Unpublished Middle Minoan and Late Minoan I material from the 1962–3 excavations at Palaikastro, East Crete (PK VIII)

Abstract

Results of excavations in 1962–3 at the Minoan coastal town of Palaikastro were published in theAnnualin 1965 and 1970, asPK VIandPK VII. While those publications did report on all excavated contexts, in some cases this took the form of a preliminary report pending fuller study. The current paper (PK VIII) fills in most of the main gaps, particularly where the Middle Minoan period is concerned, but also with some attention to the Early and Late Minoan periods. Contexts and deposits from different blocks in the town are presented, as well as from outside the main town towards the area known as Sarantari. These provide good evidence for the existence of particular phases of occupation in the town, notably throughout the Middle Minoan period (MM IA, IB, II, IIIA and IIIB), as well as in EM IIB and LM IB. Some of these phases are not very well known at Palaikastro, or in east Crete more generally. This paper thus contributes to a fuller characterisation of certain ceramic phases at the level of both the site and the region, as well as supplementing our knowledge of the long-term occupation of this important coastal town throughout the Middle Bronze Age.