HAGHIA TRIADA NEL PERIODO ANTICO MINOICO

Abstract

Over the last decade a great deal of attention has been paid to the Prepalatial evidence discovered in Haghia Triada since 1902: new excavations have been carried out, and old material has been the subject of new studies that will soon be published. Building on this new work, this paper attempts to outline the development of Haghia Triada from the EM I through the EM III. The final Neolithic pottery that was previously believed to be present is shown to be a mirage, and the local ceramic sequence is preliminarily defined (both by comparison between HaghiaTriada’sunstratified deposits and stratified deposits from Lebena and Phaistos, and by stylistic analysis of the individual wares). Once this chronology has been determined, attention is paid to the original context (domestic, funerary, ritual) and to the exact location of the ceramics within the archaeological site, in order to gain some basic information about the settlement: where it was located during the three phases, whether it was nucleated or dispersed, and how large it was; and about possible changes between the three phases, and the relationship between the settlement and funerary area.