Lyktos Archaeological Project (Crete): The Results of ISAW/NYU

Presenters

Antonis Kotsonas, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University; Cicek Beeby, Brown University; Christina Stefanou, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University; and Valia Tsikritea, University of Cincinnati

Abstract

The Lyktos Archeological Project (LAP) was established in 2021 to explore the Greek and Roman city Lyktos (also Lyttos) in central Crete. LAP runs under the auspices of the Archaeological Society at Athens, is codirected by Angelos Chaniotis (Institute for Advance Study, Princeton) and Antonis Kotsonas (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University), with the collaboration of Vassiliki Sythiakaki (Greek Archaeological Service). LAP explores the longue durée urban history of Lyktos, from its probable foundation in the end of the Bronze Age to its abandonment in the Medieval period.

This paper presents the results of ISAW/NYU’s fieldwork in Excavation Sectors A and D in 2022. Sector A lies on the upper north slope of the ancient acropolis and is yielding settlement remains from the Early Iron Age to the Byzantine period, with most of the finds originating from a terraced area with thick deposits dating from Archaic and Classical times. Sector D lies 800 m west and concerns a burial site that dates to the Protoarchaic and Archaic periods. By the exploration of both settlement and burial areas at Lyktos, we are generating exceptional insights into the archaeology and history of the site. Additionally, we are exploring the problems of archaeological visibility that plague Crete in the period of the Archaic Gap (sixth century B.C.E.), which contrast the material wealth that is evident across the island in the ninth to seventh centuries B.C.E. Our discovery of stratified or closed deposits of the Archaic and Classical period, which include copious imports from different parts of the Aegean, helps address these problems and sheds light on local economy and commensality.