Date: April 4th, 2007
Partners for the day: Lizz Sigler (text) Liz Stamoulis (pictures)
Sites:Ayia Photia, Petras, Karphi
Museums: Siteia MuseumPrinciple Buildings/Monuments: East Cretan Study Center
Time Spent on Sites: from ca. 8:15 to ca. 6:30 [10.25 hours]
Weather: Sunny, in the high 60s, at times breezy.
We scooted along the coast-hugging road at 8:16 in the morning, a little behind schedule. Several boys were wearing our newly acquired Pergola Hotel T-shirts because they’ve run out of clean clothes. Advised to get a good night’s sleep last night, most of our crew was feeling perkier than usual, at least yours truly was. On today’s menu we have three Minoan settlements, one museum, and a unique experience in an archaeological workplace.
We saw our first two Minoan settlements, Ayia Photia and Petras, in the morning. The most interesting thing about these two sites is their unique architecture. Both contain buildings peculiar to Crete and more common to the Cyclades or mainland Greece.
Our first stop is Ayia Photia. The weather is absolutely gorgeous as we walk down a dirt road bordering the sea. Coming upon a batch of brambles I see fear in the eyes of my fellow students remembering the pain endured from yesterday’s hike up to Pyrgos. Within Ayia Photia there are two ancient sites, the cemetery and the large building atop a hill. Burials and tombs are something we have seen plenty of on this trip, but the shallow chamber graves here are unique in Eastern Crete. Beginning around 2700 BCE this cemetery had a lifetime of approximately three to four centuries and contains over 200 tombs; from this we can estimate that the population of this area was no more than one hundred people. The rectangular building is fortified by a wall with buttresses facing the sea. The building is distinctly un-Cretan with a large open corridor from which rooms branch off. Both the cemetery and fortified building exhibit strong Cycladian tendencies suggesting an ethnic group from the islands may have settled here.
Our second site this morning was the small palace of Petras. We toured this site via signage posted along a winding path leading up to the summit of a hill. Although we enjoy our daily Rutter lectures, it was refreshing to wander about beside our professor looking over the remains. Petras is a site on a hill containing the remains of two houses, a fortification wall, a Venetian tower, and the smallest known palace from the Old Palace Period. The Protopalacial fortification wall is of pseudo-Cyclopean construction and is unique in Crete for its dimensions. Now the Siteia Museum was the only thing that lay between us and the long drive towards the events planned for the afternoon. While it contained many intriguing artifacts, the crown jewel of its collection is the Palaikastro Zeus or Korous. The figurine stands roughly 1/3 of a meter tall and is carved hippopotamus ivory. Snatched from a sanctuary and smashed into roughly 250 pieces after being burning, this figure is a marvel of modern conservation techniques. Perhaps most incredible is that the rock crystal eyes of the icon which were found as a result of painstaking sieving.
A long relaxing ride on our second home, the bus, brought us to the Study Center of East Crete. I, and other students I’m sure, nodded off while writing in our daily journals. Let’s just say we were a little disgruntled and sleepy when Rutter honked on the loudspeaker telling us to file off the bus and into the charmingly Minoan-esque building. This place was an unexpected surprise for most of us. This building, situated in the hills of the Cretan landscape, functions as a work space for finds needing a home after the excavation and before they are sent to museums.
Today has been a lesson in conservation as well as in Minoan archaeology. Our visit to the Study Center helped us understand and appreciate the great care taken in conserving the artifacts we see every day. For instance, it is one thing to hear about how the Paliakastro Zeus was found in shattered pieces, but another thing to have seen many people sorting through hundreds of sherds. We began to understand this task as we were brought down into the basement and shown rows of shelves heaping with boxes of broken pottery. The tour through the facility showed us a step by step process of how pots were pieced together, repaired, and analyzed. Perhaps the most interesting room was the laboratory, where new technology was being used to take samples of untouched fragments of pottery to find out what the pots may have contained. The hopes of the researchers here are that we may find out what certain vessels may have contained and what Minoans ate. A more enlightened group left the Study Center this afternoon. The lesson on conservation helped us to appreciate the many well preserved artifacts and sites we had seen earlier. At Ayia Photia, for instance, we saw a site in bad need of preservation. The chamber graves carved into the bedrock are rapidly weathering away. The entire site has been left without any protection. This deficiency is quite apparent after visiting the palace at Malia, which features modern structures to protect the delicate sectors of the palace. The Palaikastro Zeus in the Siteia Museum, on the other hand, demonstrates a triumph in conservation. A piece of this kind is extremely expensive, in both money and man hours, to reconstruct.
Our day ends with a hike up to Karphi. Our incredible driver inches through the narrow streets of a mountain town, getting us as close to the top as possible. It’s roughly 3pm when we finally get lunch (our breakfast was at 7:30am) and then we were dropped off with a formidable peak in front of us. It took us roughly an hour to conquer the beast. On the way we passed not only plenty of goats and sheep, but also a fresh spring and tholoi. The whole sweaty pack then gathered for a group picture and looked briefly at the Minoan settlement there before trekking back down.
