Project Directors
- John Bennet
- Eva Grammatikaki
- Andonis Vasilakis
- Todd Whitelaw
Research Description
The Knossos Urban Landscape Project, a synergasia between the British School at Athens and the 23rd Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, commenced the first of three seasons of fieldwork in August and September 2005. The project is directed by Todd Whitelaw for the British School at Athens and Maria Bredaki and Andonis Vasilakis for the Ephoreia. The objective of the project is to survey intensively and systematically the Knossos valley, documenting the material record of occupation from initial Neolithic colonisation down to the early 20th century. Intensive surface survey together with documentation of visible monuments will be integrated with a re-evaluation of over a century of research and rescue excavations in the valley, undertaken by members of both collaborating institutions. The project therefore addresses outstanding questions concerning the history of development of the urban centre at Knossos, as well as serving as a baseline for future research in the valley, and as an aid to the protection and management of the archaeological resources of the valley, in the face of development in the southern suburbs of modern Heraklion.