Mochlos 2000Overview

Publication of the Late Minoan IB (15th c. BC) Industrial Quarter, and
the Mycenaean Reoccupation (14th c. and 13th c.), Mochlos in Eastern Crete, Greece
Jeffrey Soles

The island of Mochlos and the adjacent plain that lies on the coast of Crete opposite it are located in a graben (tectonic valley) flanked by horsts (mountain blocks) on the east and west. As a result of normal faulting, the island and plain have experienced considerable subsidence with respect to the areas on either side. In the Bronze Age, the two were still connected by a narrow isthmus of land, now submerged below sea level, that provided excellent shelter for passing ships as well as a bridge for land traffic from the island to the adjacent coast. The plain runs along the coast, mostly to the east of Mochlos, for a distance of ca. 4.5 km (Fig. 1). Nowhere more than 1 km wide, it is isolated from the interior of Crete by the Ornos Mountains, which ring the plain on the east, west, and south, and rise abruptly to a maximum height of 1237 m above sea level.

The investigation of this coastal plain was always one of the major objectives of the Mochlos project. The goal was to discover the relationship of sites on the plain to the settlement on the island and construct a comprehensive picture of life at Mochlos in its overall geographical setting. Because the island of Mochlos, where the main settlement was always located, is itself solid rock with little or no arable land and no water source, the inhabitants must have relied heavily on the natural resources of the plain. Earlier expeditions to the area, first by Richard Seager in 1908 and then by Nicholas Platon in the 1950s,' indicated that people had been active in the plain at many different times in antiquity. The Greek-American project was interested in learning what the extent and nature of this activity was. It carried out archaeological and geological surveys to identify sites and artifacts on the plain, as well as natural resources, which the inhabitants of Mochlos exploited. The project also excavated two of the Bronze Age sites, the results of which are presented in this volume.

The Artisans' Quarter was actually located by Seager. During his excavation of the main site on the island, he camped on the shore opposite it and observed a number of remains in the vicinity, some of which might, he believed, be related in one way or another to the settlement on the island. Chief among these were the walls that lay near his campsite on the promontory where the modern village was to be built.' In his report of the excavation, published in the American Journal of Archaeology in 1909, he wrote, "On the opposite shore, where lie the warehouses of the modern port, are the remains of many house walls, which would show that, whether connected or not, the town lay on both the island and the opposite shore."' Although Seager pitched his tents near these house walls, for some reason he did not excavate on the promontory. It is unclear why he assumed that the remains here were contemporary with the town on the island, although potsherds lying on the surface may have enabled him to draw this conclusion. The Greek-American excavation was the first to investigate this area scientifically. It uncovered the remains of several workshops, forming an Artisans' Quarter from the same period as the Neopalatial town on the island. and proved Seager correct.

Seager also drew attention to a small quarry located along the eastern side of this promontory. which he believed to belong to "late Greek and Roman times." He wrote, "In a river bed close by, a small quarry shows that a good deal of ashlar masonry must have been used in this period, although at first 1 had hoped that it might date from Minoan times and indicate a building similar to the small palace at Gournia; but as no remains of this kind came to light in the Minoan stratum, and the only existing ashlar walls belonged to the late houses, it appears that the quarry must date from the same late period ...." A detailed examination of the quarry, published in the Journal off Field Archaeologv in 1983, showed that stone from the quarry was in fact used in the Minoan town on the island at the beginning of the LM IB period and that the quarry was contemporary with this town. The Greek-American excavation also found that the material was put to use in the Artisans' Quarter at the same time, but in a more limited fashion.

The second site published here, the farmhouse at Chalinomouri, was also discovered in an earlier investigation of the area. In the 1950s, Nicholas Platon, then Director of Antiquities in Crete and Director of the Herakleion Museum, carried out rescue operations and small trial excavations along the Mochlos plain. In the course of this work, he identified two Minoan structures at the eastern end of the plain at Palia Vardia and Chalinomouri. He described each as a "M.M. house," although it is not clear that he excavated either.' In 1990, the Greek-American excavation was able to investigate the site of Palia Vardia. It uncovered a modern structure. perhaps a Turkish watchtower associated with a small, nearby castle or perhaps simply a shepherd's hut, but failed to find any trace of a Minoan house. It appeared that, if it existed, it was destroyed in the construction of the road that runs through the site on its way to the main highway.' Excavation at Chalinomouri, on the other hand, succeeded in uncovering a Neopalatial farmhouse of the same date as the Artisans’ Quarter than showed traces of reoccupation in the Mycenaean period. The walls of the building were clearly visible on the surface when excavation began, and this is probably the house that Platon identified.