Academics
- Mochlos and its adjacent coastal plain, have been explored by several archaeologists, beginning with Richard Seager whose work on the island is well-known, largely because of the important Prepalatial cemetery that he exposed on the western side of the island with its treasure hoards of gold jewelry, seals and stone vases. He also found contemporary settlement remains along the south coast of the island and excavated parts of an extensive Neopalatial settlement along with settlement remains of the Mycenaean and later historical periods.
No further work was done in the area until the 1950s when Nicholas Platon, then Director of Antiquities in Crete and Director of the Heraklion Museum, carried out rescue operations and small trial excavations along the coastal plain opposite Mochlos. In 1955 he excavated a round tholos tomb, of a type normally found in the Mesara in southern Crete, at Galana Charakia a short distance below Myrsini. It held pottery of the EM III, MM IA and MM IB phases. He also reported Minoan buildings of uncertain character at Chalinomouri at the eastern end of the plain and at Palia Vardia, also below Myrsini. He excavated an important cemetery of Mycenaean chamber tombs at Aspropilia and reported still other chamber tombs at Plakalona and Keratidi. Athanasia Kanta studied the finds from Aspropilia in 1980 and dated the pottery to the LM IIIA, IIIB and IIIC phases. In 1955, J. Leatham and Sinclair Hood carried out underwater exploration along the coast between Mochlos and Crete. They discovered a fish tank along the Cretan coast, which they believed to be Roman, which provided evidence for a rise in sea level of 1 - 2 m. since the Roman period, good support for Seager's suggestion that the island and plain were connected by a low isthmus of land during the Bronze Age.
No further work was done in the area until the 1950s when Nicholas Platon, then Director of Antiquities in Crete and Director of the Heraklion Museum, carried out rescue operations and small trial excavations along the coastal plain opposite Mochlos. In 1955 he excavated a round tholos tomb, of a type normally found in the Mesara in southern Crete, at Galana Charakia a short distance below Myrsini. It held pottery of the EM III, MM IA and MM IB phases. He also reported Minoan buildings of uncertain character at Chalinomouri at the eastern end of the plain and at Palia Vardia, also below Myrsini. He excavated an important cemetery of Mycenaean chamber tombs at Aspropilia and reported still other chamber tombs at Plakalona and Keratidi. Athanasia Kanta studied the finds from Aspropilia in 1980 and dated the pottery to the LM IIIA, IIIB and IIIC phases. In 1955, J. Leatham and Sinclair Hood carried out underwater exploration along the coast between Mochlos and Crete. They discovered a fish tank along the Cretan coast, which they believed to be Roman, which provided evidence for a rise in sea level of 1 - 2 m. since the Roman period, good support for Seager's suggestion that the island and plain were connected by a low isthmus of land during the Bronze Age.
The following is a list of publications written by members of the Mochlos publication team.
Aruz, J. 1984. "The Silver Cylinder Seal from Mochlos," Kadmos 23, pp.186-188
Barnard, K., and T. Brogan. 2011. “Pottery of the Late Neopalatial Periods at Mochlos” in LM IB Pottery--Relative Chronology and Regional Differences. Acts of a workshop held at the Danish Institute at Athens in collaboration with the INSTAP Study Center for East Crete, 27-29 June 2007, Aarhus, pp. 427-450
Betancourt, P. 1983. Minoan Objects Excavated from Vasilike, Pseira, Sphoungaras, Priniatikos Pyrgos, and Other Sites (The Cretan Collection in the University Museum, University of Pennsylvannia,I) Philadelphia
Branigan, K. 1991. "Mochlos - An Early Aegean Gateway Community?" Aegaeum 7, pp. 97-105
Brogan, T. 2008. "Metalworking at Mochlos before the Appearance of the Artisans' Quarters" in Aegean Metallurgy in the Bronze Age, pp. 157-168
Brogan, T., A. Smith, and J. Soles. 2002. "Mycenaeans at Mochlos? Exploring Culture and Identity in the Late Minoan IB to IIIA1 Transition," Aegean Archaeology 6, pp. 89-118
Carter, T. 2004. "Mochlos and Melos: A Special Relationship? Creating Identity and Status in Minoan Crete," in Crete Beyond the Palaces: Proceedings of the Crete 2000 Conference, Philadelphia, pp. 291-307
Davaras, C. 1973. "A New Hieroglyphic Seal from Mochlos," Kadmos 12, pp. 109-113
_______. 1975. "Early Minoan Jewelry from Mochlos," BSA 70, pp. 40-45 Davaras, C., and J. Soles. 1994. "Enas neos anatolikos sphragidokulindros apo ton Mochlo," Cretan Studies 4, pp. 71-76
_________. 1995. "A New Oriental Cylinder Seal from Mochlos. Appendix: Catalogue of the Cylinder Seals Found in the Aegean," Archaiologike Ephemeris, pp. 29-66
Evershed, R., S. Vaughan, S. Dudd, and J. Soles. 2000. "Organic Residue, Petrographic and Typological Analyses of Late Minoan Lamps and Conical Cups from Excavations at Mochlos in East Crete, Greece," in Palaeodiet in the Aegean, pp. 37-54
_________. 1997. "Fuel for Thought? Beeswax in Lamps and Conical Cups from Late Minoan Crete," Antiquity 71, pp. 979-985
Foster, K.P. 1979. "Four Stone Fragments from Mochlos," AAA 12. Giumlia-Mair, A. 2011. “Appendix: Composition of the Mochlos Sistrum” in Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why. Studies in Honor of James Muhly, Philadelphia, pp. 141-144.
