Times of historical developments and environmental changes in the Minoan town of Malia, Crete: an intra and off-site geoarcheological approach

Pomadère Maia;Lespez Laurent;Langohr, Charlotte;et.al.
(2020) Different Times? Archaeological and Environmental Data from Intra-Site and Off-Site Sequences — ISBN: [Printed ISBN 9781789696516. Epublication ISBN 9781789696523], p. 64-76, published

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  • Pomadère MaiaUniversité Paris I-UMR 7041-ArScAn
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  • Lespez LaurentLGP-CNRS-UMR 8591 et UPEC
    Author
  • Langohr, Charlotteorcid-logoUCLouvain
    Author
  • et. al.
Abstract
The site of Malia, on the northwest coast of Crete is stimulating for geoarchaeological research. A Minoan palatial town developed during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages in an area that was occupied for a long time, and has been the subject of archaeological excavations for a century. A small wetland located near the sea and close to the archaeological site offers rich natural archives and new record. The latter can now be combined with archaeological data and allow to address some important questions on the history of the whole area. New excavations have improved our knowledge of the relative chronology at the site, but the duration of these successive phases, the causes and rates of change observed are difficult to precise and call for a dialogue with specialists of natural sciences. Can we link the major shifts identified in the material culture and history of the site with broader environmental changes, sudden or durable? This paper addresses the methodological problems for time reading and exemplify them by focusing on two important time lapses, the first occupation of the area (Neolithic and Early Bronze Age) on the first hand, and the Neopalatial phase on a second hand. For each example, we discuss the complexity to establish relationships between the offsite and intra-site events and shifts. We highlight, nevertheless, the growing evidence for an impact of the Santorini eruption on the landscape as well as on the Minoan town of Malia. The preliminary results show that the implementation of multidisciplinary researches and the combination of scales of study is productive to build new or more precise narratives for the history of a site.
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Pomadère Maia, Lespez Laurent, Langohr, C., & et al. (2020). Times of historical developments and environmental changes in the Minoan town of Malia, Crete: an intra and off-site geoarcheological approach. In Zoï Tsirtsoni, Catherine Kuzucuoğlu, Philippe Nondédéo, Olivier Weller. (ed.), Different Times? Archaeological and Environmental Data from Intra-Site and Off-Site Sequences (Proceedings of the XVIII UISPP World Congress (4-9 June 2018, Paris, France) Volume 4, p. p. 64-76). Archaeopress. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/219969