37 Chryssi Island New Evidence on the Bronze Age Settlement Patterns of the Ierapetra Area* Konstantinos Chalikias The following paper examines the Bronze Age settlement history of Chryssi, a small island located along the southeast coast of ωreteέ Excavations carried out by the β4th Ephorate on the island in βίίκ and ieldwork con- ducted by the author demonstrated how Chryssi, today a marginal landscape, was extensively exploited for its natural resources since the Final Neolithic period. The density of sites recorded on the island corresponded to periods of wealth and prosperity on the opposite coast, along the southern Ierapetra Isthmus (i.e. Protopalatial, Neopalatial). A similar pattern was observed on other offshore islands around Crete (Gavdos, Pseira, Kouphonisi) that were most likely tightly connected to large administrative sites on “mainland” ωreteέ ώence, ωhryssi presented a unique opportunity to study not only the large-scale exploitation of a Bronze Age landscape, but also to place this research within a broader network of island archaeology and maritime connectivity in the eastern εediterraneanέ Introduction During the past decades, numerous archaeological projects along the North Coast of the Ierapetra Isthmus have yielded substantial evidence for the Bronze Age settlement history of the εirabello Bay while the southern part of the Isthmus has remained largely unexplored. 1 Rescue excavations that produced limited evidence for Bronze Age settlement patterns of the south Ierapetra Isthmus took place throughout the βίth century at the sites of ώagia Photia, Episkopi, εyrtos, and more recently at Arapi Skala, Kalamafka, Bramiana, and ύaidourophasέ 2 Brief ar- chaeological surveys in the area have presented interesting results regarding the όσήEε I and δε IIIω settlement patterns of the Ierapetra region. 3 The initial goal of my dissertation research in 2006 was to catalogue sites and document the settlement history of the Ierapetra region from the Bronze Age until the Roman period. After two seasons of archaeological and topogra- phical survey in the area it became clear that cataloguing the various sites was nearly impossible due to dramatic landscape transformation around Ierapetra. Natural formation processes and modern land use have transformed the landscape around Ierapetra since the Bronze Age. Contemporary agricultural practices, especially greenhouse agriculture, dominate the coastal plain west and north of the town. An area of approximately 8,000,000 m² around Ierapetra has been covered by green- houses, affecting our understanding and interpretation of past human events in the region. 4 In addition, the modern town of Ierapetra and the nearby villages are rapidly growing and expanding, threatening a number of archaeolo- gical sites in close proximity. Chryssi Island is located only eight nautical miles south of Ierapetra and was therefore considered ideal in stu- dying the “colonization” of an undisturbed islandscape and the way in which it was transformed and exploited * This article is the result of ieldwork on the island of ωhryssi as part of my Phέϊέ dissertation at the RuprechtάKarls University in ώeidelbergέ I would like to thank Vέ Apostolakou, former director of the β4th Ephoreia, for allowing me to study the settlement patterns of Chryssi Island as part of the ongoing excavations there. I am also grateful to P.P. Betancourt, T. Brogan, and my advisors Diamantis Panagiotopoulos and ϊonald ώaggis for their constant support and guidance throughout this projectέ Ariel Pearceάωhalikias, ϊoug όaulmann, and σikos ωhalikias helped tremendously during the survey of the islandέ ϊoug όaulmann and ύianluca ωantoro designed many of the maps and instructed me on how to use the ϊύPSέ 1 όor excavations at εochlos, see Soles βίίγν Soles et alέ βίί4, βίίκν for Pseira, see Betancourt and ϊavaras 1λλκ, 1λλλ, βίίί, βίίβ, βίίγν Betancourt et alέ βίί4, βίί5ν for excavations and survey in the Kavousi area, see ύesell et alέ 1λκγ, 1λκ5, 1λκκ, 1λλ5ν ϊay et alέ βίίλν ώaggis 1λλβ, 1λλ6, 1λλλ, βίί5ν ώaggis and εook 1λλγν for ωhalasmenos, see ωoulson et alέ 1λλ5ν Tsipopoulou and ωoulson βίίίν Tsipopoulou βίί4ν for εonastiraki Katalimata, see σowicki βίίκbν for ύournia, see Watrous et alέ βίίίν for Vrokastro, see ώayden βίίγ, βίί4ν for Azorias, see ώaggis et alέ βίίιa, βίίιbέ 2 ώagia Photia, see ώawes et alέ 1λίκ, 56ν Betancourt βίίί, 11ιν Xanthoudides 1λβί–1λβ1, 15ι–6βν Kanta 1λκί, 14ί–6ίν Warren 1λιβν Whitelaw 1λκγ, βίίιν Whitelaw et alέ 1λλιν ωadogan 1λιι–1λικ, 1λλιν Knappett 1λλλ, βίίίν Apostolakou 1λλκν Eaby βίίι, 5ί–1ν Apostolakou, persέ commέν Papadatos and ωhalikias βί1γν ωhalikias and Papadatos βί14έ 3 σowicki βίίίν βίίβ, βκ–γ4ν βίίκa, β1κ–1λέ 4 Papadakis βίίί, λλν ϊemos Ierapetras βίίκ, γ5–κέ