Memory of a feasting event in the First Palace of Phaistos: preliminary observations on the bench deposit of Room IL

In this paper I will present a deliberate ceramic deposit found inside a large paved bench discovered in Room IL of the main building of the First Palace at Phaistos, ie the Southwest quarter. This deliberate deposit is highly significant for two reasons: firstly, it is a closed and sealed deposit dated to MM II A, and it therefore represents a Protopalatial feasting context, which allows us to gain a deeper understanding of feasting activities in Protopalatial Crete; secondly, it consists of an exceptionally large assemblage of whole and fragmentary vases, combined with faunal remnants and with ‘ritual’ objects. Without attempting to label the typology of the feasting reflected by this peculiar bench deposit, it will nevertheless be argued that the bench of Room IL was constructed and filled at the same time as the new renovation plan of the Southwest quarter that occurred at the beginning of MM II, most likely in MM IIA.