This volume presents and discusses the results of an extensive survey that took place between 201... more This volume presents and discusses the results of an extensive survey that took place between 2014 and 2018 in the mountain ranges of East Crete. The survey of respectively the eastern part of the Dikte range and the Sitanos area above Zakros specifically targeted prehistoric cultural remains with the aim to investigate the extent at which this environmental zone was exploited during the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. Based on the results of the fieldwork, the discussion focuses mostly on the Neopalatial period (Middle Minoan III - Late Minoan IB) during which a systematic eff ort to occupy and exploit these two upland zones was especially evident. The study of architectural remains and movable finds that were sampled, documented and studied within the two areas allows a reconsideration of issues of political organization, labour mobilization, economic integration, production and specialization.
Chatzikonstantinou, Yannis (Hrsg.): ARCHAEOZOOMS: Aspects and potentials of modern archaeological research, Heidelberg: Propylaeum., 2024
Η δουλειά της αρχαιολόγου είναι σκληρή. Ο πυρήνας της είναι η στοχοθεσία, ο σχηματισμός των ερωτη... more Η δουλειά της αρχαιολόγου είναι σκληρή. Ο πυρήνας της είναι η στοχοθεσία, ο σχηματισμός των ερωτημάτων που μπορούν να τεθούν και να απαντηθούν από το εκάστοτε συγκείμενο, η εξόρυξη και η διαφύλαξη της πληροφορίας, η σύνθεσή της σε νέα νοήματα μετά από την ανάλυση των δεδομένων, η επικοινωνία των αποτελεσμάτων της έρευνας με την κοινωνία και τελικά η γεφύρωση του Καρτεσιανού διχασμού των κλάδων της γνώσης σε «καθαρές» επιστήμες και ανθρωπιστικές επιστήμες. Στο κείμενο αυτό γίνεται μία απόπειρα να χωριστούν σε τρείς μεγάλες κατηγορίες οι βασικές μέριμνες της αρχαιολόγου όταν καλείται να προσεγγίσει ένα συγκείμενο και να διαμορφώσει τη μεθοδολογία για την αντιμετώπισή του από την αρχή ως το τέλος.
Σε μία αντιπαραβολή της εξειδίκευσης με τη μη εξειδίκευση, πρακτικές που συναντώνται σχεδόν ισόποσα σήμερα στον κλάδο, καθώς και σε αντιπαραβολή των δύο ταχυτήτων που δημιουργούνται, ειδικά στα ελληνικά δεδομένα, η πρόταση δεν είναι ο περιορισμός της εξειδίκευσης. Αντιθέτως, προτείνεται η διεύρυνση του πεδίου δράσης των αρχαιολόγων, ώστε να ενσωματωθούν οι νέες αναλυτικές δυνατότητες, όχι μόνο πρακτικά αλλά και νοηματικά.
Pallas 125, 2024. Bois et architecture dans la Protohistoire et l'Antiquité (2), Presses Universitaires Du Midi, pp. 33-57, 2024
An extensive surface survey on the uplands of East Crete has revealed a significant density of ru... more An extensive surface survey on the uplands of East Crete has revealed a significant density of rural habitation sites in the Neopalatial period, contrasting a more occasional use of the highlands in the previous Bronze Age periods. This paper offers a regionally-specific view on timber species and potential supply routes and strategies based on a minimally investigated but vast economic zone of Crete: the upland zone. It explores which kinds of evidence we need to look for to reconstruct the practices relating to an almost now invisible engagement with nature and the insights traditional methods of wood-cutting and wood circulation can offer in understanding prehistoric communities.
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHIES OF THE BRONZE AGE AEGEAN, 2022
This article summarizes the evidence from our field surveys on the uplands of east Crete. The shi... more This article summarizes the evidence from our field surveys on the uplands of east Crete. The shifting patterns in the habitation and exploitation of the mountains is discussed within the broader narrative of Cretan prehistory.
Special emphasis is given to the changes observed between the Protopalatial and the Neopalatial period, which, as argued, are directly linked with sociopolitical transformations in the lowlands and with changes in Neopalatial political geography and territoriality. The available evidence allows us to suggest that in the Neopalatial period the mountains had an increased role as a new field for economic expansion and systematic exploitation, and from a relatively pristine, uninhabited landscape, they were transformed into a new political territory, which offered to the Neopalatial administrative system not only new opportunities for economic growth but also some kind of relief for the increased pressures in the lowlands.
in South by Southeast: The History and Archaeology of Southeast Crete - from Myrtos to Kato Zakros. Conference Proceedings, E. Oddo & Κ. Chalikias (eds.), Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 25-37, 2022
Although research has revealed a densely occupied landscape on the coastal and the hilly zone of ... more Although research has revealed a densely occupied landscape on the coastal and the hilly zone of Crete during the Bronze Age, the uplands have been largely overlooked despite comprising almost 50 percent of the total area of the island. This paper presents the preliminary results of an extensive surface survey carried out on the mountainous hinterlands of Ierapetra and Zakros, as part of the excavation at Gaidourophas and the Minoan Roads Research Project, respectively.
