Σπήλαιο Καμαρών

Spileon Kamaron - Cave Kamaron - Kamares Cave - Cave of Kamares - Camares Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Near Kamares, 57 km from Heraklion. At Kamares a trail starts which leads to the cave. The cave is high above the village, and the ascent takes about 4 h. Northeast of Kamares on the north slope of Mount Dikti. (35.1774558, 24.8275891)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	A=1,780 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Antonio Taramelli (1901): Cretan Expedition, XX. A Visit to the Grotto of Camares on Mount Ida, American Journal of Archaeology 5 (1901): 437-451. online R.M. Dawkins, M.L.W. Laistner (1913): The Excavation of the Kamares Cave in Crete, Annual of the British School at Athens 19 (1912-1913): 1-34. E. L. Tyree (2001): Diachronic Changes in Minoan Cave Cult, In R. Laffineur and R. Hagg (eds.). Potnia. Deities and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 8th International Aegean Conference, 12-15 April 2000. Aegaeum 22 (2001):39-50. Aleydis Van de Moortel (2006): A Re-examination of the Pottery from the Kamares Cave In: M. H. Wiener, J. L. Warner, J. Polonsky, E. E Hayes (ed.): Pottery and Society: The Impact of Recent Studies in Minoan Pottery, Boston 2006.
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History

1880's	first high-quality pottery from the First Minoan Palace Period (1900-1700 BC) discovered.
1890	doctor and archaeologist Iosif Chatzidakis receives pottery shards from a farmer from Kamares, which he had collected in the Kamares cave and which had never been documented on Crete before.
1894	Italian archaeologist Antonio Taramelli is the first scientist to visit the cave, first investigation.
JUN-1913	first systematic excavations by Richard MacGillivray Dawkins und Max L. W. Laistner.
2002	re-examination of the finds by the archaeologist Aleydis Van De Moortel.

Description

Kamares is a village on the southern flank of Psiloritis Peak and is 57 km from Heraklion. From the village a path leads to the north east to Kamares Cave. This is a very large cave located at 1,780 m, under the summit of Mavri (1,950 m). It is reached after a steep and difficult ascent taking 4 hours on a path that is not well marked. A great part of the route is through a wooded area with three or four springs of water and rewarding views of the Messara plains and Libyan Sea. If the weather is good then you may see the island of Gavdos far out to sea.

The Kamares Cave contained a very distinct form of pottery, "Kamares", dating back to 2000 BC which was discovered during an archaeological excavation. This type of pottery is thin and delicate ("egg-shelled"), and decorated with bright colours on a black background and can be seen in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. This cave was used during the Minoan period as a devotional place, possibly dedicated to the worship of the goddess Eilethyia.

Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.

The extraordinary pottery of Σπήλαιο Καμαρών (Kamares Cave), which was named Kamares ware after the cave, was first discovered in the late 1880's by shepherds. One of the discoverers brought some examples of the pottery he had collected to the doctor and archaeologist Iosif Chatzidakis in 1890, who publishes the finding. The discoveries caused great excitement among archaeologists and some tried to reach the cave, but because of the remote location, no excavations took place. But he never went to the cave personally, the first scientist to visit the cave was the Italian archaeologist Antonio Taramelli in 1894. In June 1913, after an unusually mild winter, the cave was snow-free and was excavated by Richard MacGillivray Dawkins und Max L. W. Laistner. The findings were examined with the knowledge of the time and then displayed at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. In 2002, cave researcher Loeta Tyree and pottery expert Aleydis Van de Moortel from the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG) began a re-examination of the finds with modern techniques.

The cave was visited during all periods of the Bronze Age, from 3000 to 1100 BC. This resulted in a huge amount of pottery excavated in 1913, the fragments of more than 1,800 vases were collected. The rare pieces are fragments of terracotta animal figurines, stone and bone tools, animal bones and six iron spearheads. The enormous number of vases is explained with a cave cult, controlled by the ruling elite resident at Phaistos. However, this is a theory and still disputed. Even the name of the goddess worshipped is unclear, some say it was Demeter, others that it was Eilethyia. It is believed that a fertility goddess was worshipped in the cave, as cereals and fruits of the earth were found here, which are believed to be offerings to the goddess. The connection to Phaistos is simply based on the fact that the huge cave entrance is visible from the ruins. All in all, we got the impression that some "scientific" results are more or less urban legends.

Kamares Cave has a huge portal facing south, 42 m wide and 20 m high. The entrance chamber is 100 m long and descents some 40 m to the rear side, where a narrow passage, only 1 m wide, leads to a second chamber with a cave lake. This part is due to the narrow entrance dark and requires a lamp. The cave has the remains of walls, probably of Minoan age, all along. The cave is also known as Μαυροσπήλαιον (Mavrospileion, Black Cave).