Excavation at Acharna, Crete, answers important questions

Important scientific questions are being clarified by the excavations at the palatial building in the Turkish Quarter of Archanes, Crete, which continued several years after their interruption.

The excavated part of the palace of Archanes has already been published in numerous articles and in two voluminous volumes. The building was initially described by Sir Arthur Evans, who had seen walls in the streets of the town, as "The Summer Palace of Knossos". It was searched for by Spyros Marinatos and N. Platonas in different locations without result.

​14 Ιουλίου 1993: Οι 6 όροι του Κωνσταντίνου Μητσοτάκη προς την Αλβανική Κυβέρνηση

Its discovery was made by G. Sakellarakis, who investigated walls in the basements of the town's houses with the sponsorship of the Archanes Travel Club at the time, and excavated very early on in a place located in the center of the town.

The first investigation revealed the entrance and rooms of the palace of a multi-storey building, of which 34 ground floor apartments with the corresponding apartments on the upper floors were subsequently excavated.

The building was built of well-carved limestone, with paved spaces and columns, the wooden trunk of which was preserved, except for the base.

During the research and from the findings, it was proven that it is an autonomous building with a cultic character, as shown by the number of built altars: an amphicone at the entrance of the building, parallel to the altar depicted in the “Lion Gate” in Mycenae, a rectangular built altar for the slaughter of large animals, one stepped, the other trapezoidal, types of altars that we know from seal engraving. In other words, it constitutes a “dictionary” of altars.

Also found were murals with a female figure at the entrance, marine and plant motifs, embossed shells that adorned the walls, numerous finds, bronze, stone, portable urns, complexes of gold and ivory figurines, etc.

This complex was complemented by other palatial elements located in various parts of the town and related to the central building. Further south, for example, the theatrical space was uncovered, further west the archive with Linear A script, a Goddess on horseback and the well-known “House of the Archons”.

The combination with the royal cemetery on Fourni Hill, which yielded gold, ivory and other offerings, the proximity to the summit sanctuary of Juuchtas and the temple of Human Sacrifice at Anemospilia, shows the importance of Archanes for Minoan Archaeology.

The excavation had been interrupted because buildings around the core of this central building had to be expropriated. With the sponsorship of the Psyche Foundation, dilapidated buildings around the central core were purchased, which were donated to the Greek State and ensured the carrying out of future excavations, without affecting the residents of the town.

Για λόγους που επέβαλε η συνέχιση της έρευνας, που γίνεται από την Δρα αρχαιολόγο Έφη Σαουνά-Σακελλαράκη, διενεργήθηκε δοκιμαστική τομή το 2022 στο βορειότερο τμήμα του ανακτόρου, που έδωσε ήδη σημαντικά στοιχεία. Συγκεκριμένα, έγινε μικρή τομή 6 Χ 2 μέτρων, βόρεια των τελευταίων ανασκαμμένων χώρων 34 και 35, οι οποίοι είχαν δώσει δείγματα της καταστροφής από ισχυρή πυρκαγιά (εικ. 6), με πλήθος πίθων, αγγείων προορισμένων για την μεταφορά αρωμάτων, δείγματα υφασμάτων μέσα σε πίθους, έναν σκαραβαίο κ.λ.π..

The 2022 section showed the continuity of the robust building with ceramics from the period of the old palaces (1900 BC) Barbotine, as well as Mycenaean-period sherds, which indicate continuous use but also that the space has been disturbed in various periods.

The 2022 excavation found strong walls bordering rooms 33 and 35, as well as ground-floor rooms with paved floors, which are framed by strips of mortar, with an exceptional refinement of floors.