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DOMESTIC SPACE AND COMMUNITY IDENTITY |83
H33. Room H40 with its wide opening is presumably a vestibule to
protect H41 from the northeast wind. The large hearth in the latter
shows that it was a main living room, although no bench was
found in it.
Having discussed the household examples in Zagora, it is
worth commenting briefly on the households‟ sizes since Zagora
presents a good case for such comparison. If we compare the relative
space occupied by units we understand that the majority of the
examples fall within the category of 35–50 sq. m with only two examples
exceeding that and covering areas of 66–100 sq. m. Oneroom
units can be as small as 26 sq. m as represented by at least
one secure example. Another observation is that some units within
households seem to be smaller than others. This can easily be explained
by the practice of subdivision of spaces, such as we have
seen it in the examples of rooms H26/27 (subdivided during Late
Geometric II times) and room H24/H25/H32 (originally one large
room, later divided by a T-wall into three smaller spaces). The
question arising here is why the decision was taken to subdivide
areas into what seem very small rooms instead of expanding into
unbuilt space since the entire promontory did not suffer a shortage
of space nor was crowded with structures preventing expansion. K.
Fagerström has suggested that this “difficulty” in acquiring additional
space might represent a division into areas of different social
status, preventing people from moving from one side of town into
the other. This argument is further backed up by the size of households
in a different area of Zagora, area J. 41 There, households
are not only smaller but also less carefully built than structures in
area H.
41 CAMBITOGLOU et al. (1988) 148, plan XIV; FAGERSTRÖM (1988)
pl. 58.