Il ‘raccolto’ di da-wo (KN F(2) 852) e la misura di superficie GRA nel regno miceneo di Cnosso

This paper examines the Linear B tablet KN F(2) 852, which represents a source of exceptional value for highlighting the agricultural strategies carried out by the Knossos palace in LM IIIA2, and contributes to a clarifi cation of the topography of the western Messara. Drawing on the information that this tablet provides, it is possible to argue for an identifi cation of the unity GRA, even if the latter can only be exclusively referred to Crete because of probable variation at a regional Mycenaean level. After taking into account information referring to harvests and yields of land in the Messara in both the Venetian period and the early twentieth century, a ratio of 1 : 5 and a harvest of 800-900 l/ha is proposed as a medium value. Consequently, a seed density of 160-180 l/ha and a GRA unity ranging between 0.53 and 0.60 ha can be inferred. The exceptional size of the da-wo harvest, which is the only one in the Knossos archives and in the wider Mycenaean world to exceed 1,000 unities of GRA, should be emphasized. In fact, F(2) 852 is an exceptional registration and cannot consequently be used to determine the farming economy of the other Mycenaean states, let alone Pylos, in the archive of which the harvest tablets are not attested.