Kastelli Hill (also Kasteli; el, Λόφος Καστέλλι or Καστέλι) is a

landform A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, ...

at the city of

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

in the present day country of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

city of ancient

Cydonia Cydonia may refer to: Music * ''Cydonia'' (album), a 2001 album by The Orb * "Cydonia", a track by heavy metal band Crimson Glory from '' Astronomica'' Places and jurisdictions * Kydonia or Cydonia, an ancient city state on Crete, at modern ...

was centered on Kastelli Hill, which later was selected by the Romans as the site of an

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

Archaeological excavations at Kastelli Hill

Archaeological evidence indicates continuous inhabitation from the Neolithic until present time, except for a minor hiatus during the Late Bronze Age. Yannis Tzedakis initiated excavations at Kastelli Hill 1964–1969. The then director of the

Swedish Institute at Athens The Swedish Institute at Athens ( sv, Svenska institutet I Athen; el, Σουηδικό Ινστιτούτο Αθηνών) was founded in 1946 and is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes operating in Athens, Greece. The Institute is one of ...

Carl-Gustav Styrenius was contacted to discuss a potential collaboration and the Greek-Swedish collaboration was initiated in 1969. Since the 1970's danish archaeologists made significant contributions to the project. Besides uncovering an impressive urban settlement, the excavations at Kastelli Hill firmly identify an important Minoan centre on western Crete, it was previously believed that Minoan influence was limited the eastern half of the island. Swedish archaeologists carried out new excavations in 1989 - 1990, where five Linear B tablets were found, the only ones found outside of Knossos since the beginning of the 20th century. In 2010 the Danish Institute at Athens joined the project as a full participant, a collaboration that continued until the end of active field work in 2014. During excavations, extensive remains of structures and large amounts of pottery were uncovered. Among the more spectacular founds were two

Linear A Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans of Crete from 1800 to 1450 BC to write the hypothesized Minoan language or languages. Linear A was the primary script used in palace and religious writings of the Minoan civil ...

tablets and several seal stamps.

Sources

* Swedish Institute at Athens - Kastelli hill, Chania: https://www.sia.gr/en/articles.php?tid=366&page=1

References

* John Fisher and Geoff Garvey (2001) ''The Rough Guide to Crete''
C. Michael Hogan, ''Cydonia'', The Modern Antiquarian, Jan. 23, 2008

Archaeological excavations at Kastelli Hill

See also

Sources

References

See also