Mochlos - 2021
Informations Générales
Numéro de la notice
18404
Année de l'opération
2021
Chronologie
Mots-clés
Nature de l'opération
Institution(s)
Localisation
Toponyme
Ag. Nikolaos
Ag. Nikolaos
Notices et opérations liées
Description
Mochlos. J.S. Soles (North Carolina) and C. Davaras (Athens) report on work undertaken at Mochlos during the summer and fall of 2021.
The goals this season were to finish excavating previously investigated areas. These included (1) a MM II house, dating ca. 1900-1700 B.C., which the team had exposed in 2012 and found to be unusually well-preserved in the midst of an LM I town dating to the 15th century B.C.; (2) to remove a large dump that was created over many years of excavation (in 1908, 1994, 2010, 2012) which overlay the northern side of a LM I building (Building 9) in order to see if the building continued to the north; and (3) to explore areas on the summit of the island where the project had exposed (in 1993-1994 and 2004-2005) remains of previously unknown periods of occupation: late Byzantine (14-15th centuries A.D.), early Archaic (end of 7th/early 6th centuries B.C.), and late Classical (ca. 400-350 B.C.).
Work resumed on the excavation of the MM II house under the supervision of Dr Georgios Doudalis and resulted in the most surprising discovery of all since it turned out not to be a house at all. It is a unique building in the annals of Minoan archaeology which is currently identified as a “waterworks” complete with a water conduit. The conduit resembles the drains of Palaikastro, but unlike those which are designed to drain rain water out of houses, it is located in an open area, falls at a steep 9 to 12-degree angle, and was designed to supply the Minoan town with fresh water (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4). Pottery as early as MM IB was found in and around the conduit, presumably the date it was built, but LM I pottery was also found inside the conduit suggesting that it remained in use for several centuries. We were unable to investigate the beginning of the conduit which lies to the north and its end which disappears into a series of irregular steps (fig. 3). A small lead figurine of a well-dressed woman wearing a flounced skirt, whom has been identified as the “Lady of the Waterworks” (Fig. 5), stood nearby. It is a complicated building with several different phases of construction and needs more excavation to understand fully and complete its state plan.
Much of the area in and around the waterworks is open space and numerous remains of stone vase working material, including bore cores, drill guides, vase fragments, were found in the area suggesting that it was used by individual artisans for stone vase making. An unfinished, MM II conical seal of green steatite (Fig. 6) found in the area suggests another activity.
The removal of the dump was undertaken under the supervision of Mitch Cadden. A large part of the season was spent in this effort, requiring more time than anticipated. The team removed its southern half and discovered that House C.9, which is believed to have been an administrative building overseeing adjacent workshops and storerooms, and does not continue to the north (Fig. 7). It may however have an additional room at its northeast corner which was discovered only at the end of the season. Additional rooms appeared to the north of the building, but time permitted only the excavation of one, a small room with a well-stratified deposit of MM IB-II polychrome pottery.
Work also resumed on the summit of the island (Fig. 8) under the supervision of Dr. Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan. The project opened two trenches along the northeast corner of the large “Byzantine” tower in order to determine the earlier phases of its construction and test Vogeikoff-Brogan’s hypothesis that its original construction was connected with the northern expansion of the 4th century polis of Praisos (Fig. 9).
The results of the excavation confirmed the hypothesis that the Byzantine tower stands on an earlier and larger Hellenistic structure (Fig. 10). The removal of the tumble also revealed a sealed deposit of Hellenistic pottery, rooftiles, and marine shells, dating to the last major period of occupation at Mochlos in the 1st century B.C. The large size of the tower, ca. 14 x 11 m, and its careful rubble masonry suggests an investment of time and labor that only a strong Hellenistic city could have undertaken, either Praisos or her successor for control of east Crete, Hierapytna. Further exploration of the east façade of the tower, where there is evidence for a doorway and other neighboring structures, is expected to determine its construction date. The current state of research suggests that the tower collapsed in the following centuries after the abandonment of Mochlos in the late 1st century B.C., probably from a strong earthquake. When Mochlos was resettled in the Byzantine period, the tower was rebuilt on top of the earlier remains on a smaller scale (11 x 8 meters). For the reconstruction the new settlers used stones from the tower collapse, but did not dig deep enough to disturb the Hellenistic layers.
The Project also wished to determine the date of the perimeter wall that ran along the north side of the summit and sank two trenches on the outer side of the wall (Fig. 11). In both trenches the wall went deep, preserving a height of about 1.5 meters in places. The preliminary study of the outside façade of the perimeter wall revealed rubble masonry constructed with care and sharing many similarities with the building style of the tower (Fig.12). More importantly, it bears no resemblance to the masonry of the inner façade which must have been repaired in the 14th century A.D. in order to form the back wall of a Late Byzantine building. The excavation outside the perimeter wall did not locate the northern sections of the Archaic and Classical structures. Based on this new development, the team is proposing that the perimeter wall was built in the Late Classical period (causing damage to the earlier Archaic buildings), and that parts of it were repaired during the Byzantine occupation.
