Excavations at Gournia, 2010-2012

This article presents previous research at Gournia, the overall goals of our project, a new plan of the settlement, and our 2010-2012 excavations in eight areas: the Pit House, the Northwest Area, the North Cemetery, North Trench, the Northeast Area, House Aa, several rooms in the palace, and House He. Analytical sections discuss the textual evidence; the painted plasters; and the botanical remains. Our excavations indicate that Gournia was first settled in the Final Neolithic period and grew into an industrial town by the Protopalatial period. Following a Middle Minoan II destruction, the town was reorganized in Middle Minoan IIIA to include the palace, which in Late Minoan IB employed Linear A

(De)Constructing Identities Through Architecture in LM III Crete

This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about the nature of the changes in material culture that occurred on the island of Crete following the LM IB destructions but this time from an architectural perspective. The purpose of the paper is, on the one hand, to examine the factors (regional, economic, political, ideological) that shaped architecture outside Knossos in the Final Palatial period, and, on the other hand, to explore some of the mechanisms involved in constructing identity ..

(De)Constructing Identities Through Architecture in LM III Crete

This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about the nature of the changes in material culture that occurred on the island of Crete following the LM IB destructions but this time from an architectural perspective. The purpose of the paper is, on the one hand, to examine the factors (regional, economic, political, ideological) that shaped architecture outside Knossos in the Final Palatial period, and, on the other hand, to explore some of the mechanisms involved in constructing identity ..

Minoan Archaeology

More than 100 years ago Sir Arthur Evans' spade made the first cut into the earth above the now well-known Palace at Knossos. His research at the Kephala hill as well as contemporary fieldwork at further sites on Crete saw the birth of a new discipline: Minoan Archaeology. Since these beginnings in the first decades of the 20th century, the investigation of Bronze Age Crete has experienced fundamental progress. The impressive wealth of new data relating to the sites and material culture of this Bronze Age society and its impact beyond the island's shores, the refinement of its chronology, the constant development of hermeneutical approaches to social, religious or political issues, and new methods and instruments employed for the exploration and conservation of the archaeological remains have shaped the dynamic trajectory of this discipline for more than a century. In March 2011 - exactly 111 years after the beginning of Evans' work at Knossos - a conference on Minoan Archaeology took place at Heidelberg with the aim to outline current trends and prospects of this scientific field, by setting up an open dialogue between renowned scholars and the young generation of researchers. The present volume brings together most of the papers presented during the conference. They are subsumed under six chapters highlighting current key issues in the study of Bronze Age Crete with a pronounced focus on the broad subject of society

Minoan Archaeology

More than 100 years ago Sir Arthur Evans' spade made the first cut into the earth above the now well-known Palace at Knossos. His research at the Kephala hill as well as contemporary fieldwork at further sites on Crete saw the birth of a new discipline: Minoan Archaeology. Since these beginnings in the first decades of the 20th century, the investigation of Bronze Age Crete has experienced fundamental progress. The impressive wealth of new data relating to the sites and material culture of this Bronze Age society and its impact beyond the island's shores, the refinement of its chronology, the constant development of hermeneutical approaches to social, religious or political issues, and new methods and instruments employed for the exploration and conservation of the archaeological remains have shaped the dynamic trajectory of this discipline for more than a century. In March 2011 - exactly 111 years after the beginning of Evans' work at Knossos - a conference on Minoan Archaeology took place at Heidelberg with the aim to outline current trends and prospects of this scientific field, by setting up an open dialogue between renowned scholars and the young generation of researchers. The present volume brings together most of the papers presented during the conference. They are subsumed under six chapters highlighting current key issues in the study of Bronze Age Crete with a pronounced focus on the broad subject of society