Area surveying
The survey carried out since 1989 has covered the site and its wider area. Archaeological zone A, which more or less corresponds to the site proper, has been surveyed intensively, and an extensive survey has been carried out of the whole plain, from Sissi to Stalis and from the sea to the slopes of the Selena. More than a hundred sites have been identified and ongoing studies will make it possible to have a precise idea of the way in which the land was organised and used in different periods.
The excavation of Building Pi
A research programme began in June 2005, with new excavations on previously untouched land in the heart of the Minoan town, between the Hypostyle Crypt and House Delta Alpha. The object of this work is the exploration of a Neopalatial urban zone, with the aim of supplementing the data, which is still very incomplete, about the history of the town in this period. The close connection of paleoenvironmental disciplines to this excavation will also make it possible to provide specific details about the Maliots' living conditions. A new building of significant size, 'Building Pi', was partially unearthed in 2005, and exploration of this area went on till 2009.
Surveys in Epsilon
Surveys were carried out in 2005 in the Epsilon Quarter, in order to determine exactly when the sector was occupied. This 'quarter' includes a house from the Middle Minoan period, contemporaneous to the Mu Quarter and like the latter subsequently abandoned, and two buildings that were occupied chiefly in the Neopalatial period, and then in the Mycenaean period. This part of the site is therefore of great interest, as all the phases in the town's occupation – spanning over five centuries – are represented there.
© EFA / Maia Pomadère and Julien Zurbach
The Dessenne Building
Since May 2012, Maud Devolder has directed a new project that is studying and publishing these remains, working with Ilaria Caloi (study of pottery), Thérèse Claeys (study of stone vases) and Thibaut Gomrée (study of Maliot urbanism).See the detailed article on the Dessenne Building research project.
© EFA / Maud Devolder