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Early Seafarers in the Mediterranean: Cretan Evidence for Pre-Homo Sapiens Mariners
April 07, 2010 17:30

Providence College, Moore Hall I, 1 Cunningham Square, Providence RI

LECTURE

Presented by
AIA: Narraganesett Society and ASCSA

Speaker
Thomas Strasser and Curtis Runnels

In a test of a Mesolithic site location model developed for use on the Greek mainland and the islands, a survey on the southwestern coast of Crete in the region of Plakias and Ayios Pavlos documented 28 pre-ceramic lithic sites in two seasons of fieldwork. Twenty sites were identified with artifacts of Mesolithic type, and nine had evidence of industries with early Palaeolithic affinities. Although lower sea levels in the Pleistocene would have at times narrowed the crossings from Crete to the rest of Greece, Turkey, and Africa, the long period of separation, more than five million years, of Crete from a connection with any landmass implies that sea craft capable of open-sea navigation and multiple journeys were used in both periods to reach the island.

Thomas Strasser, Associate Professor of Art History, Providence College, earned his Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from Indiana University in 1992. He specializes in Greek archaeology, with special reference to Minoan (Cretan) prehistory. He has participated on excavations and other field projects in Greece , Cyprus and Turkey for over twenty years. After teaching in Turkey , at Dartmouth College and California State University in Sacramento , he came to Providence College in 2005. At Providence College , he is developing various classes in ancient art. In addition, he is getting PC students active in archaeological field project, including taking students to Crete to participate on excavations.

Curtis Runnels, Professor of Archaeology, Boston University, has been involved in fieldwork in Greece, Turkey, and Albania for more than thirty years, and has directed, co-directed, or participated in excavations, regional surveys, and laboratory studies. He co-directed an American-Greek Mesolithic survey of Kandia in the Argolid (2003) and the Swedish-American survey of Berbati-Limnes (also in the Argolid) in 1988-1992. He directed a Palaeolithic survey of Thessaly (1987-1991) and was associate director of the Stanford University Archaeological and Environmental Survey of the Southern Argolid in 1979-1983. He was a staff member on Boston University’s Nikopolis Project, the University of Thessaloniki’s survey of Langadas (Macedonia), and the University of Cincinnati’s Pylos Regional Archaeoogical Project (Greece) and Mallakastra Regional Archaeological Project (Albania).