Crete is an island of great beauty. During our lunch breaks, we are given the opportunity to take a short reprieve from the day’s agenda and enjoy a small meal and a gorgeous view. Mike, Brooks, and Ben are shown taking advantage of the scenery.
Kristina photographs a flower on the way to the site of Petras. Crete is known for its flowers, some of which can only be found on the island.
Caleb and Kelsey also got acquainted with some of Crete’s wildlife during the hike to Karphi.
Crete’s natural beauty is enhanced by the numerous archaeological sites that are located on the island. Behind Ray, at the top right corner of the picture, is an example of the Venetian architecture that can be found all over Crete.
Archaeological remains are important sources for information about ancient civilizations. However, outdoor sites are difficult to preserve and can be ruined easily if left unprotected. One site that may be at risk is Ayia Photia, a cemetery with about 200 chamber tombs dated to 2700 BC. Johann studies the layout of one of the graves, which were made up of two sections, a rear rock-cut chamber and a shaft leading into it. The chamber in front of Johann would have been separated from the shaft by an upright stone slab, which can be seen in front of his feet.
At another part of Ayia Photia, known more commonly as Kouphata Hill, is a fortified Protopalatial Minoan site. The earlier rectangular building dates to the Middle Minion IA Period (2100-1950 BC), with circular tholos tombs added during the Middle Minoan II A Period (1850-1750 BC). Here Brooks stands on the same level as the rectangular building, with the foundations continuing in the background. Just behind him are the remains of one of the tholos tombs.
Around the same time the tholos tombs were being built on Kouphata Hill, a palace was constructed at Petras. Ben explores the remains of House I at Petras, which would originally have had two stories. The building was used for the production and storage of wine.
Preserved in the North Magazines at Petras is a stone block with a mason’s mark carved into it, in this case a double axe. Masons would sometimes carve a symbol into a stone to denote their work, and some marks would have been placed in the building so that they could be seen.
Another outdoor site that we visited today was Karphi. It took approximately 2 hours to hike to the site, where there are few remains. It was established about 1150-1100 BC when people from the nearby plains retreated into the mountains. Nick, Kinsey, and Kelsey are seen enjoying the view during the trip.
The triumphant group at the site of Karphi, on top of the mountain.
Conservation of smaller works has been done largely by museums. They are able to clean, protect, and display works so that others may study them. At the Siteia Museum, Josh studies the Palaikastro Zeus, a Neopalatial figure that dates to 1700-1450 BC. This work is an important source of information for Minoan figurines, and is the subject of our next short paper.
Today we were introduced to an institution that is developing new ways to preserve ancient works, the Study Center of East Crete. They also make it easier for archaeologists to have their findings published. Our guide, Eleanor Huffman, shows how they use small fragments to reconstruct entire vases.
Once the fragments are in place, a gypsum mixture is used to fill in the holes and complete the vase. Kyle examines a large vase that has been reassembled.
The Study Center catalogues their vases in books that contain both scanned drawings and photographs. Here Lizz looks at the examples that have been displayed.
One of the newest techniques that the Study Center has been working on is one which can help identify the contents of ancient vases. Residue samples are taken by boiling a piece of the vase in ethanol, which are then examined for certain chemicals. Evidence of oil, milk, wine, and perfume have all been found in vases. Sophia Chlouverak, one of the employees of the Study Center, demonstrates the innovative procedure.
The Study Center has collected so many artifacts that their basement can no longer fit all of them. They have pieces from sites within a 30 kilometer radius, and have been researching the area for approximately ten years. Kinsey and Pete observe the tightly packed storage area.
Conservation of sites is important because there is still so much to be learned about the Minoans. At Kouphota Hill, Professor Rutter explained the relevance of wall thickness to our understanding of a building. In this case, the walls would have been too thin to support a second floor, and they were purposefully set back in relation to the rest of the building so that they would play with light and shadow and make the wall more appealing to the eye. 
Kelsey and Kristina stand in a kouloura located at Kouphota Hill. These circular structures are found at many Minoan sites, including Knossos and Malia, although we are not sure what they were used for. At Kouphota Hill, it has been suggested that they were used for food storage.
One of the biggest unsolved mysteries is the decipherment of Linear A. This was an early Minoan script and is still unintelligible to us. Kelsey, Ray, Brooks, and Chris listen as Professor Rutter lectures on the Linear A tablets located at the Siteia Museum. 
The group rests after a long day’s work.
Final Comments:
After our descent from Karphi, when we realized that there was a less treacherous route to the top which Rutter hid from us, we arrived at the Homo Sapien Museum. Above the door in giant letters read “Ascend and Be Near God” and beside it a stone labeled “Welcome to Greece” stood. Clearly their primary concern was not catering to homo sapiens because they charged 50 cents to use the bathroom.