Hickman, J. 2011. "The Dog Diadem from Mochlos" in Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why, Studies in Honor of James Muhly, Philadelphia, pp. 91-104. Hughes, H., and P. Warren. 1963. "Two Sealstones from Mochlos," Kretika Chronika 17, pp. 352-355
Kenna, V. 1970. "Richard Berry Seager: American Archaeologist, 1882-1925," Archaeology 23, pp. 322-332 Matthäus, H. 1980. Die Bronzegefässe der kretisch-mykenischen Kultur, Munich
Nicgorski, A. 1999. "Polypus and the Poppy: Two Unusual Rhyta from the Mycenaean Cemetery at Mochlos" in Meletemata, Studies in Aegean Archaeology Presented to Malcolm H. Wiener, Aegaeum 20, pp. 537-544
Olivier, J.-P. 1989. "Le Disque de Mochlos: Une nouvelle interpretation en Linéaire A sur un poids en plomb, HM 83/MOZf1," Kadmos 28, pp. 137-145
Papadakis, N. 1990. "Anaskaphes Ergasies," Deltion 41, pp. 228-232 Pini, I. 1982. "Zu dem silbernen Rollsiegel aus Mochlos," AA, pp. 599-602
Sanders, I. 1982. Roman Crete, Warminster
Seager, R. 1909. "Excavations on the Island of Mochlos, Crete, in 1908," AJA 13, pp. 272-303
_______. 1912. Explorations in The Island of Mochlos, Boston & NY.
Soles, J.S. 1983. "A Bronze Age Quarry in Eastern Crete," Journal of Field Archaeology 10, pp. 33-46
________. 1988. "Social Ranking in Prepalatial Cemeteries" in Problems in Greek Prehistory, Bristol, pp. 49-61
________. 1991. "The Gournia Palace," AJA 95, pp. 17-78
________. 1992. Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete (Hesperia Supplement 24), Princeton
________. 1997. "A Community of Craft Specialists at Mochlos," in TEXNH, Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmanship in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum 16, pp. 425-433
________. 1999. "The Collapse of Minoan Civilization: The Evidence of the Broken Ashlar" in Polemos, Le Contexte Guerrier en Égée à l'Age du Bronze, Aegaeum 19, pp. 57-66
________. 1999. "The Ritual Killing of Pottery and the Discovery of a Mycenaean Telestas at Mochlos" in Meletemata, Studies in Aegean Archaeology Presented to Malcolm H. Wiener, Aegaeum 20, pp. 787-793
________. 2001. "Reverence for Dead Ancestors in Prehistoric Crete" in Potnia. Deities and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum 22, pp. 229-238
________. 2004. "New Construction at Mochlos in the LM IB Period," in Crete Beyond the Palaces, Proceedings of the Crete 2000 Conference, Philadelphia, pp. 153-162
________. 2004. "Oi Protoi Ellenes sto Mochlo" Amaltheia, pp. 221-233
________. 2005. "From Ugarit to Mochlos, Remnants of an Ancient Voyage," in EMPORIA, Aegeans in Central and Eastern Mediterranean, Aegaeum 25, pp. 429-442.
