The island of Mochlos and the adjacent plain that lies on the coast of Crete opposite it are located in a graben (tectonic valley) flanked by horsts (mountain blocks) on the east and west. As a result of normal faulting, the island and plain have experienced considerable subsidence with respect to the areas on either side. In the Bronze Age, the two were still connected by a narrow isthmus of land, now submerged below sea level, that provided excellent shelter for passing ships as well as a bridge for land traffic from the island to the adjacent coast. The plain...

The Artisans’ Quarter at Mochlos is located west of the modern village, partly beneath the road that leads to the west toward Limenaria and partly beneath the field lying adjacent to this road (Fig. 2, Pl. 1). The modern village and ancient Artisans’ Quarter sit opposite the island of Mochlos on a promontory of colluvial slope which, in turn, rests on top of a phyllite surface. The phyllite surface is part of what appears to be a wave-cut platform that was probably formed in the Pleistocene during a period of higher sea level.¹ Fragments of this surface can be seen...

The open area between Buildings A (Figs. 4–7) and B (Figs. 23–26) was excavated in four different trenches. Two of these (1900 and 1600) lay to the north underneath the modern road and were excavated in 1991 and 1992, and two (2100 and 25/2600) were in the adjacent field to the south and were excavated in 1994 (Fig. 3; Pl. 15).¹ Surface in the northern area was at an elevation of +6.05 and consisted of a thick deposit of yellowish red soil containing modern construction debris that had been laid down for the modern road. A badly disturbed...

The Artisans’ Quarter provides a great deal of information about craft specialization at Mochlos. It preserves the workrooms and exterior work spaces, many tools, raw materials, finished and partly-finished products, and debris from the production process. It sheds considerable light on the means and stages of production, the way goods were produced, and also on the organization of production (who provided the labor and in what manner and to what end it was provided).

Several scholars have noted that workrooms are not architecturally distinct, and it is only the presence of certain artifacts and facilities that identify areas as workrooms...

Chalinomouri is located at the far eastern end of the Mochlos coastal plain where a small, deeply incised, drainage area meets the sea (Fig. 1). On both sides of the drainage area are small, nearly level segments of land that are situated approximately 25 m above sea level (Fig. 54; Pl. 27A). The farmhouse is located on the eastern segment of land near the confluence of the stream and the sea (Pls. 27B, 27C). To the southeast of the site lies a prominent scree slope that formed at the foot of an imposing, nearly vertical, limestone cliff rising ca. 450...

Few Minoan farmhouses have been excavated, and fewer still have been published. They are nevertheless a distinct feature of the Minoan countryside and are as characteristic of Minoan civilization as the better known country villas. Indeed, if Minoan civilization was like other preindustrial societies, the majority of the population probably lived in the countryside on small farms like Chalinomouri.¹ Examples in east Crete include: Chrysokamino near Kavousi, where a LM IB farmstead lies beneath a more extensive LM III building; Tourkissa at Chondros Viannou, possibly abandoned in LM IA; Azokeramos near Traostalos, dated to MM IIIB–LM IA; and probably...

Human skeletal remains were found in three different contexts during the course of the excavation. The largest and most important collection of bones was a LM III cemetery located in the destroyed Artisans’ Quarter. A possibly LM III burial was also found at Chalinomouri, but it may be an isolated example. Finally, the remains of an intramural burial, a number of human teeth, and the first phalange of an adult hand were also found in the Artisans’ Quarter which, unlike the later burials, apparently belonged to the original occupants of the Quarter.

While the main LM III cemetery at Mochlos...