Inaugurating the court-centred building? A MM IIIB feasting deposit at Neopalatial Sissi, North-central Crete

Recent excavations (2007-2011, 2015-2017) undertaken at Sissi, North-central Crete, by the Belgian School at Athens uncovered parts of a court-centred building. Located on the south-east summit of the Kephali hill, the complex, under excavation since 2015, includes a central court of which the floor is made of plaster and pebbles, and is bordered by ashlar facades on the east and west sides. The variety of ritual features observed allows an interpretation of the function of the building as largely ceremonial. In the east wing of this building, a Neopalatial deposit was found, comprising 176 entire and fragmentary objects. This deposit is highly significant for two reasons. First, it is a closed and structured deposit assigned to the Middle Minoan (MM) IIIB phase, and hence its chronology is important in reconstructing both the local and North-central Crete ceramic sequences. Second, the stratigraphic position of the deposit and the composition of the assemblage, comprising a high number of conical cups, two imports and ritual equipment, suggest that it is the result of ceremonial consumption. The pottery study conducted between 2013 and 2015 has allowed to propose an interpretation as a feasting deposit, resulting from a communal ceremonial event, which was probably held on the nearby central court. In this paper, first the ceramic material of the deposit is presented and then the chronology and the meaning of the deposit are discussed. I will argue that the deposit constitutes a terminus ad quem for the foundation date of the east wing of the court-centred building at Neopalatial Sissi.