IKLAINA ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT 2016 FIELD REPORT (original) (raw)
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The Iklaina Archaeological Project aims to test hierarchical models of state formation in ancient Greece by exploring the regional center of Iklaina. Through excavations conducted in 2016, the project gathered data on storage, processing, and consumption patterns in both domestic and administrative contexts, as well as insights into the architectural significance of the site in relation to the authority of the region's rulers. The findings enhance understanding of Iklaina's role in the Mycenaean state of Pylos, providing new datasets and historical trajectories.
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Aegean Archaeology (vol.12: 2013-2015), 2019
There have been recent attempts to identify distinct types of residential zones (quarters, neighbourhoods, districts) in 'urban' settlements of Bronze Age Crete. This study aims to discuss the pertinent agenda by focusing on the LM IB settlement of Kato Zakros. The latest excavator of the site, Nikolaos Platon, can be credited with the fi rst attempt to distinguish among separate "sectors" in Kato Zakros. He identifi ed a part of the settlement north of the palace as an 'elite district' occupied by "palatial annexes" based on the monumental character of the buildings and their close proximity to the palace complex. The detailed study of specifi c buildings (the Strong Building, Building Η and the Building of the Pottery Deposits) seems to lend support to the existence of certain principles of social organisation that may be refl ected in their spatial layout. There is yet no evidence for the existence of a common pattern in the spatial organization of the entire LM IB settlement of Kato Zakros. At the current state of our progress in the study of the architecture and fi nds from buildings located on the hills north of the palace complex, it is hardly possible to move beyond the identifi cation of separate urban blocks; there are no further indications of distinct spatial zoning in this part of the settlement. However, a different picture can be gained from the study of the architecture and fi nds from the buildings on the hill of Ayios Antonios, clearly separated from the rest of the settlement and located southwest of the palace complex. The seven buildings that have been recovered there seem to share common prin ciples in their architecture and layout, while correspondences are also identifi ed in the fi nds from the buildings. The concentration of wine-presses in this part of the settlement seems to suggest the existence of a "sector" specialised in wine production. The special relationship between the Ayios Antonios buildings and the palace complex can be inferred from the architectural features that occur in certain buildings at Ayios Antonios, the topography of the area, the evidence for wine production that would aim at fulfi lling palatial needs for the consumption of wine in ceremonial contexts coupled with the lack of substantial storage facilities in the buildings at Ayios Antonios. This evidence may suggest the existence of a distinct quarter with a special form and function within the settlement, aiming at covering special palatial needs. Such a special relationship between these buildings and palatial agents may provide clues as to the formation process of this specifi c quarter, that might have taken place at the initiative (and under the ultimate control) of the palace (i.e. a top-down process). This conclusion seems to be strengthened when evidence from other palatial sites, such as Malia, Petras and Gournia, is brought into the discussion.
Abstract: The paper examines culture change on Crete, ca. 600 B.C., in an urban context. The purpose is to reassess the current methodological discourse, and the application of site-specific recovery methods and research paradigms in addressing traditional problems of polis formation and urbanization in the Greek Aegean. One aspect of urbanization in the Aegean at the end of the Early Iron Age is nucleation of population, the settlement aggregation and the restructuring of social, political and economic landscapes, giving rise to Archaic Greek cities and city-states. This paper presents a case study of an excavation of one such early emergent center, the site of Azoria in eastern Crete (700–500 B.C.). Within contexts of agropastoral production and consumption in domestic and communal spaces, the material patterns suggest public activities that actively formed civic institutions, mediating social and political interaction and forming mechanisms of community organization and integration.
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