Efi Sapouna-Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on continued systematic excavation on the great Minoan building, and particularly on the area north of the rooms 2-11. A paved courtyard was uncovered. The pavement had fallen because of the soil and small sherd preparation layer had slid. This structure shows advanced construction techniques.

Below the courtyard, excavation in sections were there was no paving left showed remains of older walls and rooms, dating MMI and MMII. In those rooms,...

Zominthos. Systematic excavations at this site, the highest palace-site on Crete (Fig. 1), continued under the auspices of the ASA and the directorship of Dr E. Sapouna-Sakellaraki (Emeritus Director of Antiquities). The goals of excavation were to clarify the means of approach to the N entrance of the Central Building and the verification of geophysical investigations carried out by A. Sarris (FORTH) to its N. This year’s excavation revealed that the existing two-storey (possibly...

Zominthos.  E. Sapouna Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on the completion of the excavation of the large building (Figs 1-3).  In Space 28 a Linear A tablet was found, on which tripod vessels are recorded (Fig. 4).  Other Linear A inscriptions have been found at Zominthos.  The existence of an earlier building beneath was confirmed; it was larger in extent and there are finds from it. Of interest is part of a clay bull figurine (Fig. 5), which fell from the upper floor of the...

Zominthos. E. Sapouna Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on continuing excavation of the site (Fig. 1). Room 1, originally open to E and N, had been walled in; here were found fragments of coloured plaster (Fig. 2), over 150 Late Minoan I conical cups and other ceramics. In the adjacent Room 2 a paved entrance was uncovered including 3 slabs forming a polythyron (Fig. 3); the pottery found dated to the Late Minoan IA period with plant decoration. An immediate result of the excavation in this area was...

Zominthos. E. Sapouna Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on continuing excavation of the site (Figs 1-2). Two large entrances into its E side were revealed. The SE had a strong staircase, which had undergone destruction in Mycenaean and Roman times, demonstrated by a coin of Marcus Aurelius, but especially in the 1960s from illicit excavation. From the partially preserved steps of the staircase, it appears to have led to the building’s central court. The NW entrance had an ante-room with a bench...

Zominthos. E. Sapouna Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on continued excavation of the site in several areas of the large building complex (Fig. 1). Excavation of room 59 was completed to the floor level on the ground floor, where fragments of pithoi and other pottery were found. In the neighbouring rooms 17 and 38 central pillars were found, while in 38 there was a metal-working kiln on the ground floor and, on the first storey, a sealstone was found.

The 3 compartments of room 47 further...

Zominthos. E. Sapouna Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on continuing excavation in the Central Building. The large ceramic kiln N of workshop space 13 (Fig. 1), used for firing large vessels, was completely revealed: the central pillar was preserved, while the firing chamber was only partially preserved. Space 57a functioned as a supporting area for the workshop. Space 57 was excavated to floor level: it is a significant room, its floor paved with limestone slabs, and its N, E and W walls...

Zominthos. E. Sapouna Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on continuing excavation in the Central Building (Fig. 1, 2). In the paved corridor 21 were found floor slabs from the upper floor as well as plaster fragments with polychrome decoration; similar fragments were found between rooms 8 and 9. The long (25 m) paved corridor 10 (Fig. 3) was found during excavation to be full of wooden beams and schist slabs from the upper floor. A steatite seal with an image of a bird-headed, winged female figure...

Zominthos. E. Sapouna Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on continuing excavation in the Central Building. A paved surface was revealed along the north façade of the building, with parts of two processional roads running from the north entrance. In the northwest corner of this area were hundreds of vases, a dagger, and pieces of rock crystal. In room 7, many fragments of painted plaster were found from the upper storey and the ground floor, plus part of a plaster offering table. Fragments of...

Zominthos, Crete. Excavation of the Central Building continued under the direction of E. Sapouna Sakellaraki (Fig. 1). Excavation in Areas 7, 8, and 9 revealed many fragments of polychrome wall paintings (Fig. 2). Areas 8 and 9 produced two stone constructions, and a mass of pottery was found among layers of plaster in Area 7 (Fig. 3). In Area 10 (central passageway), walls were preserved to a height of 2.3-2.5m with openings into Areas 9, 21 and 26. Finds included: a pithos, a chalice,...

Zominthos. E. Sapouna-Sakellaraki (ASA) reports on continuing excavation of the Central Building. Room 19 (the staircase room, Fig. 1) had at least two floors; rooms 28 and 49 had an upper floor (traces of the floor beams were preserved in room 49). Among the numerous finds from room 49 were fragments of rhyta, conical cups, daggers, bone pinheads, and a clay sealing. Finds from room 28 were equally rich – a large quantity of vessels (mainly conical cups), a lamp, a thymiaterion, beads of a...

Zominthos. The 2010 excavation season was the last conducted under the direction of the late Y. Sakellarakis (ASA). Work in the Central Building revealed the walls of four rooms of a Roman construction within room 29 (Fig. 1). The second room from the east contained a rectangular hearth; the upper levels had pottery of the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman as well as Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman periods. Below two of the rooms, Minoan layers of the First Palatial period contained pottery...

Zominthos. Y. Sakellarakis reports on continuing excavations in 2009 at this upland centre. Three goals were pursued: the investigation of rooms 14 and 15 at the northwest, along with 19 and 28 to their immediate south; that of room 29; and that of the northeastern part of the Central Building which had been disturbed by looters. Work in rooms 14 and 15 focused on the consolidation of vulnerable walls, removing fill and tumble to reveal the lower courses in position. Numerous vases of several...

Zominthos. Y. Sakellarakis (ASA) reports on continuing excavation of the M settlement, focused on room 15 and area 19 of the central building (plan: AR 53 [2006−2007], 112). The investigation of room 15 was almost completed. The room had an E entrance, a window in the W wall and 2 niches in the S wall. The floor was paved, and on it was found a large quantity of vessels of various types such as handleless conical cups, bridge-spouted and cylindrical cups, large and small lopades, kalathoi,...

Zominthos. Y. Sakellarakis (ASA) reports on the continuing excavation of the M settlement, conducted in collaboration with D. Panagiotopoulos (Heidelberg). The M main building, of 2 or 3 storeys, covers ca. 1,500m2; its 2 entrances, good façade, and frescoes establish its élite status. It was a working establishment, perhaps central to the exploitation of the upland terrain in which it is located. It had its own potter. Three chronological phases are distinguished: Prepalatial, Protopalatial...

En 2006, Y. Sakellarakis et D. Panagiotopoulos (université de Heidelberg), ont mené des fouilles dans plusieurs pièces du bâtiment central (pièces 6, 21, 10, 9 et couloir de la pièce 10), interprété comme une « villa » d’époque néopalatiale (37x54 m) (fig. 1). Une grande plaque d’enduit de chaux blanc, portant des impressions de fils et des traces de couleur bleue et rouge, a été trouvée dans la pièce 6, mais semble provenir d’un niveau supérieur. D’autres fragments...