Sarpedon

The excavations on top of the hill were completed by a trial trench laid out in the valley east of it. The main objective of this sounding was to document the Holocene sedimentary sequence in the valley. This test was of great importance to improve our understanding of landscape changes around the hill during the Bronze Age occupation. This geoarchaeological study was completed by the description of several hand-operated auger cores taken in the valley southwest of the Kephali hill, in collaboration with Prof. Cecile Baeteman (Belgian Geological Survey, VUB). Specific questions we hope to elucidate are: where was the coastline during the Bronze Age? Is there evidence at Sissi for a Late Minoan IA tsunami, triggered by the eruption of Thera? Were the valleys cultivated during the Bronze Age? Work is still in progress and will be continued during the 2009 season.