a combination of festoons and single spirals (figs. 2, 4), the best comparisons are to be found in the patterns of cups and spouted jars from the North Trench of Gournia.32 The ceramic material from the Gournia North Trench33 provides good parallels also for the series of irregular S motifs displayed in L7 (figs. 2, 4), which were called “quirks” by Edith Hall.34

• 35 Apostolakou, Brogan, Betancourt 2017, p. 110, figs. 69–71.
• 36 Apostolakou, Brogan, Betancourt 2017, p. 110, fig. 71 (with MM IA motifs).

25On the basis of their recent study of the EM III Alatzomouri deposit, the authors suggested that in EM III the White‑on-Dark decoration is more linear, while in MM IA it starts to show new curvilinear designs.35 According to this study, S motifs and spirals would date to MM IA rather than to EM III, and thus the North-Trench Gournia and the Vasiliki deposits would be MM IA in date.36 Consequently, the decoration of the Malia lamps L2, L6 and L7 (fig. 4) could be more at home in MM IA, rather than in EM III, better represented by the linear decoration of L5.

• 37 See Momigliano 2007, p. 85, fig. 3.3, no. 11 and p. 88, fig. 3.6, no. 9.

26Looking at stratified EM III and MM IA contexts from other regions of Crete, stylistic parallels are few. We may only observe that the bowls of L3 and L4 recall the shallow bowls with flaring rim attested at EM III Knossos.37

• 38 Schmitt, Sperandio 2018, p. 65. The publication of the Sissi cemetery of Zone 9 is in preparation b (...)
• 39 See Caloi 2018.
• 40 See the examples in Rueff 2020, figs. 25–28. The parallel is very strong with the lamp illustrated (...)

27Based on the features of the eight lamps from Room IX b and of the Pierres Meulières specimen from a possible MM I deposit, it is conceivable that the late Prepalatial lampe à piton is characterized by a deep bowl on a conical foot and two lugs. Because of a general absence of closed MM IB deposits at Malia, it remains to understand how the form developed at the site during the early Protopalatial times. Looking at the lampes à piton from the Malia contexts dating to MM I–MM II (i.e. Chrysolakkos, Maisons Sud and Pierres Meulières necropolis), the impression is that the shape acquires a much more open and shallow bowl, which stands on a pedestal foot, rather than on a conical one. Some of these later examples have lugs, while others do not. The decoration is much simpler than in the late Prepalatial samples, presenting a black or red slip, sometimes burnished. This development of the shape seems confirmed by a Protopalatial pedestalled pricket lamp (no. 19/09/4622/OB001) retrieved from Zone 9 of the Sissi necropolis (fig. 5). It comes from the upper levels of a huge pottery deposit of Space 9.13, dated between MM IIA and MM IIB.38 The lamp, in Red Slipped Ware, is produced in a semi‑fine red fabric –a local fabric well attested from Prepalatial to Neopalatial times both at Sissi and Malia–39 and composed of a small and open shallow bowl standing on a conical pedestal. The red slip is badly preserved, but still visible both in the inner and outer faces, and on the short and blackened pricket as well. This specimen is very similar in fabric, surface treatment and shape to the above-mentioned Malia examples found in MM I–MM II contexts at Chrysolakkos40, in the Maisons Sud, in the Second Charnier and in the necropolis of Pierres Meulières. Based on these stylistic parallels, it is likely that the latter examples could be contemporary with the Sissi lamp, thus pointing to a MM II date, likely MM IIA. It seems, instead, a little different from the lampe à piton retrieved from the MM IIA context of Quartier Pi, which, in terms of shape, still resembles the late Prepalatial specimens. It looks like a direct development of the lampe à piton from the late Prepalatial period through the beginning of the Protopalatial period.

• 41 Baldacci 2017, pp. 153, 240, no. 845, pll. 76, 114.
• 42 See the MM IIA dump of Bastione II wall in Caloi 2021.
• 43 These MM IIA pedestalled lamps from Phaistos are still unpublished. They will be published in Ilari (...)
• 44 Mercando 1974–1975, p. 53, fig. 50.
• 45 Knappett et al. 2017, pp. 521–522.
• 46 Poursat 2013, pll. 6.2–6.3.
• 47 See MM II pedestalled lamps in MacGillivray 1998, p. 87, fig. 2.24.
• 48 Venieri 2016, p. 314, no. 469, pll. 75, 86.

