Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1990 - 141

the American School, are investigating two Dark Age settlements high in
the Siteia Mountains above the modern village of Kavousi in eastern
Crete. Reachable by flatbed truck via
a cliffhanger of a dirt road, the two
settlements - one a mountaintop enclave 2,160 feet above sea level, the
other an abandoned village-turnedcemetery on a ridge 1,240 feet high command an impressive view of the
Bay of Mirabello and most of northeastern Crete.
Pottery sherds suggest that the
lower settlement, known as Vronda,
WILDLira ^
AE»LOGY
or Thunder Hill, was abandoned
EXPLORATIONS
about 950 b.c., its occupants possibly
moving to the nearby mountain peak
Assist Scientists in the field
as the Kastro (castle). New eviknown
as they do research in
habitation at the Kasreveals
dence
No./So. America, Europe,
from
about
1100 b.c. to 680 b.c.,
tro
Asia and Africa.
the
majority of the remains
though
Tax deductible - Free Brochure
are of eighth-century date. Coulson
INTERNATIONALRESEARCH
hopes to learn more about the layout
EXPEDITIONS
of the settlement and the type of
140University
Menlo
houses built there. "We also want to
Drive,
Park,CA94025
(415)323-4228
try to link Vronda with the Kastro,"
he adds. "There are a number of
Seeservicecard,p.81 eighth-century burials in the houses
at Vronda, which suggests that people from the Kastro came down and
buried their people there."
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AEGEAN
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While Coulson concerns himself
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the Kastro, Day remains preocwkh
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JUNE 16 - JULY 3
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cupied by Vronda, a stretch of mounJ
tain ridge rich with the scents of wild
of
islands
sage, orégano, and thyme upon which
the
varied
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jh ancient sanctuaries and port yjfc Hence its name, Thunder Hill. Some
24 graves have been found here ac^ towns with an archaeologist ^
to Day's latest count, containcording
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from
one to seven burials each.
ing
in
an
If
informal,
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the people who buried
"Where
did
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congenial learning
come
from?" she asks.
their
dead
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"It is possible they lived up at the
friendliness
sea
and
the
dark
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^
Kastro; it is equally possible that
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there is an undiscovered settlement
and
coasts
the
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enchanting
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of this period closer to Vronda. When
coves drift by.
we began work here, we thought we
could sort of sweep off the surface
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and get a full town plan. But then we
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ran into all these burials, mostly cre^
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people would come along
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and push the bones and grave goods
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aside. So we'd get this big pileup of
bones, iron swords, weapons, tools,
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and then the next cremation would
Seeservicecard,p.81
70 Archaeology

occur. And finally someone would
cover it all over with a layer of clay
and inhume somebody, in one case,
a guy with no teeth, scars on his
ribs, perhaps a warrior - he's one of
the best-preserved skeletons we've
had here." One curious discovery, according to Day, were skull anomalies among children and adults that
matched up with similar anomalies in
human remains hundreds of years
older, suggesting perhaps an inherited
genetic condition.
The excavations at Vronda have
yielded a wealth of finds. The remains of a bread oven suggest simple
but effective cooking techniques, and
fragments of cult equipment, including 17 terra-cotta figures of goddesses
with upraised hands, are evidence
that a shrine existed here.
Meanwhile, analysis of skeletons is
yielding new information about diet,
health, and social status of these Iron
Age people. "Very little is known
about this period in eastern Crete,"
says Day. "You get these mountain
sites to which people may have fled
to escape invaders, the spread of
malaria, the rampages of pirates; they
must have been afraid of something.
Finding a settlement like Vronda and
the Kastro is very important. We have
a chance to find out how an entire village of people lived, what they ate,
how they grew their crops. One thing
we do know. Life was brutish and
short. By 950, Vronda was abandoned; by 680, the Kastro was empty.
Then nothing."
Back on the mainland, during our
visit to ancient Corinth, we were introduced to the archaeological quandries that beset Charles K. Williams,
II, who directs the excavations there.
A man of great energy and wit, Williams made it clear from the moment
we met him that any final report
about the site would have to await the
settling of a whole host of unresolved
questions - like how Corinth really
looked when it was a Greek city, as
opposed to the kind of center it became after Julius Caesar's veterans established a colony here in 44 b.c.
In understanding ancient Corinth,
Williams struggles with problems
not unlike those facing the restorers
of the Parthenon - namely, which of

Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1990

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1990