On Dikti, the survey covers the sloped area between the modern villages of Malles and Kalamafka, at an altitude from 800m to 1100m amsl; in Zakros, it covers the karstic landscape around the modern village of Sitanos from altitudes of 600m to 800m amsl. The survey has yielded new sites dating from the Final Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Architecture and pottery documented and studied from each site allow settlement patterns and the forms of occupation and exploitation on the economically marginal upland areas of East Crete to be examined and tested against the congested landscape of the lowlands.
Conference: CHRYSSI ISLAND AND THE WORLD OF LITTORAL ARCHAEOLOGY: CONTEXTUALIZING ISLAND RESEARCH AROUND CRETE, 2023
In this paper we explore the possibility of the existence of an extended production network, whic... more In this paper we explore the possibility of the existence of an extended production network, which operated in the Neopalatial period and included marginal sites located around Ierapetra. Our work hypothesis is that placed in two entirely different environmental zones, the settlements on Chryssi and the dispersed habitations on the eastern slopes of Dikte could have worked together in a network circulating specific products, such as red fabrics and woodworks. Could it be true that each settlement was making the most of its marginal environment, in order to contribute to a centrally controlled circulation of goods? Where does the administrative center at Gaidourophas fit in this narrative? We believe that the changes in the economy brought about by the New Palaces could have triggered such responses. This could mean that marginal sites differ fundamentally from the typical rural sites of the areas traditionally regarded as hinterland: the latter rely on a generally mixed economic model while the reconstructed network proposed here was oriented towards the marketing of highly valued products and encouraged specialization.
EAA - Session # 347 - Natural Resources of Highlands and Hinterlands in the Mediterranean, 2022
The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which Bronze Age polities on the island of Crete ... more The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which Bronze Age polities on the island of Crete organised their countryside and its ensuing production. Mountainous areas as peripheral zones are studied regarding the extent of sustenance they provided the palatial system necessary for its survival or, on the other hand, regarding the possibilities they offered for alternative modes of political and economic organization.
Essentially, we examine the level of integration of remote and seemingly marginal areas into the palatial political and economic system and territory from the bottom-up. The study wishes to explore the clusters of labour and production in peripheral zones and to approach the political and economic organisation of the Bronze Age starting with areas that were as remote as possible from the centralised manifestations of power concentrated in the monumental and palatial complexes. Our goal is to offer a fresh perspective to the debate concerning the functional character of Minoan polities, one that contrasts the usual top-down interpretations. As a case-study we have elected two separate but comparable mountain regions on the massifs of east Crete. The research focuses on architectural remains belonging to both habitation and exploitation infrastructure (terraces, enclosures, pens, wells etc) and on movable finds in their immediate surroundings.
Pastoralism and sedentary, urban Institutions in Bronze Age: from Greece to Near East, 2023
An extensive surface survey on the uplands of East Crete has revealed a significant density of ru... more An extensive surface survey on the uplands of East Crete has revealed a significant density of rural habitation sites in the Neopalatial period, contrasting a more occasional and symbolic use of the mountainous space in the previous Bronze Age periods. This paper offers a local view from the south-eastern slopes of Dikte on east Crete, where the habitation patterns documented from the survey and the spatial analysis of architectural remains within certain mountain sites suggest the shifting of pastoral practices in different sub-periods of the Bronze Age and the intensification of production responding to the very specific environmental parameters of the mountainous zone of the island. At the same time, these sites comprise an innovative variety of productive units and as such provide new insights into the economy and the spatial organisation of socio-political structures of the period, namely the palatial states of the Second Palace period. Therefore, we believe that the mountainous zone of Crete is ideal for an investigation of relations of power, administrative impact, autonomy, autarky and hierarchy in one of the least explored terrains of the island of Crete. Our bottom-up approach to pastoral communities and to the level of their integration from the traditional Bronze Age centres is revealing of complex social interplay, labour mobilisation and power reserves.
Bois et architecture dans la Protohistoire et l'Antiquité (2) Approvisionnement en bois, activités agro-pastorales et couvert forestier, 2022
This paper offers a regionally-specific view on timber species and potential supply routes and st... more This paper offers a regionally-specific view on timber species and potential supply routes and strategies based on a minimally investigated but vast economic zone of Crete: the upland zone. It explores which kinds of evidence we need to look for to reconstruct the practices relating to an almost now invisible engagement with nature and the insights traditional methods of wood-cutting and wood circulation can offer in understanding prehistoric communities.
