GREECE CRETE LASITHI KAVOUSI AZORIA

The Azoria hill rises 370 m above sea level in a strategically favourable position. From the Early Iron Age until Archaic times (about 1200-480 BC) it was the place of a developing settlement. Since this period was generally regarded as the "Dark Ages" before the first Greek city-states emerged in the 8th century BC, the study of this site adds considerably to our understanding of a previously little understood period of early urbanization in the Iron Age.

First excavations of Azoria were carried out on a relatively small scale by Harriet Boyd (the later excavator of Gournia) around 1900. - Since 2002 this is completed by a major excavation project of the University of North Carolina, USA (shown here in 2004). Aims and results of these activities were annually and extensively documented on the web.

Below right: Looking down from Azoria to modern Kavousi and the Gulf of Mirambello.