“Spatial contiguities and stratigraphic discontinuities as transtemporal engagement with the past. The prehistory and protohistory of the site of Azoria in eastern Crete”.
Aegean lecture by Donald Haggis (University of North Carolina).
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of archaeological sites as dynamic and multitemporal environments, and to demonstrate the use of excavation as a means of visualizing stratigraphic events as cultural processes and forms of cultural production. Using as a case study the multiperiod site of Azoria in eastern Crete, the paper examines specific contexts of architectural and depositional juxtaposition across culture periods periods—the incorporation of Final Neolithic, Late Minoan IIIC, and Protoarchaic (late 8th and 7th c.) buildings, contexts, and artifacts within the Archaic settlement. The goal is to understand the meaning and significance of these points of structured human engagement with the past, and the function of material interaction between and across chronological periods and cultural universes.