Subject of this paper is a comparative account of the architecture, character and space
organiza... more Subject of this paper is a comparative account of the architecture, character and space
organization between Gaidourophas and the largest of the sites, located by our survey, at
Lavrakia, about 4 km to the north. Architectural organization will be considered through a spatial analysis of the outdoors built-environment aiming to show both micro-chronological and functional characteristics, which differentiate this type of occupation from the administrative center at Gaidourophas.
Format: Public lecture on the 30 th , by Prof. Jim Wright, with lectures on the 31 st of May and ... more Format: Public lecture on the 30 th , by Prof. Jim Wright, with lectures on the 31 st of May and 1 st of June. Workshop. A restricted group of scholars as speakers. The meeting is not open to the general public (because of the size of the lecture hall), but a select number of people may apply to sit as backbenchers.
PhD dissertation, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2019
This PhD dissertation documents and comments on the material culture, that has been identified an... more This PhD dissertation documents and comments on the material culture, that has been identified and studied, in the context of a surface survey undertaken by the writer. The survey took place between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2018 in the mountainous zone of eastern Crete. Two mountainous areas were studied: The first lies in the central and eastern sector of the Sitia Mountains and the other on the southeastern slopes of Mount Dikti. The first area is considered to be the mountainous hinterland of Zakros and the second of Ierapetra and the Isthmus. All the remnants of material culture found in these areas, covering a period from the end of the Neolithic to the Neopalatial period, are recorded, described, analyzed, commented on and interpreted. The required permits for the surface survey, as well as for the collection and study of the movable finds, were acquired for behalf of the writer as part of the Greek Ministry of Culture "Minoan Roads" Program under the direction of Dr. Stella Chrysoulakis for the area of the Zakros highlands and as part of the UoA program for the "Excavation of the LM I building in Gaidourofas" under the direction of Prof. Yannis Papadatos for the region of the southeastern slopes of Dikte. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the mountain zone, i.e. areas with an altitude greater than 600 m, was a field of systematic habitation and/or exploitation during prehistory and, if so, in which phases. The findings are contrasted with the habitation and exploitation patterns of the other, more traditional, productive zones of the island, i.e. with the coastal and the hilly zone. The dissertation includes 5 chapters. The first, introductory chapter (Chapter I) includes the definition of the subject of the study and reference to the research in the Cretan Mountains so far, showing the gaps in the examination of the upland zone. A review of prehistoric mountain habitation by subperiod based on the available data is also included in this chapter. This is intended to serve as a basis for comparing the image of habitation and exploitation of the mountain that we have had so far with the image created from the study of the new data of this research. Finally, the presentation of the questions arising from the dataset and the methodology to be followed for their investigation is included. The second chapter (Chapter II) is essentially another introductory chapter which aims to define the context within which the archaeological remains to be discussed below. This chapter includes a detailed composition of the environmental (geomorphological and climatic) data for the island of Crete. This is intended to demonstrate that, despite the lack of environmental data for the prehistory, some conclusions can be drawn and that the climate in the Cretan mountains was not prohibitive to permanent residence in them during this period. The third chapter (Chapter III) presents in detail the results of the surface survey, analyzing the topography of each site identified, the architecture and the movable finds from their surroundings. The third chapter is accompanied by many maps, photographs and drawings of architectural and movable finds, which in order to facilitate the reader lie within a separate volume (Volume II) providing the possibility of consulting the visual documents simultaneously to the text. In the same volume includes an appendix in which one can find a detailed catalogue of the movable findings (pottery shreds mostly) mentioned in the text. In the fourth chapter there is an interpretative discussion of the data that emerged from the research and an attempt to compare and/or integrate them in the dominant historical narrative of the prehistory of the island as known from the massive relevant literature. In this chapter the debate revolves around two main axes: habitation and exploitation. The Neolithic and the Bronze Age social organization is also commented on in relation to the new data in this chapter. The fifth chapter accommodates the conclusions in which lead the analysis of the primary data and the data's integration in the narrative of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in the Aegean. In this chapter the methods used in the surface survey are evaluated and commented on their effectiveness. An attempt is made to summarize the new data that have emerged from the present research and to show in which ways they contribute to our knowledge of the distribution patterns of habitation and the exploitation of the productive zones of the island during prehistory. Finally, some proposals are made for the preservation, protection and promotion of the identified antiquities/monuments as prevailing elements of landscape within the mountain zone.
This volume presents and discusses the results of an extensive survey that took place between 201... more This volume presents and discusses the results of an extensive survey that took place between 2014 and 2018 in the mountain ranges of East Crete. The survey of respectively the eastern part of the Dikte range and the Sitanos area above Zakros specifically targeted prehistoric cultural remains with the aim to investigate the extent at which this environmental zone was exploited during the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. Based on the results of the fieldwork, the discussion focuses mostly on the Neopalatial period (Middle Minoan III - Late Minoan IB) during which a systematic eff ort to occupy and exploit these two upland zones was especially evident. The study of architectural remains and movable finds that were sampled, documented and studied within the two areas allows a reconsideration of issues of political organization, labour mobilization, economic integration, production and specialization.
