Urban micromorphology: A microecological narrative of a Neopalatial neighborhood at Bronze Age Palaikastro, Crete

Abstract

AbstractThe new micromorphological evidence from the 2013–2015 Palace and Landscape at Palaikastro (PALAP) excavations (Crete, Greece) provides significant information on a new area of the Bronze Age urban center of Palaikastro and its surrounding environment—a microecological narrative. The evidence suggests that slope processes had a significant impact on the area of three newly excavated buildings during the Neopalatial period (1650/1640–1440/1430 B.C.). The findings indicate that phases of gradual sediment accumulation, associated with flooding and eolian deposition, occurred during the Middle Minoan III to Late Minoan IA periods; such phases may indicate active slope or landscape management (e.g., terracing). In contrast, periods of increased slope instability, possibly relating to abandonment phases, occurred in the Late Minoan IB period. Combined with other archaeological evidence, micromorphological observations suggest a local aridity event in Late Minoan IB, and this dry period may be connected to larger regional and Mediterranean climatic patterns.