Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens

The Priniatikos Pyrgos Project
The Site
In the area of the Gulf of Mirabello in east Crete, below the prominent peak of the Iron Age site of Vrokastro, the flood plain of the Istron river has created a broad tract of arable land leading down to the coast. To the west lies the headland of Ioannimiti, to the east that of Nisi Pandeleimon, together creating a sheltered bay where the river meets the sea. In the centre of this bay lies the site of Priniatikos Pyrgos, once a hillock near the coast, but now, due to rises in sea level over the millennia, a limestone promontory jutting out into the Aegean.

The promontory of Priniatikos Pyrgos from the west

The first settlers arrived in this area during the Final Neolithic period some five thousand years ago, and there has been almost continuous use of Priniatikos Pyrgos from c .3500 BC until modern times. Site function varied, and includes habitation, industrial and ritual uses, with peak periods of occupation dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age and Hellenistic eras. However, occupation is well represented beyond these periods, through Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times to the twentieth century.

Excavation of historical remains in Trench II, in the centre of the promontory

History of Research at Priniatikos Pyrgos
The work of the Irish Institute at this site began in 2007 and continues the long tradition of investigations of Priniatikos Pyrgos and its landscape which commenced almost a century ago, led by the pioneering archaeologist Edith Hall of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Hall was excavating the late Bronze / Early Iron Age refuge settlement of Vrokastro, and in 1912 came down to this coastal promontory to excavate some trial trenches. These produced some well-preserved Bronze Age ceramics, although the prehistoric structures that she found were heavily disturbed by later building. Further investigation of this region was to wait until Barbara Hayden and Jennifer Moody undertook an intensive landscape survey in the 1980s (Hayden et al. 2004, 2005; Hayden 1999). This was followed by the Istron Geoarchaeological Project, a cutting-edge geoarchaeological and geophysical survey conducted by Hayden in conjunction with Apostolos Sarris of FORTH at Rethymnon and Ioannis Bassiakos of the Demokritos Institute at Athens (Kalpaxis et al. 2006). In 2005 and 2006 rescue excavations of features endangered by coastal erosion (e.g. kilns) were undertaken by Metaxia Tsipopoulou of the 24th Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, with Hayden as field director. In winter 2006, it was decided that future investigations in this area would best be undertaken with the support of the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens, with Barry Molloy of UCD as co-director alongside Hayden. This new phase of archaeological work at Priniatikos Pyrgos seeks to comprehensively excavate the majority of the headland between 2007 and 2011.
Current Research
Results from the surveys and the 2005-2007 excavation seasons have revealed evidence for the production of pottery, textiles, stone tools, metal and food at Priniatikos Pyrgos. Cult / special function objects have also been found from Late Bronze Age, Hellenistic and Byzantine times. Domestic habitation and storage are other probable diachronic uses of the site and will be comprehensively investigated over the coming years through a detailed programme of excavation.
One main aim of the work at Priniatikos Pyrgos is to investigate the regional importance of this site throughout prehistory in relation to exchange networks, settlement systems and manufacturing industries. Its prominent coastal location, yet comparatively sheltered aspect, afforded it an ideal opportunity to function as a harbour and coastal emporium site. The Istron river too has played a role in guiding the trajectory of human history in the area. In certain periods it has provided arable or pastoral land for farming, yet at other times has created swampy conditions with high risk of sickness and disease. Taking into account both the changes in sea-level, as well as the alluvial deposition in the flood plain, the site of Priniatikos Pyrgos provides an excellent diachronic study of the changing use of a particular place within a dynamic landscape setting.

Post excavation work at the INSTAP Study Centre East Crete

Excavation of prehistoric and early historic industrial area on west of site

Fieldwork
In 2007, a mixed team of students from Ireland (from University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin) and America participated in the first season of collaborative fieldwork at Priniatikos Pyrgos. During their time in Crete, students learned the basics of excavation and recording techniques, planning, drawing sections, taking elevations, and performed post-excavation work of various sorts. In 2008, a formal field-school will run for the duration of the excavation, with a number of international students joining those from Ireland and America on the project. A team of international experts is also essential to the project, and includes zooarchaeologists, ceramics experts, geoarchaeologists and osteologists. This project is hugely beneficial for students in Irish universities with an interest in the archaeology of Greece, as it allows them to gain field experience in the Aegean. It is hoped that some of them will continue to postgraduate studies linked to the site, and ultimately raise the international profile of Irish-based Aegean studies.

The 2007 team

Priniatikos Pyrgos is co-directed by Barry Molloy (University College Dublin) and Barbara Hayden (University of Pennsylvania Museum).
Select Bibliography
… B. Hayden, H. Dierckx, G. Harrison, J. Moody, G. Postma, O. Rackham and A. Stallsmith (2004) Reports on the Vrokastro Area, Eastern Crete. Vol. 2: The Settlement History of the Vrokastro Area and Related Studies. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Musuem of Archaeology and Anthropology.

… B. Hayden, M. Hahn, G. Harrison, J. Moody, O. Rackham, M. Risser and A. Stallsmith (2005) Reports on the Vrokastro Area, Eastern Crete. Vol. 3: The Vrokastro Regional Survey Project: The Sites and Pottery. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

… B. Hayden (1999) The coastal settlement of Priniatikos Pyrgos: archaeological evidence, topography and environment. IN P. Betancourt, V. Karageorghis, R. Laffineur and W-D. Niemeier (eds) Meletemata II. Aegaeum 20 . Liége. 352-355.

… T. Kalpaxis, K. Athanassas, I. Bassiakos, T. Brennan, B. Hayden, E. Nodarou, K. Pavlopoulos and A. Sarris (2006) Preliminary results of the Istron, Mirabello, geophysical and geoarchaeological project. BSA 101, 135-181.

Updated: 4/2/2008

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