Chatzikonstantinou, Yannis (Hrsg.): ARCHAEOZOOMS: Aspects and potentials of modern archaeological research, Heidelberg: Propylaeum., 2024
Η δουλειά της αρχαιολόγου είναι σκληρή. Ο πυρήνας της είναι η στοχοθεσία, ο σχηματισμός των ερωτη... more Η δουλειά της αρχαιολόγου είναι σκληρή. Ο πυρήνας της είναι η στοχοθεσία, ο σχηματισμός των ερωτημάτων που μπορούν να τεθούν και να απαντηθούν από το εκάστοτε συγκείμενο, η εξόρυξη και η διαφύλαξη της πληροφορίας, η σύνθεσή της σε νέα νοήματα μετά από την ανάλυση των δεδομένων, η επικοινωνία των αποτελεσμάτων της έρευνας με την κοινωνία και τελικά η γεφύρωση του Καρτεσιανού διχασμού των κλάδων της γνώσης σε «καθαρές» επιστήμες και ανθρωπιστικές επιστήμες. Στο κείμενο αυτό γίνεται μία απόπειρα να χωριστούν σε τρείς μεγάλες κατηγορίες οι βασικές μέριμνες της αρχαιολόγου όταν καλείται να προσεγγίσει ένα συγκείμενο και να διαμορφώσει τη μεθοδολογία για την αντιμετώπισή του από την αρχή ως το τέλος.
Σε μία αντιπαραβολή της εξειδίκευσης με τη μη εξειδίκευση, πρακτικές που συναντώνται σχεδόν ισόποσα σήμερα στον κλάδο, καθώς και σε αντιπαραβολή των δύο ταχυτήτων που δημιουργούνται, ειδικά στα ελληνικά δεδομένα, η πρόταση δεν είναι ο περιορισμός της εξειδίκευσης. Αντιθέτως, προτείνεται η διεύρυνση του πεδίου δράσης των αρχαιολόγων, ώστε να ενσωματωθούν οι νέες αναλυτικές δυνατότητες, όχι μόνο πρακτικά αλλά και νοηματικά.
Pallas 125, 2024. Bois et architecture dans la Protohistoire et l'Antiquité (2), Presses Universitaires Du Midi, pp. 33-57, 2024
An extensive surface survey on the uplands of East Crete has revealed a significant density of ru... more An extensive surface survey on the uplands of East Crete has revealed a significant density of rural habitation sites in the Neopalatial period, contrasting a more occasional use of the highlands in the previous Bronze Age periods. This paper offers a regionally-specific view on timber species and potential supply routes and strategies based on a minimally investigated but vast economic zone of Crete: the upland zone. It explores which kinds of evidence we need to look for to reconstruct the practices relating to an almost now invisible engagement with nature and the insights traditional methods of wood-cutting and wood circulation can offer in understanding prehistoric communities.
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHIES OF THE BRONZE AGE AEGEAN, 2022
This article summarizes the evidence from our field surveys on the uplands of east Crete. The shi... more This article summarizes the evidence from our field surveys on the uplands of east Crete. The shifting patterns in the habitation and exploitation of the mountains is discussed within the broader narrative of Cretan prehistory.
Special emphasis is given to the changes observed between the Protopalatial and the Neopalatial period, which, as argued, are directly linked with sociopolitical transformations in the lowlands and with changes in Neopalatial political geography and territoriality. The available evidence allows us to suggest that in the Neopalatial period the mountains had an increased role as a new field for economic expansion and systematic exploitation, and from a relatively pristine, uninhabited landscape, they were transformed into a new political territory, which offered to the Neopalatial administrative system not only new opportunities for economic growth but also some kind of relief for the increased pressures in the lowlands.
in South by Southeast: The History and Archaeology of Southeast Crete - from Myrtos to Kato Zakros. Conference Proceedings, E. Oddo & Κ. Chalikias (eds.), Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 25-37, 2022
Although research has revealed a densely occupied landscape on the coastal and the hilly zone of ... more Although research has revealed a densely occupied landscape on the coastal and the hilly zone of Crete during the Bronze Age, the uplands have been largely overlooked despite comprising almost 50 percent of the total area of the island. This paper presents the preliminary results of an extensive surface survey carried out on the mountainous hinterlands of Ierapetra and Zakros, as part of the excavation at Gaidourophas and the Minoan Roads Research Project, respectively.
