Vasiliki (Ierapetra)
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Vasiliki Βασιλική |
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| Basic data | |||
| Country |
 Greece
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| region | Crete | ||
| Regional district | Lasithi | ||
| local community | Ierapetra | ||
| Geographic coordinates | 35 ° 5 ' N , 25 ° 48' E | ||
| Residents | 72 (2011) | ||
| LAU-1 code no. | 920214 | ||
Vasiliki , Vassiliki or Wassiliki ( Greek Βασιλική ( f. Sg. )) Is the name of a village in the municipality of Ierapetra in eastern Crete . Not far from today's village, which has 72 inhabitants, archaeologists found the remains of a village from the Minoan period . It is one of the few excavated settlements from the early Minoan period with a recognizable street plan. In addition, a ceramic style is named after the place (see " Vassiliki style ").
location
The place is located in the parish of Pachia Ammos in the parish of Ierapetra , in the regional district of Lasithi , on a hill to the north of the isthmus of Ierapetra.
Archaeological site
Excavations
Vasiliki was first excavated in 1903, 1904 and 1906 by the American archaeologist Richard Berry Seager . Nikolaos Plato continued the excavations in 1953. Later Antonios Zois began the excavation, which lasted from 1970 to 1982 and continued again in 1990.
Minoan village
As the excavations showed, the Minoan village was inhabited from FM II to SM IA. Due to the good location, the isthmus of Ierapetra could apparently be controlled from here - this could also have been the impetus for founding the settlement. Also the fact that the settlement was built around 2300 BC. BC was destroyed by fire and then rebuilt, confirm the assumption that the settlement was in a good location.
The oldest finds come from the FM II A phase. The ceramics used at that time were decorated with incised patterns, parallel to this one found ceramics with geometric patterns that were painted with dark paint on the light clay. At the end of FM II A, pots in the Vassiliki style appear for the first time. This became the predominant style of FM II B and the last specimens can be found during FM III. At this time, however, the “light on dark” ceramic is the most popular. At MM IA, at the time of the greatest expansion of the settlement, you can find “dark on light” ceramic again. After the destruction in MM II B, most of the residents have probably left the village, as only sparse finds can be found in the following time. A dome grave above Vasiliki at the place Agios Theodoros from the end of SM III C, shows that the place was still populated, albeit sparsely.
For a long time, however, it was assumed that Vasiliki was not a village at all, but a single building. Richard Seager interpreted the building complex on the hill as a forerunner of the Minoan palaces and called it "The House on the Hill". It was not until Antonios Zois' excavations that the now generally accepted interpretation as a complex consisting of several houses of equal rank came up. The houses usually have several floors, which is why they appear to be well developed compared to other pre-palace houses. On the lower floor, the so-called “Red House” is worth mentioning, which was named because of the red plaster. Antonios Zois estimated that around 200 people lived in the village.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB).
- ↑ The excavation site is largely inaccessible today, see http://www.schwarzaufweiss.de/kreta/vasiliki.htm . Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- ↑ http://www.minoancrete.com/vasiliki.htm Retrieved September 25, 2012.
- ^ Richard Berry Seager: Excavations at Vasiliki, 1904. In: Transactions of the Department of archeology, Free museum of science and art . University of Pennsylvania, 1904, Volume I, Part III, pp. 207-221 ( online ).
- ↑ Richard Berry Seager: Report of excavations at Vasiliki, Crete, in 1906. In: Transactions of the Department of archeology, Free museum of science and art , University of Pennsylvania, 1907, Volume II, Part 2, pp. 111-132 ( online ).
- ^ J. Lesley Fitton: The Minoans. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1862-5 , pp. 42 and 43.
