J.D.S. Pendlebury's Excavations in the Plain of Lasithi. The Iron Age sites

Abstract

John Pendlebury excavated a number of ancient sites in the upland Plain of Lasithi in central Crete (Fig. 1) during the years 1936 – 1938. The prehistoric sites which he excavated were published in this annual before his death in World War II. This article describes the results of his excavations at three Iron Age settlements and their cemeteries in Lasithi.The three sites – Agios Georgios Papoura, Donadhes, and Kolonna – are located along the northern edge of the Lasithi plain (Fig. 2). The finds from each excavation can be summarized as follows: I. Agios Georgios Papoura: Protogeometric to Archaic pottery from the settlement, and a nearby tomb of the Geometric period; II. Donadhes: a sixth century B.C. pottery deposit from an incompletely preserved building; III. Kolonna: two buildings, the first Archaic in date, and the second a weaving and dyeing establishment of the third century B.C., and a nearby tomb of the Archaic and Hellenistic periods.