The preliminary results of an ongoing study aimed at better defining the architectural, stratigraphic and ceramic sequence of the Neopalatial palace at Malia, shed light on the marked impact of the material culture from Knossos on the edifice and its contents. The assessment of local building practices and Knossian architectural influences underlines the possibility of a joint participation of various, local and foreign, agents in the Neopalatial reconstruction of the Malia Palace. In this paper we will highlight Knossian features observed throughout the Middle Minoan IIIA, Middle Minoan IIIB and Late Minoan IA phases. Such an input is usually considered an important agent of social and political change on Minoan sites during the Neopalatial period, and it is believed to operate under the resistance of local traditions. But this view is quite simplistic. In the Palace at Malia both architecture and pottery demonstrate a mixture of local elements and entirely new features, which not only shaped stylistic and aesthetic trends but also defined technological choices, which occurred at varying pace and through different mechanisms during the Neopalatial period
