The Quarter to the West Court at Phaistos: a Revision of Levi's excavations

Ilaria Caloi

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Abstract

The focus of D. Levi’s excavations at Phaistos was the Palace and its structures. The town and its extension and distribution around the palatial core was neglected. In 1994 a new programme of excavations was begun, at the same time as a revision of the ceramic material from the Levi excavations, with the aim of understanding the extension and features of the Phaistos town. Particular attention has been paid to the habitation quarters to the West and South of the West Court (Piazzale I) of the Phaistos Palace and to the road network from and towards the palatial centre. My work within these projects has focused on an analysis of the ceramic material that has been retrieved from rooms situated on the middie and upper terraces of the hillside to the West of the West Court (Piazzale I). This paper will present a brief account of my on going project, and will provide new data about the chronology and the function of these structures.