The maritime cultural landscape in the South Peloponnese -Kythera -West Crete during the late Bronze Age

This thesis considers the perception of maritime space in the SW Aegean area of Greece during the Late Bronze Age, analysing and linking issues of coastline morphology and harbour location and maritime ideology. Drawing heavily on the concept of the maritime cultural landscape, the thesis reviews the state of knowledge about the nature of coastal settlement during the Mycenaean period in the SW Aegean and how the coastline has altered since antiquity due to geomorphological processes. The thesis presents the results of a coastal and offshore (snorkeling) survey carried out along several stretches of coast in Messenia and Laconia in the Peloponnese, the island of Kythera and in West Crete with the aim of assessing the location of possible harbours/anchorages dating to the Late Bronze Age. These results are compared with those available for comparable harbour locations in the Cyclades, Central and East Crete, the Dodecanese, East Aegean and parts of Italy dating to the Late Bronze Age period. The survey included the coastal sites of Pavlopetri and Epidauros Limera in the South Peloponnese and Kastelli, Chania and Phalasarna in West Crete. In the research presented in this thesis, harbours/anchorages of the Late Bronze Age should be considered as located at promising ancient sandy beaches, river outfalls and promontories. As there are no stone built harbour structures the default landing place was the beach. This thesis adopts a maritime perspective, viewing the coastal littoral from the sea. It examines various parameters including natural processes on the coast and hinterland that were, and remain, vital to the connectivity of cultures through the sea during the Late Bronze Age and thereafter. The intention is to contribute to a fuller understanding of seascapes and the maritime cultural landscape as seen through the evidence of potential harbours, and to gain insight into how maritime space may have impacted on the issue of harbour installations in the Late Bronze Age Aegean world