John Pendlebury's finds from Karphi, including bronze and iron objects and the striking clay goddess figurines, are displayed in the Heraklion Museum...

These stands and tubes were probably used to support vessel lamps and/or vessels containing liquid offerings in cult settings, and are also known from settlements contemporary with Karphi which have been excavated more recently. They form part of a new 'town cult' set of cultural materials and behaviours appearing across Crete post-1200 BC.

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A rich cultural landscape...

Survey work in the north Lasithi region during the last thirty years by scholars including John Pendlebury, L.Vance  Watrous and Krzysztof Nowicki has revealed a dense network of contemporary settlements founded in the foothills and mountains during the crisis at the end of the late Bronze Age. The dominant use of the landscape for grazing today makes these ancient remains (walls and potsherds) clearly visible. On the right, above, is the striking Karphi peak viewed from the foothills to the north. The landmark provided an ideal setting for a Middle Bronze Age open-air 'peak' sanctuary, which we are researching parts of in our current project, as well as the focus of the later defended settlement. The settlement spread over the saddle between Karphi peak and that of Mikri Koprana visible to its left, as well as to the summit of Megali Koprana on the south, covering about 3 ha. 
 

Why was the Karphi town founded and who lived there?

Late Bronze Age Aegean state systems based at centres of regional kingdoms, such as Knossos, Mycenae, Tiryns and Athens collapsed at c. 1200 BC. What systems replaced them, and how did new ways of organising communities foreshadow the emergence of the Greek polis state? Investigating and contextualising individual swelling practices and spaces for community activities and institutions across the whole large Karphi site (not just the saddle excavated by Pendlebury) is one of our main research objectives, enabling this question to be answered. We can note that the foundation of Karphi and other peaktop sites at this period shows concern with security, the need for coherent action at a time of social fragmentation, and the willingness to address significant economic challenges including year-round living in a rugged landscape 1140m above sea level. 

How does one get to Karphi?

The protected ('Alpha Zone') archaeological zones around the settlement and its cemeteries prevent the bulldozing of a modern road. which would be likely not only to damage the archaeological remains but also to affect the tranquillity and enjoyment of the site and its role as a wildlife habitat by encouraging large-scale visiting. The lack of a road restricts access to people willing to make the steep 20-minute walk to the peaks from the Nisimo plain, near the village of Tzermiado, or from the 'Homo Sapiens' park near the village of Kera. There are other walk routes in, and we want to produce informative trails to highlight them and explain the archaeological heritage of the wider area for a range of visitors and locals arriving by foot or on horseback.