Karavopetra

 On a low hill (h. 40 m.) by the sea lies an important Minoan settlement. It had a large harbour and was the centre of an area bordered by Chamaizi on the west, Praisos on the south, and Analoukas on the east. Despite the evidence for habitation in the last phase of the Neolithic period (3500 BC), the first settlement is dated to the Early Minoan II period (2600-2300 BC). It continued to be inhabited until 1450 BC, when it was destroyed, along with the other Minoan centres. A short reoccupation occurred during the Late Minoan III period (1400-1300 BC). The settlement flourished in the Old Palace period (2000-1700 BC), when the central building of palatial character was built on the top of the hill; it reached a peak, however, in the New Palace period (1700-1450 BC) when many alterations of the buildings took place. In the 12th-13th centuries AD the top of the hill was occupied by a cemetery, of which 32 graves have been excavated.

  In 1900, R.C. Bosanquet conducted a short-lasting excavation in the area where ruins of ancient walls were visible. Systematic excavations have been conducted by M. Tsipopoluou since 1985.

  The most important monuments of the site are:

  The town. It occupied the whole of the hill and extended around a central building. A "cyclopean" wall with three towers (5 x 5 m.) was uncovered at the foot of the hill. The houses were free-standing, built on terraces, and access to them was gained through stone paved streets, one of which led straight to the central building. The houses contained storerooms and workshops on the ground floor, while the upper floor consisted of the actual living quarters.

  Two houses completely uncovered date to the New Palace period (1700-1450 BC). One was abandoned during the Late Minoan Ia period (1500 BC) and the other was destroyed by fire a little later (1450 BC).

  •House 1. The rooms of the ground floor extend on two terraces which are connected by means of a stone-built staircase. On the lower terrace are preserved two storerooms and two kitchens, where vases had fallen down from shelves on the walls, and a room with a "lenos" (wine-press) and pithoi for the storing of wine. On the upper terrace is a workshop with stone basins and stone querns, while under the floor was a pithos containing the burial of an infant.

  •House 2. Two building phases are distinguished: during the first, one of the rooms of the ground floor was used as a reception hall, with a central column, floor covered with plaster, a hearth, and doorways to the rest of the rooms; later, this was converted into a workshop area, for working and dying wool. To this conclusion point also the stone basins, the channels and the loom-weights found. A lump of clay with signs of the Linear A script which stand for "perfume oil" was found in one of the storerooms.

  The central palatial building covers an area of 0.3 hectares. It is constructed on two terraces, on an artificial plateau on the hilltop and is surrounded by a retaining wall with a tower-like bastion. A corridor oriented E-W leads through a pier-and-door partition to the central court, which had a floor covered with plaster, and measured 9 x 13 in the first New Palace period. During the last phase it was enlarged (5.50 x 11 m.) and was flanked by rooms on the west, which probably served as cult places, as indicated by a libation table and tablets of Linear A script found there. The most remarkable of the rooms to the south of the corridor is the one with the gypsum slabs and a bench covered with plaster and orthostats. On the north side of the corridor lie twelve oblong rooms, while at a lower level are the magazines, connected to the central court by means of a monumental staircase, covered with plaster; in the last phase of the building this was also closed by a storeroom. To the west of the building was a garden which separated the main part of the building from the workshop areas.

 

On a small headland called Trypetos, 3km to the east of modern Seteia lies a city of the Hellenistic period (middle of 4th - middle of 1st century BC), most probably identified with the ancient city of Eteia. A Hellenistic dockyard has been uncovered at the east coast of the headland. It is known that in 1960 the owners of the land created plots for cultivation using digging machines which caused severe damage to the buried antiquities. Since 1987 a systematic excavation has been conducted by the Ephorate of Antiquities, under the direction of N. Papadakis.

  The dockyard lies at the south edge of the east side of the headland called "Karavopetra" or "Trypetos". It is unroofed, hewn out of the rock and is rectangular in shape (30m. long, 5.50 m. wide, and 5 m. high). The floor is slightly inclined towards the sea (15-30 degrees) and does not continue under the sea level, but this is due to the geological changes that have taken place in the past centuries. The ship which would be sheltered under this structure during winter time, must have been of a medium size. Carvings on the surface of the rock indicate the existence of a wooden "bolt" for the fastening of the ship. Other parts of the building, such as floor, saddle roof and towing machines were made of wood and have not been preserved.

  The Hellenistic city covers the whole of the headland and was built on terraces, following the terrain. The south side was protected by a massive wall, which separates the main area of the headland from the mainland. The wall is built of cobblestones and its width reaches 1,8 m. on the uncovered sections. Along the inner side are rooms and other structures, parts of houses and military installations. The most important room seems to be a hall measuring 7,5 x 5 m., at the centre of which lies a rectangular hearth, formed by the surface of the bedrock, enclosed by poros slabs smoothed outside. Behind the south side of the hearth there is a small poros bench with an oblong cutting in the middle, which contained the lower part of a poros plug, undoubtedly part of a relief or statuette relating to cult practice at the hearth. A U-shaped built bench surrounding the hearth was attached to the wall; it was probably used as a seat by the inhabitants. Also uncovered were a storeroom, a cistern lined with hydraulic stucco, and stone paved streets, one of which separates two neighbourhoods. Among the most important finds is a series of coins cut by this city, which had its own mint.