Archaeology in the Cretan mountains: The role of archaeological reconnaissance and landscape studies in the reconstruction of human activity in a mountainous environment

Archaeology in the Cretan mountains: The role of archaeological reconnaissance and landscape studies in the reconstruction of human activity in a mountainous environment

Blog Article

This paper addresses some problems related to prehistoric presence/activity and its archaeological identification in the mountainous regions of Crete.The first concerns the methods used in searching for such a presence in the type of landscape which requires different strategy and procedures than those used by intensive surveys carried on the island in the past.Among the most important elements to be considered, before the survey area is here chosen, is a preliminary study which should include a thorough archaeological and landscape reconnaissance.

The basic environmental factors, which determined human permanent or seasonal existence or even occasional use, should be recognized first, before the exact borders of surveys are drawn and the tactics of surveying is chosen.Another problem concerns the general approach of modern surveys to the long-term relationship between a man and a land occupied/used by him.Environmental factors are not the only ones which influenced settlement patterns, and that remark concerns especially the mountainous areas.

One of the most underestimated surveying tools in the process of identification of human activity in the acupatch mountains is an archaeological reconnaissance.This, however, if carried systematically, can help to build up a framework for the general history of the researched area, which was not determined only by environmental factors, but also by the character of interactions (friendly, neutral, hostile) between different groups of people.That is why the mountains have such an important place in the identification of difficult/unstable periods in the Aegean history, which have not been well identified by intensive surveys carried out in Crete.

My arguments in favour of archaeological reconnaissance and landscape research will be supported by several case studies, including those undertaken in the areas covered by surveys.