On Dikti, the survey covers the sloped area between the modern villages of Malles and Kalamafka, at an altitude from 800m to 1100m amsl; in Zakros, it covers the karstic landscape around the modern village of Sitanos from altitudes of 600m to 800m amsl. The survey has yielded new sites dating from the Final Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Architecture and pottery documented and studied from each site allow settlement patterns and the forms of occupation and exploitation on the economically marginal upland areas of East Crete to be examined and tested against the congested landscape of the lowlands.
Conference: CHRYSSI ISLAND AND THE WORLD OF LITTORAL ARCHAEOLOGY: CONTEXTUALIZING ISLAND RESEARCH AROUND CRETE, 2023
In this paper we explore the possibility of the existence of an extended production network, whic... more In this paper we explore the possibility of the existence of an extended production network, which operated in the Neopalatial period and included marginal sites located around Ierapetra. Our work hypothesis is that placed in two entirely different environmental zones, the settlements on Chryssi and the dispersed habitations on the eastern slopes of Dikte could have worked together in a network circulating specific products, such as red fabrics and woodworks. Could it be true that each settlement was making the most of its marginal environment, in order to contribute to a centrally controlled circulation of goods? Where does the administrative center at Gaidourophas fit in this narrative? We believe that the changes in the economy brought about by the New Palaces could have triggered such responses. This could mean that marginal sites differ fundamentally from the typical rural sites of the areas traditionally regarded as hinterland: the latter rely on a generally mixed economic model while the reconstructed network proposed here was oriented towards the marketing of highly valued products and encouraged specialization.
EAA - Session # 347 - Natural Resources of Highlands and Hinterlands in the Mediterranean, 2022
The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which Bronze Age polities on the island of Crete ... more The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which Bronze Age polities on the island of Crete organised their countryside and its ensuing production. Mountainous areas as peripheral zones are studied regarding the extent of sustenance they provided the palatial system necessary for its survival or, on the other hand, regarding the possibilities they offered for alternative modes of political and economic organization.
Essentially, we examine the level of integration of remote and seemingly marginal areas into the palatial political and economic system and territory from the bottom-up. The study wishes to explore the clusters of labour and production in peripheral zones and to approach the political and economic organisation of the Bronze Age starting with areas that were as remote as possible from the centralised manifestations of power concentrated in the monumental and palatial complexes. Our goal is to offer a fresh perspective to the debate concerning the functional character of Minoan polities, one that contrasts the usual top-down interpretations. As a case-study we have elected two separate but comparable mountain regions on the massifs of east Crete. The research focuses on architectural remains belonging to both habitation and exploitation infrastructure (terraces, enclosures, pens, wells etc) and on movable finds in their immediate surroundings.
Pastoralism and sedentary, urban Institutions in Bronze Age: from Greece to Near East, 2023
An extensive surface survey on the uplands of East Crete has revealed a significant density of ru... more An extensive surface survey on the uplands of East Crete has revealed a significant density of rural habitation sites in the Neopalatial period, contrasting a more occasional and symbolic use of the mountainous space in the previous Bronze Age periods. This paper offers a local view from the south-eastern slopes of Dikte on east Crete, where the habitation patterns documented from the survey and the spatial analysis of architectural remains within certain mountain sites suggest the shifting of pastoral practices in different sub-periods of the Bronze Age and the intensification of production responding to the very specific environmental parameters of the mountainous zone of the island. At the same time, these sites comprise an innovative variety of productive units and as such provide new insights into the economy and the spatial organisation of socio-political structures of the period, namely the palatial states of the Second Palace period. Therefore, we believe that the mountainous zone of Crete is ideal for an investigation of relations of power, administrative impact, autonomy, autarky and hierarchy in one of the least explored terrains of the island of Crete. Our bottom-up approach to pastoral communities and to the level of their integration from the traditional Bronze Age centres is revealing of complex social interplay, labour mobilisation and power reserves.
Bois et architecture dans la Protohistoire et l'Antiquité (2) Approvisionnement en bois, activités agro-pastorales et couvert forestier, 2022
This paper offers a regionally-specific view on timber species and potential supply routes and st... more This paper offers a regionally-specific view on timber species and potential supply routes and strategies based on a minimally investigated but vast economic zone of Crete: the upland zone. It explores which kinds of evidence we need to look for to reconstruct the practices relating to an almost now invisible engagement with nature and the insights traditional methods of wood-cutting and wood circulation can offer in understanding prehistoric communities.
Subject of this paper is a comparative account of the architecture, character and space
organiza... more Subject of this paper is a comparative account of the architecture, character and space
organization between Gaidourophas and the largest of the sites, located by our survey, at
Lavrakia, about 4 km to the north. Architectural organization will be considered through a spatial analysis of the outdoors built-environment aiming to show both micro-chronological and functional characteristics, which differentiate this type of occupation from the administrative center at Gaidourophas.
