Minoan Adventures
Tall Ship
Seen from the Venetian Fortress, Heraklion (2008)
Back in 2008 I had the opportunity to work in Crete for a summer as part of the Knossos Urban Landscape Project, which was headed by UCL professor Todd Whitelaw.
It was a year after the University of Toronto had cancelled my PhD program in Ancient Studies and I had decided to take a hiatus from studies, although I was still working at the Fitness Centre at the university at the time. I took my vacation days to go back to the field, and I’m so glad I did.
It was actually my friend Caroline Puzinas, who had told me about this project in Crete and we both applied to go. Having been on many previous digs, I did take the opportunity to grab a few days of vacation time up front,[1] and took the ferry from Athens to Santorini. I really wanted to see the archaeological site of Akrotiri (highly recommended). I spent two days wandering around the island, checking out the views, hiking and eating. One of the best sites was the Archaeological Museum of Thera, which I really enjoyed, but that is not to say the Museum of Prehistoric Thera was any less stunning. I also went on a boat tour of the caldera, which was spectacular. The views from Fira are truly breathtaking. It was however, crowded with tourists. I’m glad I visited, but I don’t think I would venture there again because of the crowds.
I then embarked on another ferry that would take me to Crete. It was several hours late departing Santorini so I arrived in Heraklion very late at night. Caroline had come to the port to pick me up (she had arrived a few days before me) but we had no way to communicate about the late vessel,[2] so she waited patiently for hours for my ship to arrive. We then spent a night at a hotel in the city before proceeding to the field house where we would be staying while conducting surveys. The field house was lovely and located at the little palace which is relatively near the main tourist site of Knossos. There was a group of other students there as well who would be part of the 2008 field season, three from Spain, an Italian, a Norwegian, several Brits and Americans, a Romanian, and Caroline and I (the Canadian 🍁contingent).
As is typical, we were working 5 1/2 days per week and would have to fight with the rest of the crew for the chance to use the car on our day off…Caroline and I inevitably used the local buses to get around. Our days started early and we would enjoy a hearty breakfast and then pack our lunch. The latter was composed of things liked boiled eggs, feta cheese, olives, tomatoes & cucumbers, etc. (delicious)! In the evenings we generally ate together al fresco.
Dinner at the Dig House
(Raluca, Maria and Vanessa)
Our project was to conduct a surface survey of the area around Knossos to ‘reconstruct the long-term urban development of the community at Knossos’.[3] In essence we spent our days walking transects through the fields and valleys surrounding Knossos, picking up and tagging archaeological finds, and analyzing them in our field lab. The data would help to define the extent of the ancient site and subsequent development.
They were long hot days, but the views were spectacular, and we also enjoyed the incredible hospitality of the wonderful people of Crete who would often bring us drinks, or figs and grapes in the fields as we conducted our survey. The fragrant smell of sage on the hillsides is strong in my memory.
There was a nice beach just a 20 minute ride east of Heraklion. We would often go in to town to eat and shop, and spend an afternoon swimming. We also took time to visit the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, the Venetian fortress, and partake in lots of Greek coffee, and plenty of Raki.[4]
On one of our days off we did do a group tour of Phaistos,[5] and several of us also went to Matala to check out the Roman rock-cut tombs (and swim).[6]
Despite spending a good part of the summer on Crete, you can see from this map we didn’t get to see much of the island. Although, we did walk hundreds of kilometers through the hills around Knossos. I definitely need to return to see the rest of this amazing place!
I absolutely adored my time on Crete and have been trying to get back ever since…perhaps this year. I could see me retiring on this island. Yes, I did cry when we had to leave! 😥
Upon our departure from the project, Caroline and I sailed back to Athens and enjoyed a couple of days there before heading back to Toronto. We stayed at the Canadian Institute in Greece, and had time to visit some of the local sites, including a trip to the Acropolis, The Museum of Cycladic Art, and the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum.
Note: All my photos are scans from film photographs
[1] Despite the idea that many people have that when you are on an excavation in some exotic locale we must have plenty of time to view the sites. This is often far from reality.
[2] Neither of us had smartphones yet.
[3] Whitelaw, T., Vasilakis, A., and Bredaki, M. (2012) Prehistoric Knossos: tracing its long-term history through its surface record. Submitted for the web-publication of the 11th International Cretological Congress, 2011.
[4] If you want to know the difference between ouzo and raki - check out this article: Cretan Spirits: Raki vs Ouzo
[5] Phaistos (Φαιστός) is the second largest Minoan palace of Crete after Knossos. https://ancient-greece.org/archaeology/phaistos/
[6] The beach in Matala is quite rocky and there was a bit of surf to contend with. I’d recommend taking water shoes.
