Mochlos Village

In the Late Bronze Age, the island of Mochlos and the promontory of the modern fishing village were still connected. Mochlos lies in a tectonic valley or graben, flanked by mountain blocks or horsts, with one fault line lying just along the western side of the island and another lying at the eastern end of the Mochlos plain. Extension of the earth’s crust is accommodated near the surface by faulting, and when this occurs, the area between the two faults drops down with respect to the areas on either side. Mochlos is sinking, sporadically, but sometimes quite sharply.

Since 1952 when the elevation of a Late Hellenistic fish tank along the coast was measured by J. Leatham and S. Hood, it has sunk nearly 1 m. Since the 1st century BC when the tank was functioning, it has sunk nearly 2 m. A reverse of the 2 m. subsidence would make a connection between the island and Crete, and this land bridge would have been in place through the Bronze Age and down through the Hellenistic period. Its innundation sometime after the 1st century probably accounts for the abandonment of the site.

On the mainland three rooms are all that remain visible from two or three artisans’ houses that once stood near the shore south west of the modern village. Large parts of the houses were buried beneath the modern dirt track which goes from Mochlos to its harbour and after the excavation of the buildings they were backfilled to enable the track to be restored to full use again.

This is one of the largest and most significant of the surviving Early Minoan cemeteries in Crete. Excavators have uncovered more constructed tombs here than at any other cemetery of any period. During the original excavations in 1908, Richard Seager discovered more than 20 built tombs on the island. Pit graves, rock shelters and burials in pithos jars were also found.

The tombs are to be found in two separate areas. On the western side of the island there is a terrace with several monumental tombs, presumably those of the local rulers. To the south, running along the contours of the hill were found a large number of more basic tombs, presumably for the ordinary people of the settlement.

The house tombs date from the Early Minoan II 2900-2300 BCE phase and continued to be used in Early Minoan III 2300-1900 BCE. Some were even used in the following Middle Minoan IA phase 2000-1700 BCE, when they subsequently all went out of use. In the Neopalatial (Second Palace) period, some of the tombs were brought back into service and the use of pithos burials became common.

As a result of cleaning operations on the site in the 1970s 28 excavated tombs were located. Many more have come to light in the intervening years.

At the east of the coastal plain, where a river runs down a ravine, past a promontory, an Late Minoan IB 1500-1450 BCE building with seven or eight rooms was discovered in the early 1990s. It was a long rectangular structure, overlooking the ravine from the promontory and part of the western facade of the building had in fact collapsed into the ravine in the distant past.

The building seems to have played quite an important role in the local economy. Evidence of terracing in a nearby field was uncovered. Pithoi had been used to store agricultural produce and vases made of locally available green serpentinite all point to a building whose occupants were engaged in various activities and who were part of the wider economy of the main settlement on Mochlos.

There was clear evidence that the building had been reoccupied in Late Minoan III 1450-1350 BCE.

As a result of cleaning operations on the site in the 1970s 28 excavated tombs were located. Many more have come to light in the intervening years.