Format: Public lecture on the 30 th , by Prof. Jim Wright, with lectures on the 31 st of May and ... more Format: Public lecture on the 30 th , by Prof. Jim Wright, with lectures on the 31 st of May and 1 st of June. Workshop. A restricted group of scholars as speakers. The meeting is not open to the general public (because of the size of the lecture hall), but a select number of people may apply to sit as backbenchers.
PhD dissertation, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2019
This PhD dissertation documents and comments on the material culture, that has been identified an... more This PhD dissertation documents and comments on the material culture, that has been identified and studied, in the context of a surface survey undertaken by the writer. The survey took place between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2018 in the mountainous zone of eastern Crete. Two mountainous areas were studied: The first lies in the central and eastern sector of the Sitia Mountains and the other on the southeastern slopes of Mount Dikti. The first area is considered to be the mountainous hinterland of Zakros and the second of Ierapetra and the Isthmus. All the remnants of material culture found in these areas, covering a period from the end of the Neolithic to the Neopalatial period, are recorded, described, analyzed, commented on and interpreted. The required permits for the surface survey, as well as for the collection and study of the movable finds, were acquired for behalf of the writer as part of the Greek Ministry of Culture "Minoan Roads" Program under the direction of Dr. Stella Chrysoulakis for the area of the Zakros highlands and as part of the UoA program for the "Excavation of the LM I building in Gaidourofas" under the direction of Prof. Yannis Papadatos for the region of the southeastern slopes of Dikte. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the mountain zone, i.e. areas with an altitude greater than 600 m, was a field of systematic habitation and/or exploitation during prehistory and, if so, in which phases. The findings are contrasted with the habitation and exploitation patterns of the other, more traditional, productive zones of the island, i.e. with the coastal and the hilly zone. The dissertation includes 5 chapters. The first, introductory chapter (Chapter I) includes the definition of the subject of the study and reference to the research in the Cretan Mountains so far, showing the gaps in the examination of the upland zone. A review of prehistoric mountain habitation by subperiod based on the available data is also included in this chapter. This is intended to serve as a basis for comparing the image of habitation and exploitation of the mountain that we have had so far with the image created from the study of the new data of this research. Finally, the presentation of the questions arising from the dataset and the methodology to be followed for their investigation is included. The second chapter (Chapter II) is essentially another introductory chapter which aims to define the context within which the archaeological remains to be discussed below. This chapter includes a detailed composition of the environmental (geomorphological and climatic) data for the island of Crete. This is intended to demonstrate that, despite the lack of environmental data for the prehistory, some conclusions can be drawn and that the climate in the Cretan mountains was not prohibitive to permanent residence in them during this period. The third chapter (Chapter III) presents in detail the results of the surface survey, analyzing the topography of each site identified, the architecture and the movable finds from their surroundings. The third chapter is accompanied by many maps, photographs and drawings of architectural and movable finds, which in order to facilitate the reader lie within a separate volume (Volume II) providing the possibility of consulting the visual documents simultaneously to the text. In the same volume includes an appendix in which one can find a detailed catalogue of the movable findings (pottery shreds mostly) mentioned in the text. In the fourth chapter there is an interpretative discussion of the data that emerged from the research and an attempt to compare and/or integrate them in the dominant historical narrative of the prehistory of the island as known from the massive relevant literature. In this chapter the debate revolves around two main axes: habitation and exploitation. The Neolithic and the Bronze Age social organization is also commented on in relation to the new data in this chapter. The fifth chapter accommodates the conclusions in which lead the analysis of the primary data and the data's integration in the narrative of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in the Aegean. In this chapter the methods used in the surface survey are evaluated and commented on their effectiveness. An attempt is made to summarize the new data that have emerged from the present research and to show in which ways they contribute to our knowledge of the distribution patterns of habitation and the exploitation of the productive zones of the island during prehistory. Finally, some proposals are made for the preservation, protection and promotion of the identified antiquities/monuments as prevailing elements of landscape within the mountain zone.
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Σε μία αντιπαραβολή της εξειδίκευσης με τη μη εξειδίκευση, πρακτικές που συναντώνται σχεδόν ισόποσα σήμερα στον κλάδο, καθώς και σε αντιπαραβολή των δύο ταχυτήτων που δημιουργούνται, ειδικά στα ελληνικά δεδομένα, η πρόταση δεν είναι ο περιορισμός της εξειδίκευσης. Αντιθέτως, προτείνεται η διεύρυνση του πεδίου δράσης των αρχαιολόγων, ώστε να ενσωματωθούν οι νέες αναλυτικές δυνατότητες, όχι μόνο πρακτικά αλλά και νοηματικά.