The goals this season were to finish excavating previously investigated areas. These included (1) a MM II house, dating ca. 1900-1700 B.C., which the team had exposed in 2012 and found to be unusually well-preserved in the midst of an LM I town dating to the 15th century B.C.; (2) to remove a large dump that was created over many years of excavation (in 1908, 1994, 2010, 2012) which overlay the northern side of a LM I building (Building 9) in order to see if the building continued to the north; and (3) to explore areas on the summit of the island where the project had exposed (in 1993-1994 and 2004-2005) remains of previously unknown periods of occupation: late Byzantine (14-15th centuries A.D.), early Archaic (end of 7th/early 6th centuries B.C.), and late Classical (ca. 400-350 B.C.).
Work resumed on the excavation of the MM II house under the supervision of Dr Georgios Doudalis and resulted in the most surprising discovery of all since it turned out not to be a house at all. It is a unique building in the annals of Minoan archaeology which is currently identified as a “waterworks” complete with a water conduit. The conduit resembles the drains of Palaikastro, but unlike those which are designed to drain rain water out of houses, it is located in an open area, falls at a steep 9 to 12-degree angle, and was designed to supply the Minoan town with fresh water (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4). Pottery as early as MM IB was found in and around the conduit, presumably the date it was built, but LM I pottery was also found inside the conduit suggesting that it remained in use for several centuries. We were unable to investigate the beginning of the conduit which lies to the north and its end which disappears into a series of irregular steps (fig. 3). A small lead figurine of a well-dressed woman wearing a flounced skirt, whom has been identified as the “Lady of the Waterworks” (Fig. 5), stood nearby. It is a complicated building with several different phases of construction and needs more excavation to understand fully and complete its state plan.
Much of the area in and around the waterworks is open space and numerous remains of stone vase working material, including bore cores, drill guides, vase fragments, were found in the area suggesting that it was used by individual artisans for stone vase making. An unfinished, MM II conical seal of green steatite (Fig. 6) found in the area suggests another activity.
The removal of the dump was undertaken under the supervision of Mitch Cadden. A large part of the season was spent in this effort, requiring more time than anticipated. The team removed its southern half and discovered that House C.9, which is believed to have been an administrative building overseeing adjacent workshops and storerooms, and does not continue to the north (Fig. 7). It may however have an additional room at its northeast corner which was discovered only at the end of the season. Additional rooms appeared to the north of the building, but time permitted only the excavation of one, a small room with a well-stratified deposit of MM IB-II polychrome pottery.
Work also resumed on the summit of the island (Fig. 8) under the supervision of Dr. Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan. The project opened two trenches along the northeast corner of the large “Byzantine” tower in order to determine the earlier phases of its construction and test Vogeikoff-Brogan’s hypothesis that its original construction was connected with the northern expansion of the 4th century polis of Praisos (Fig. 9).
The results of the excavation confirmed the hypothesis that the Byzantine tower stands on an earlier and larger Hellenistic structure (Fig. 10). The removal of the tumble also revealed a sealed deposit of Hellenistic pottery, rooftiles, and marine shells, dating to the last major period of occupation at Mochlos in the 1st century B.C. The large size of the tower, ca. 14 x 11 m, and its careful rubble masonry suggests an investment of time and labor that only a strong Hellenistic city could have undertaken, either Praisos or her successor for control of east Crete, Hierapytna. Further exploration of the east façade of the tower, where there is evidence for a doorway and other neighboring structures, is expected to determine its construction date. The current state of research suggests that the tower collapsed in the following centuries after the abandonment of Mochlos in the late 1st century B.C., probably from a strong earthquake. When Mochlos was resettled in the Byzantine period, the tower was rebuilt on top of the earlier remains on a smaller scale (11 x 8 meters). For the reconstruction the new settlers used stones from the tower collapse, but did not dig deep enough to disturb the Hellenistic layers.
The Project also wished to determine the date of the perimeter wall that ran along the north side of the summit and sank two trenches on the outer side of the wall (Fig. 11). In both trenches the wall went deep, preserving a height of about 1.5 meters in places. The preliminary study of the outside façade of the perimeter wall revealed rubble masonry constructed with care and sharing many similarities with the building style of the tower (Fig.12). More importantly, it bears no resemblance to the masonry of the inner façade which must have been repaired in the 14th century A.D. in order to form the back wall of a Late Byzantine building. The excavation outside the perimeter wall did not locate the northern sections of the Archaic and Classical structures. Based on this new development, the team is proposing that the perimeter wall was built in the Late Classical period (causing damage to the earlier Archaic buildings), and that parts of it were repaired during the Byzantine occupation.
Auteur de la notice
Michael Loy
Références bibliographiques
Unpublished field report, ASCSA.
Légende graphique :
localisation de la fouille/de l'opération
localisation du toponyme
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Date de création
2022-09-30 10:00:17
Dernière modification
2022-09-30 10:00:50