EXPLORING A TERRA INCOGNITA ON CRETE

166 pages

67 figures in the text

paperback, 23x15 cm

This book brings together for the first time scholars working on the Bronze Age settlement patterns and material culture of the southern Ierapetra Isthmus, a region that actively participated in the coastal and maritime trade networks of East Crete. During the past few decades, while various archaeological projects focused on the northern isthmus, the Ierapetra area remained largely neglected and unknown, a terra incognita. Yet, new excavations at Gaidourophas, Anatoli Stavromenos, Chryssi Island, Bramiana, and the ongoing research at the site of Myrtos Pyrgos are showing that the coastal area of Ierapetra was a vibrant and thriving settlement landscape during the Bronze Age. Far from being simply on the periphery of the major Minoan centers, the southern Ierapetra Isthmus played important roles in the cultural dynamics of Crete. Aiming to be the first building block in the development of an archaeological understanding of the region of the southern Ierapetra Isthmus, this book presents the status of the discipline and indicates future research trajectories.

Contents: Frontmatter; 1. The Final Neolithic to Early Minoan I Transition in the Ierapetra Isthmus by Krzysztof Nowicki; 2. Aphrodite’s Kephali and the Initial Stages of the Minoan Period in the Isthmus of Ierapetra by Philip P. Betancourt; 3. Consuming in Style(s): Patterns of Intra-site Variability in Tableware at Neopalatial Myrtos Pyrgos by Emilia Oddo; 4. Evidence for the Settlement of Bramiana Vili Apostolakou, by Thomas M. Brogan, Eleni Nodarou, Florence S.C. Hsu, Amie Gluckman, Sydney R. Sarasin, Lily Bonga, and Philip P. Betancourt; 5. Minoan Land-Use Patterns and Landscape Transformation in the Mountains of the Ierapetra Area: The Building at Gaidourophas by Yiannis Papadatos and Konstantinos Chalikias; 6. A Bronze Age Fishing Village on Chryssi
by Thomas M. Brogan, Dimitra Mylona, Vili Apostolakou, Philip P. Betancourt, and Chrysa Sofianou; 7. Death on the Isthmus: Late Minoan IIIA–IIIB Tombs of the Mirabello Bay and Ierapetra Areas by R. Angus K. Smith; 8. Conclusion: Exploring a Small Terra Incognita by Gerald Cadogan.

English 978-1-931534-99-4