digging Crete
by Angela Spivey

old beads, carbonized olive pits, and a bronze helmet crest — all were uncovered from a city hidden in northeastern Crete, Greece. Carolina researchers began digging in Summer 2002, led by excavation director Donald Haggis, associate professor of classical archaeology. They discovered parts of five houses, some storerooms and kitchens, and a large building that may have been a public dining room or even a shrine.

Occupied for only about 300 years during a little-known period of Crete's history, the city appears to have been destroyed in a fire sometime at the end of the sixth century. "As an archaeologist I've always been very skeptical of burnt destructions, but this is one instance in which the evidence is really unequivocal," Haggis says. "It's a deep layer of ash and carbonized wood debris right above and directly on the floor surface, burying the clay floors and causing bright red patches in the clay itself." The fire also preserved the olive pits and other plant remains.

.: Carbonized olive pits from a burnt storeroom. Photo by Donald Haggis; click to enlarge. :.

he Carolina team, which is collaborating with researchers from Iowa State University and the Smithsonian Institution, will continue the dig this summer. Until then, they're studying literature and historical writings to find mention of a city destroyed around the sixth century.

Haggis is eager to excavate the large building because last summer's dig yielded clues that it may be special. In a back room, diggers found decorated terra-cotta stands that might have held large drinking bowls used in "elite dining" or in rituals. Haggis says, "While we don't have absolute evidence for ritual activity, the architecture and these large finds suggest some kind of special function."

This project is funded by the National Geographic Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory.

Angela Spivey is the associate editor of Endeavors magazine.
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