Special emphasis is given to the changes observed between the Protopalatial and the Neopalatial period, which, as argued, are directly linked with sociopolitical transformations in the lowlands and with changes in Neopalatial political geography and territoriality. The available evidence allows us to suggest that in the Neopalatial period the mountains had an increased role as a new field for economic expansion and systematic exploitation, and from a relatively pristine, uninhabited landscape, they were transformed into a new political territory, which offered to the Neopalatial administrative system not only new opportunities for economic growth but also some kind of relief for the increased pressures in the lowlands.
On Dikti, the survey covers the sloped area between the modern villages of Malles and Kalamafka, at an altitude from 800m to 1100m amsl; in Zakros, it covers the karstic landscape around the modern village of Sitanos from altitudes of 600m to 800m amsl. The survey has yielded new sites dating from the Final Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Architecture and pottery documented and studied from each site allow settlement patterns and the forms of occupation and exploitation on the economically marginal upland areas of East Crete to be examined and tested against the congested landscape of the lowlands.
Essentially, we examine the level of integration of remote and seemingly marginal areas into the palatial political and economic system and territory from the bottom-up. The study wishes to explore the clusters of labour and production in peripheral zones and to approach the political and economic organisation of the Bronze Age starting with areas that were as remote as possible from the centralised manifestations of power concentrated in the monumental and palatial complexes. Our goal is to offer a fresh perspective to the debate concerning the functional character of Minoan polities, one that contrasts the usual top-down interpretations. As a case-study we have elected two separate but comparable mountain regions on the massifs of east Crete. The research focuses on architectural remains belonging to both habitation and exploitation infrastructure (terraces, enclosures, pens, wells etc) and on movable finds in their immediate surroundings.
organization between Gaidourophas and the largest of the sites, located by our survey, at
Lavrakia, about 4 km to the north. Architectural organization will be considered through a spatial analysis of the outdoors built-environment aiming to show both micro-chronological and functional characteristics, which differentiate this type of occupation from the administrative center at Gaidourophas.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether the mountain zone, i.e. areas with an altitude greater than 600 m, was a field of systematic habitation and/or exploitation during prehistory and, if so, in which phases. The findings are contrasted with the habitation and exploitation patterns of the other, more traditional, productive zones of the island, i.e. with the coastal and the hilly zone.
The dissertation includes 5 chapters. The first, introductory chapter (Chapter I) includes the definition of the subject of the study and reference to the research in the Cretan Mountains so far, showing the gaps in the examination of the upland zone. A review of prehistoric mountain habitation by subperiod based on the available data is also included in this chapter. This is intended to serve as a basis for comparing the image of habitation and exploitation of the mountain that we have had so far with the image created from the study of the new data of this research. Finally, the presentation of the questions arising from the dataset and the methodology to be followed for their investigation is included.
The second chapter (Chapter II) is essentially another introductory chapter which aims to define the context within which the archaeological remains to be discussed below. This chapter includes a detailed composition of the environmental (geomorphological and climatic) data for the island of Crete. This is intended to demonstrate that, despite the lack of environmental data for the prehistory, some conclusions can be drawn and that the climate in the Cretan mountains was not prohibitive to permanent residence in them during this period.
The third chapter (Chapter III) presents in detail the results of the surface survey, analyzing the topography of each site identified, the architecture and the movable finds from their surroundings. The third chapter is accompanied by many maps, photographs and drawings of architectural and movable finds, which in order to facilitate the reader lie within a separate volume (Volume II) providing the possibility of consulting the visual documents simultaneously to the text. In the same volume includes an appendix in which one can find a detailed catalogue of the movable findings (pottery shreds mostly) mentioned in the text.
In the fourth chapter there is an interpretative discussion of the data that emerged from the research and an attempt to compare and/or integrate them in the dominant historical narrative of the prehistory of the island as known from the massive relevant literature. In this chapter the debate revolves around two main axes: habitation and exploitation. The Neolithic and the Bronze Age social organization is also commented on in relation to the new data in this chapter.
The fifth chapter accommodates the conclusions in which lead the analysis of the primary data and the data's integration in the narrative of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in the Aegean. In this chapter the methods used in the surface survey are evaluated and commented on their effectiveness. An attempt is made to summarize the new data that have emerged from the present research and to show in which ways they contribute to our knowledge of the distribution patterns of habitation and the exploitation of the productive zones of the island during prehistory. Finally, some proposals are made for the preservation, protection and promotion of the identified antiquities/monuments as prevailing elements of landscape within the mountain zone.
Σε μία αντιπαραβολή της εξειδίκευσης με τη μη εξειδίκευση, πρακτικές που συναντώνται σχεδόν ισόποσα σήμερα στον κλάδο, καθώς και σε αντιπαραβολή των δύο ταχυτήτων που δημιουργούνται, ειδικά στα ελληνικά δεδομένα, η πρόταση δεν είναι ο περιορισμός της εξειδίκευσης. Αντιθέτως, προτείνεται η διεύρυνση του πεδίου δράσης των αρχαιολόγων, ώστε να ενσωματωθούν οι νέες αναλυτικές δυνατότητες, όχι μόνο πρακτικά αλλά και νοηματικά.