________. 2007. “Saevus Tridens,” Festschrift for Maria and Joseph Shaw, Philadelphia, pp. 251-255.
________. 2008. "Metal Hoards from LM IB Mochlos, Crete," in Aegean Metallurgy in the Bronze Age, Athens, pp. 143-156.
________. 2009. "The Impact of the Minoan Eruption of Santorini on Mochlos" in Time's Up. Dating the Minoan Eruption of Santorini, pp.107-116
________. 2010. "Evidence for Ancestor Worship in Minoan Crete: New Finds from Mochlos" in Cretan Offerings, Studies in Honour of Peter Warren, London, pp. 331-338
________. 2011. "The Mochlos Sistrum and its Origins" in Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why, Studies in Honor of James Muhly, Philadelphia, pp. 133-146.
Soles, J.S., and C. Davaras. 1990. "Theran Ash in Minoan Crete: New Excavations on Mochlos" in Thera and the Aegean World III, iii, London, pp. 89-95
_________. 1992. "Excavations at Mochlos, 1989," Hesperia 61, pp. 413-445
_________. 1994. "Excavations at Mochlos, 1990-1991," Hesperia 63, pp. 391-436
_________. 1995. "Some Stratigraphic Observations at Mochlos," Proceedings of the Sixth International Cretan Congress, Rethymno, pp.881-886
_________. 1996. "Excavations at Mochlos, 1992-1993," Hesperia 65, pp. 175-230
_________. 2003. "New Seals from Mochlos," in Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel V Suppl. 3.2, Mainz, pp. 513-526
Soles, J., and C. Davaras, eds. 2003. Mochlos IA. Period III. Neopalatial Settlement on the Coast: The Artisans' Quarter and the Farmhouse at Chalinomouri. The Sites, Philadelphia.
_________, eds. 2003. Mochlos IB. Period III. Neopalatial Settlement on the Coast: The Artisans' Quarter and the Farmhouse at Chalinomouri. The Pottery, Philadelphia.
_________, eds. 2004. Mochlos IC. Period III. Neopalatial Settlement on the Coast: The Artisans' Quarter and the Farmhouse at Chalinomouri. The Small Finds, Philadlephia.
_________, eds. 2008. Mochlos IIA. Period IV. The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Sites, Philadelphia 2008.
_________, eds. 2009. Mochlos IIB. Period IV. The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Pottery, Philadelphia 2009.
_________, eds. 2011. Mochlos IIC. Period IV. The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Burials and other Finds , Philadelphia 2011.
Soles, J., R. Taylor, and C. Vitaliano. 1995. "Tephra Samples from Mochlos and Their Chronological Implications for Neopalatial Crete," Archaeometry 37, pp. 385-393
Sourvinou-Inwood, Chr. 1973. "On the Lost Boat Ring from Mochlos,"Kadmos 12, pp. 149-158
Spyridakis, S. 1970. Ptolemaic Itanos and Hellenistic Crete (University of California Publications in History 82), Berkeley
_______. 1992. Cretica: Studies on Ancient Crete, New Rochelle
Vogeikoff-Brogan, N., and S. Apostolakou. 2004. "New Evidence of Wine Production in East Crete," in Transport Amphorae and Trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, pp. 417-427
Vogeikoff-Brogan, N., J. Eiring, M.-C. Boileau, and I. Whitbread. 2004. "Transport Amphoras and Wine Trade in East Crete in the Late Hellenistic Period: Evidence from Mochlos and Pyrgos Myrtos," in Proceedings of the Sixth Scientific Meeting for Hellenistic Pottery, pp. 327-334
Watrous, L.V. 1994."Review of Aegean Prehistory III: Crete from Earliest Prehistory through the Protopalatial Period," AJA 98, pp. 695-753
Below is a general bibliography on writings pertaining to the Mochlos archaeological site.
