2020, A. KARNAVA & I. NIKOLAKOPOULOU, «More oikoi at Akrotiri, Thera: physical and social landscape in the new north/north-west neighbourhood of the LB I settlement», in M. RELAKI, J. DRIESSEN (EDS.), OIKOS, Aegis 19, Louvain, 237-255. (original) (raw)

Excavations at Akrotiri in the years 1999-2002 yielded new evidence on the history of habitation at the site from the Neolithic period to the LC I/LM IA final phase of the settlement and uncovered new sectors of the LC I town at the north part of the as yet excavated area. This paper presents evidence from this newly-excavated north sector, with emphasis on the nature of the domestic units uncovered in the north/northwest part and the activities of the inhabitants during the disruptive phase before the volcanic eruption. The expansion of the LC I settlement to the north was apparently a communal decision implemented during the reorganisation of the layout of the town at the end of the MC period. The limited evidence for earlier remains in the area and the configuration of the new sector by the same principles of urban planning evident in other parts of the settlement (with provision for roads, squares, sewage system) demonstrate that the transformation of the physical landscape in response to particular needs complied with rules set on the community level. Of particular interest is the comparison of the newly-uncovered two-storied domestic units with other buildings and complexes in the settlement, in terms of function and interdependence. Moreover, the ample evidence for systematic and well-planned re-organisation activities attested in the settlement as a result of collective action in the period just before the eruption, further substantiates the argument for a high level of social integration in the community. In light of the absence, as yet, of any building that could qualify as the administrative seat of a ruler or a body of rulers at Akrotiri, the discussion on the role of Houses in the political and economic organisation of the community certainly affords due consideration.