Use, reuse and Erasure of Gortynian Archaic and Classical Inscriptions. An Archaeological Perspective

This paper aims to study the relationship between the writing and the material culture in Ancient Crete, and in particular in Gortyn, during a period of longue duree (from the Arcaic Age to the Hellenistic and Roman Age). The focus of the paper is on the use of the walls of the buildings as space to write the laws and decrees and other public documents; it then studies the logic of erasure and reuse of the same space. There are topographical considerations on the understimated building of Mavropapa, surely an important public or sacred building.