Intra-site organisation and economy of urban sites in neopalatial Crete: the case study of the settlement of Kato Zakros: an approach on the basis of the archaeological data (in Greek)

Alexandra Salichou University of Athens 2012

Description: 1 volume, 399 p., 9 tables, 99 figures (68 in colour), 4 charts

Country: Greece

Supervisor: Lefteris Platon

Examiners: L.Platon, E. Mantzourani, I. Papadatos, P. Polychronakou-Sgouritsa, I. Karali-Giannakopoulou, G. Kourtessi-Filippaki, G. Vavouranakis

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the basic principles of structure and organisation in the new palatial settlement of Kato Zakros and, through this, to study the intra-organisation of urban sites in Late Minoan I Crete. The main objective of this work, initially, was both the synthetic and full presentation of the excavation data from the settlement of Kato Zakros, secondly, the detection of the basic planning principles, as well as the principles of structure and organisation of each individual architectural unit. A further aim was to extract some basic conclusions about the ‘zakrian household’, notably in history and composition, but also the incorporation of the town form in the urban new palatial environment, as it is known today mainly from the archaeological data of eastern Crete. The methodology used in this approach was borrowed either from specific fields of archaeology (for example, ‘distribution maps’ were used) or from other anthropological or exact sciences (for example, spatial analysis methods were applied). A residential model is proposed for Kato Zakros, according to which this palatial settlement seems to endorses the basic principles applied to other new palatial sites. Any peculiarity found in the urban planning of Kato Zakros can be explained both by the limited available space and from the integration of the palatial building in an already existing urban environment, in close proximity and relationship with the settlement. The special relations identified between Zakros and Knossos are discussed separately, as well as the potential political-economic control and / or ideological influence exercised by Knossos on the others new palatial centers. In conclusion, some of the already formulated, scientific views on the social, economic, political, and historical development of East Crete are considered here, to show that the reaction of Kato Zakros to the new and special social and economic conditions of the end of the Late Minoan IB phase connote the existence of a systematic organisation and planning, the source of which must have been a strong central authority and an organised power system, which seems to have managed to maintain control until the final destruction of the site.

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