Aruz, J. 1984. "The Silver Cylinder Seal from Mochlos," Kadmos 23, pp.186-188
Barnard, K., and T. Brogan. 2011. “Pottery of the Late Neopalatial Periods at Mochlos” in LM IB Pottery--Relative Chronology and Regional Differences. Acts of a workshop held at the Danish Institute at Athens in collaboration with the INSTAP Study Center for East Crete, 27-29 June 2007, Aarhus, pp. 427-450
Betancourt, P. 1983. Minoan Objects Excavated from Vasilike, Pseira, Sphoungaras, Priniatikos Pyrgos, and Other Sites (The Cretan Collection in the University Museum, University of Pennsylvannia,I) Philadelphia
Branigan, K. 1991. "Mochlos - An Early Aegean Gateway Community?" Aegaeum 7, pp. 97-105
Brogan, T. 2008. "Metalworking at Mochlos before the Appearance of the Artisans' Quarters" in Aegean Metallurgy in the Bronze Age, pp. 157-168
Brogan, T., A. Smith, and J. Soles. 2002. "Mycenaeans at Mochlos? Exploring Culture and Identity in the Late Minoan IB to IIIA1 Transition," Aegean Archaeology 6, pp. 89-118
Carter, T. 2004. "Mochlos and Melos: A Special Relationship? Creating Identity and Status in Minoan Crete," in Crete Beyond the Palaces: Proceedings of the Crete 2000 Conference, Philadelphia, pp. 291-307
Davaras, C. 1973. "A New Hieroglyphic Seal from Mochlos," Kadmos 12, pp. 109-113 _______. 1975. "Early Minoan Jewelry from Mochlos," BSA 70, pp. 40-45
Davaras, C., and J. Soles. 1994. "Enas neos anatolikos sphragidokulindros apo ton Mochlo," Cretan Studies 4, pp. 71-76
_________. 1995. "A New Oriental Cylinder Seal from Mochlos. Appendix: Catalogue of the Cylinder Seals Found in the Aegean," Archaiologike Ephemeris, pp. 29-66
Evershed, R., S. Vaughan, S. Dudd, and J. Soles. 2000. "Organic Residue, Petrographic and Typological Analyses of Late Minoan Lamps and Conical Cups from Excavations at Mochlos in East Crete, Greece," in Palaeodiet in the Aegean, pp. 37-54
_________. 1997. "Fuel for Thought? Beeswax in Lamps and Conical Cups from Late Minoan Crete," Antiquity 71, pp. 979-985
Foster, K.P. 1979. "Four Stone Fragments from Mochlos," AAA 12.
Giumlia-Mair, A. 2011. “Appendix: Composition of the Mochlos Sistrum” in Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why. Studies in Honor of James Muhly, Philadelphia, pp. 141-144.
Hickman, J. 2011. "The Dog Diadem from Mochlos" in Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why, Studies in Honor of James Muhly, Philadelphia, pp. 91-104.
Hughes, H., and P. Warren. 1963. "Two Sealstones from Mochlos," Kretika Chronika 17, pp. 352-355
Kenna, V. 1970. "Richard Berry Seager: American Archaeologist, 1882-1925," Archaeology 23, pp. 322-332
Matthäus, H. 1980. Die Bronzegefässe der kretisch-mykenischen Kultur, Munich
Nicgorski, A. 1999. "Polypus and the Poppy: Two Unusual Rhyta from the Mycenaean Cemetery at Mochlos" in Meletemata, Studies in Aegean Archaeology Presented to Malcolm H. Wiener, Aegaeum 20, pp. 537-544
Olivier, J.-P. 1989. "Le Disque de Mochlos: Une nouvelle interpretation en Linéaire A sur un poids en plomb, HM 83/MOZf1," Kadmos 28, pp. 137-145
Papadakis, N. 1990. "Anaskaphes Ergasies," Deltion 41, pp. 228-232 Pini, I. 1982. "Zu dem silbernen Rollsiegel aus Mochlos," AA, pp. 599-602
Sanders, I. 1982. Roman Crete, Warminster
Seager, R. 1909. "Excavations on the Island of Mochlos, Crete, in 1908," AJA 13, pp. 272-303
_______. 1912. Explorations in The Island of Mochlos, Boston & NY.
Soles, J.S. 1983. "A Bronze Age Quarry in Eastern Crete," Journal of Field Archaeology 10, pp. 33-46
________. 1988. "Social Ranking in Prepalatial Cemeteries" in Problems in Greek Prehistory, Bristol, pp. 49-61
________. 1991. "The Gournia Palace," AJA 95, pp. 17-78
________. 1992. Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete (Hesperia Supplement 24), Princeton
________. 1997. "A Community of Craft Specialists at Mochlos," in TEXNH, Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmanship in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum 16, pp. 425-433
________. 1999. "The Collapse of Minoan Civilization: The Evidence of the Broken Ashlar" in Polemos, Le Contexte Guerrier en Égée à l'Age du Bronze, Aegaeum 19, pp. 57-66
________. 1999. "The Ritual Killing of Pottery and the Discovery of a Mycenaean Telestas at Mochlos" in Meletemata, Studies in Aegean Archaeology Presented to Malcolm H. Wiener, Aegaeum 20, pp. 787-793
________. 2001. "Reverence for Dead Ancestors in Prehistoric Crete" in Potnia. Deities and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum 22, pp. 229-238
________. 2004. "New Construction at Mochlos in the LM IB Period," in Crete Beyond the Palaces, Proceedings of the Crete 2000 Conference, Philadelphia, pp. 153-162
________. 2004. "Oi Protoi Ellenes sto Mochlo" Amaltheia, pp. 221-233
________. 2005. "From Ugarit to Mochlos, Remnants of an Ancient Voyage," in EMPORIA, Aegeans in Central and Eastern Mediterranean, Aegaeum 25, pp. 429-442.