28Thus far the pricket lamps are not attested outside Malia until MM IIA, when they start to appear also in the shape of experimental vases. Phaistos yielded two examples from MM IIA contexts. The first, retrieved from a MM IIA fill of the Acropoli Mediana quarter,41 is a small, unusual tripod pricket lamp in Plain Semi‑coarse Ware. It has a conical bowl with a short, central pricket, on a tripod base, and is equipped with a vertical handle. This odd example, which does not find any comparanda, reflects the high degree of experimentation in the MM IIA ceramic production of Phaistos. The second one comes from a MM IIA deposit, found in the dump of Bastione II wall, the MM IIA northern limit of the Lower West Court facing the main palatial building of the First Palace.42 It is a plain pedestalled lamp, composed of a convex bowl with short pricket, which stands on a very tall pedestal.43 The tall pedestal becomes very common on different kind of lamps of the Protopalatial period, as testified by samples at Phaistos,44 Malia (both in MM IIA Quartier Pi45 and MM IIB Quartier Mu),46 and Knossos.47 Most of these lamps usually lack the pricket and show two opposed spouts notched into the rim. A very particular type is instead represented by a fragmentary pedestalled lamp found in a MM IIB context at Apodoulou,48 in the Amari Valley, where the central pricket appears together with the two spouts.

• 49 Tsipopoulou 2017, p. 121, fig. 4f. Here it was interpreted as a kalathos.
• 50 Pernier 1935, pp. 242–243, fig. 117.

29In the last phase of the Protopalatial period, i.e. MM IIB, a new type of pricket lamp appeared in Crete. This is composed by a conical bowl standing on a tall, conical pedestal foot, with an ample, vertical handle going from the bowl to the foot. This is well represented by an example found in the MM IIB deposit of the Ceremonial Area 1 of the Petras necropolis.49 Another similar pedestalled pricket lamp comes from the First Palace of Phaistos, but it is made of stone.50 It was found by L. Pernier in the repository of Room X, which is one of the MM IIB storerooms located beneath the façade of the Phaistos Second Palace, facing the Middle West Court.

• 51 Bosanquet, Dawkins 1902–1903, p. 326, fig. 26.
• 52 Hutchinson 1939–1940, p. 39 (CM 3287), pl. 14q.

30Two similar pricket lamps, defined as pricket candlesticks, were found by R.C. Bosanquet and R.M. Dawkins at Palaikastro, “on the gravel ridge east of the main town, near the early burial”.51 One of them was illustrated by the same authors, while the second one was published by Richard Hutchinson as a brazier in a separate paper. Here, it is described as produced in “a matt red fabric with traces of a polished red slip” and “may be assigned to the MM III period”.52 These two specimens are both composed of a deep bowl with flat rim on a tall pedestal; they both have a broad, vertical handle. It remains to be understood whether they are MM IIB in date, based on the closed comparisons with the specimens of Petras and Phaistos, or if they can be assigned to the beginning of the Neopalatial period.

• 53 Supra n. 6.

33It appears that the late Prepalatial examples from beneath Room IX b of the Palace are much more decorated than later examples. They show elaborate white‑on-dark linear and curvilinear motifs, including spirals. Worthy of mention is the very local decoration of the pricket: the spiralling line that shows the position of the rolled textile. Moreover, these lampes à piton imitate the complex patterns of the East Cretan White‑on-Dark Ware, which in Minoan times probably appeared as a fascinating ware if we consider the high number of its imitations and exports all over Crete. The assemblage from beneath Room IX b indeed revealed not only the eight lamps imitating the “White Style”, but also a rich amount of serving and drinking vessels in East Cretan White‑on-Dark Ware imported from the Mirabello region. The ongoing study of the North Wing of the Malia Palace will shed new light on the nature of this rich assemblage, which may have been used for display in some ceremonial events.53

• 54 Caloi 2022.

34Concerning the development of the lampe à piton, we noticed a strong simplification of decoration in the passage from late Prepalatial into Protopalatial times. The MM II specimens do not show decorative motifs, but are plain or simply monochrome, whether slipped or burnished. It appears that the embellishment has moved from the decoration to the shape, which now shows a tall cylindrical pedestal, like the samples of Phaistos and Apodoulou, or a conical pedestal with a broad, vertical handle, as illustrated in the MM IIB specimens of Petras, Phaistos and Palaikastro. The use of tall pedestals for lamps finds a counterpart in the pedestalled bowls with a central hole adopted for ritual actions during the ceremonial activities undertaken in the palatial centres (e.g. Phaistos, Malia, Knossos, Petras) and in the major settlements of the island (e.g. Palaikastro) during the Protopalatial period.54 This new trend may be connected to a major need of display and visibility by the new, emerging élites of the Protopalatial period. It remains, however, to demonstrate how the lamp à piton developed at Malia from MM I to MM IIB, and we hope that future research and studies will shed new light also on this period.