Mycenaean Period
The excavation has uncovered the remains of thirteen houses belonging to the Late Minoan III reoccupation of the site, dating from the LM IIIA:1 phase to the LM IIIB phase. These range from modest one and two room buildings to a sizable house, House A, that was provided with its own roadway leading up over earlier LM I house walls to the entrance. The settlement remains reflect the social stratification of the population and also exhibit a second architectural phase corresponding with the IIIB period. The settlement has now been fully published in Mochlos IIA, Period IV, The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery, The Sites, Philadelphia 2008.
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For a description of the LM III Limenaria Cemetery at Mochlos,
Minoan Period | Prepalatial Period | Protopalatial Period | Neopalatial Period | Mycenaean Period | Archaic & After |
Years | 3000 - 1900 BCE | 1900 -1670 BCE | 1670 - 1430 BCE | 1430 - 1250 BCE | 600s BCE - 365 CE |
Relative Chronology | EM IA to MMIA | MM IB to MM IIB | MM IIIA to LM IB | LM IIIA to LMIIIB | Various |
Mycenaean Period
1430 - 1250 BC
House Alpha
House Alpha, seen above, has been identified as the “House of the Telestas,” perhaps the very individual who was buried in Tomb 15 in the Limenaria Cemetery. It was the largest of the LM III buildings and the only one to be located inside the remains of an old Minoan house, House D.6. The interior was remodeled and a new entrance was located in its south facade facing the coast with a paved pathway leading up from the coast to the house’s entrance, but the building’s original exterior foundations remained otherwise unchanged. It is also the only house in the LM III settlement to show any signs of religious activity. An old Minoan double axe stand was reused in the house’s main room and the remains of a conical rhyton imported from Knossos were found nearby.
For details, see Soles and Brogan, Mochlos IIA, pp. 9-49.
Houses Iota, Beta, Mu, Delta and Eta
A cluster of five houses, seen above, were located near the middle of the LM III town: Iota, Beta, Mu, Delta and Eta (from north to south). Iota sat in the space where the old Minoan road, Street B, ran between the Minoan houses that lay on either side, C.3 and C.6. It reused their north and south facades for its own facades. House Beta sat on top of the old Minoan House C.3 with no regard for its original plan, while Delta and Eta occupied the space along its south facade and reused parts of that wall for their own facades. The houses were small, mostly one-room structures, only one-story high, with exterior cook sheds used for preparing meals.
For details, see Soles and Brogan, Mochlos IIA, pp. 49-90.
Houses Gamma, Zeta and Epsilon
Three houses were located among the Minoan ruins at the western side of the LM III settlement: Gamma, Zeta and Epsilon. Zeta and Epsilon, among the poorest houses in the town, built against the south facade of the monumental Minoan ceremonial building B.2; Gamma, built on top of the northern rooms of B.2, was one of the more substantial LM III houses and belonged to a wealthier family than most.
For details, see Soles and Brogan, Mochlos IIA, pp. 90-111.