Special emphasis is given to the changes observed between the Protopalatial and the Neopalatial period, which, as argued, are directly linked with sociopolitical transformations in the lowlands and with changes in Neopalatial political geography and territoriality. The available evidence allows us to suggest that in the Neopalatial period the mountains had an increased role as a new field for economic expansion and systematic exploitation, and from a relatively pristine, uninhabited landscape, they were transformed into a new political territory, which offered to the Neopalatial administrative system not only new opportunities for economic growth but also some kind of relief for the increased pressures in the lowlands.
On Dikti, the survey covers the sloped area between the modern villages of Malles and Kalamafka, at an altitude from 800m to 1100m amsl; in Zakros, it covers the karstic landscape around the modern village of Sitanos from altitudes of 600m to 800m amsl. The survey has yielded new sites dating from the Final Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Architecture and pottery documented and studied from each site allow settlement patterns and the forms of occupation and exploitation on the economically marginal upland areas of East Crete to be examined and tested against the congested landscape of the lowlands.
Essentially, we examine the level of integration of remote and seemingly marginal areas into the palatial political and economic system and territory from the bottom-up. The study wishes to explore the clusters of labour and production in peripheral zones and to approach the political and economic organisation of the Bronze Age starting with areas that were as remote as possible from the centralised manifestations of power concentrated in the monumental and palatial complexes. Our goal is to offer a fresh perspective to the debate concerning the functional character of Minoan polities, one that contrasts the usual top-down interpretations. As a case-study we have elected two separate but comparable mountain regions on the massifs of east Crete. The research focuses on architectural remains belonging to both habitation and exploitation infrastructure (terraces, enclosures, pens, wells etc) and on movable finds in their immediate surroundings.
organization between Gaidourophas and the largest of the sites, located by our survey, at
Lavrakia, about 4 km to the north. Architectural organization will be considered through a spatial analysis of the outdoors built-environment aiming to show both micro-chronological and functional characteristics, which differentiate this type of occupation from the administrative center at Gaidourophas.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether the mountain zone, i.e. areas with an altitude greater than 600 m, was a field of systematic habitation and/or exploitation during prehistory and, if so, in which phases. The findings are contrasted with the habitation and exploitation patterns of the other, more traditional, productive zones of the island, i.e. with the coastal and the hilly zone.
The dissertation includes 5 chapters. The first, introductory chapter (Chapter I) includes the definition of the subject of the study and reference to the research in the Cretan Mountains so far, showing the gaps in the examination of the upland zone. A review of prehistoric mountain habitation by subperiod based on the available data is also included in this chapter. This is intended to serve as a basis for comparing the image of habitation and exploitation of the mountain that we have had so far with the image created from the study of the new data of this research. Finally, the presentation of the questions arising from the dataset and the methodology to be followed for their investigation is included.
The second chapter (Chapter II) is essentially another introductory chapter which aims to define the context within which the archaeological remains to be discussed below. This chapter includes a detailed composition of the environmental (geomorphological and climatic) data for the island of Crete. This is intended to demonstrate that, despite the lack of environmental data for the prehistory, some conclusions can be drawn and that the climate in the Cretan mountains was not prohibitive to permanent residence in them during this period.
The third chapter (Chapter III) presents in detail the results of the surface survey, analyzing the topography of each site identified, the architecture and the movable finds from their surroundings. The third chapter is accompanied by many maps, photographs and drawings of architectural and movable finds, which in order to facilitate the reader lie within a separate volume (Volume II) providing the possibility of consulting the visual documents simultaneously to the text. In the same volume includes an appendix in which one can find a detailed catalogue of the movable findings (pottery shreds mostly) mentioned in the text.
In the fourth chapter there is an interpretative discussion of the data that emerged from the research and an attempt to compare and/or integrate them in the dominant historical narrative of the prehistory of the island as known from the massive relevant literature. In this chapter the debate revolves around two main axes: habitation and exploitation. The Neolithic and the Bronze Age social organization is also commented on in relation to the new data in this chapter.
The fifth chapter accommodates the conclusions in which lead the analysis of the primary data and the data's integration in the narrative of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in the Aegean. In this chapter the methods used in the surface survey are evaluated and commented on their effectiveness. An attempt is made to summarize the new data that have emerged from the present research and to show in which ways they contribute to our knowledge of the distribution patterns of habitation and the exploitation of the productive zones of the island during prehistory. Finally, some proposals are made for the preservation, protection and promotion of the identified antiquities/monuments as prevailing elements of landscape within the mountain zone.