________. 2007. “Saevus Tridens,” Festschrift for Maria and Joseph Shaw, Philadelphia, pp. 251-255.
________. 2008. "Metal Hoards from LM IB Mochlos, Crete," in Aegean Metallurgy in the Bronze Age, Athens, pp. 143-156.
________. 2009. "The Impact of the Minoan Eruption of Santorini on Mochlos" in Time's Up. Dating the Minoan Eruption of Santorini, pp.107-116
________. 2010. "Evidence for Ancestor Worship in Minoan Crete: New Finds from Mochlos" in Cretan Offerings, Studies in Honour of Peter Warren, London, pp. 331-338
________. 2011. "The Mochlos Sistrum and its Origins" in Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why, Studies in Honor of James Muhly, Philadelphia, pp. 133-146.
Soles, J.S., and C. Davaras. 1990. "Theran Ash in Minoan Crete: New Excavations on Mochlos" in Thera and the Aegean World III, iii, London, pp. 89-95
_________. 1992. "Excavations at Mochlos, 1989," Hesperia 61, pp. 413-445
_________. 1994. "Excavations at Mochlos, 1990-1991," Hesperia 63, pp. 391-436
_________. 1995. "Some Stratigraphic Observations at Mochlos," Proceedings of the Sixth International Cretan Congress, Rethymno, pp.881-886
_________. 1996. "Excavations at Mochlos, 1992-1993," Hesperia 65, pp. 175-230
_________. 2003. "New Seals from Mochlos," in Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel V Suppl. 3.2, Mainz, pp. 513-526
Soles, J., and C. Davaras, eds. 2003. Mochlos IA. Period III. Neopalatial Settlement on the Coast: The Artisans' Quarter and the Farmhouse at Chalinomouri. The Sites, Philadelphia.
_________, eds. 2003. Mochlos IB. Period III. Neopalatial Settlement on the Coast: The Artisans' Quarter and the Farmhouse at Chalinomouri. The Pottery, Philadelphia.
_________, eds. 2004. Mochlos IC. Period III. Neopalatial Settlement on the Coast: The Artisans' Quarter and the Farmhouse at Chalinomouri. The Small Finds, Philadlephia.
_________, eds. 2008. Mochlos IIA. Period IV. The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Sites, Philadelphia 2008.
_________, eds. 2009. Mochlos IIB. Period IV. The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Pottery, Philadelphia 2009.
_________, eds. 2011. Mochlos IIC. Period IV. The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Burials and other Finds , Philadelphia 2011.
Soles, J., R. Taylor, and C. Vitaliano. 1995. "Tephra Samples from Mochlos and Their Chronological Implications for Neopalatial Crete," Archaeometry 37, pp. 385-393
Sourvinou-Inwood, Chr. 1973. "On the Lost Boat Ring from Mochlos,"Kadmos 12, pp. 149-158
Spyridakis, S. 1970. Ptolemaic Itanos and Hellenistic Crete (University of California Publications in History 82), Berkeley
_______. 1992. Cretica: Studies on Ancient Crete, New Rochelle
Vogeikoff-Brogan, N., and S. Apostolakou. 2004. "New Evidence of Wine Production in East Crete," in Transport Amphorae and Trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, pp. 417-427
Vogeikoff-Brogan, N., J. Eiring, M.-C. Boileau, and I. Whitbread. 2004. "Transport Amphoras and Wine Trade in East Crete in the Late Hellenistic Period: Evidence from Mochlos and Pyrgos Myrtos," in Proceedings of the Sixth Scientific Meeting for Hellenistic Pottery, pp. 327-334
Watrous, L.V. 1994."Review of Aegean Prehistory III: Crete from Earliest Prehistory through the Protopalatial Period," AJA 98, pp. 695-753