Site details

Asprosykia: Korakia Cave

PK	C5779
TITLE	Asprosykia: Korakia Cave
WGS84	35.348956° N, 24.255688° E
Accuracy	100 m.

LAT/LON	35.348956, 24.255688
LON/LAT	24.255688, 35.348956

DMS

35° 20' 56.2416" N

24° 15' 20.4768" E

W3W	stalled, correlation, innately
UTM	35 S, 250613, 3915199
EGSA87	523084, 3911483

Elevation m	65
Elevation feet	213.3
Region	Crete
Subregion	Apokoronas

GENERAL SITE TYPE Sherds

TYPE

1.    Cave.   Moody [1987],     'FUNCTION: Minoan-burial cave', '..., human bones were found in the fill at the entrance of the cave.'
2.    Sherds.   Kanta [1980], 237    'The Korakia cave was investigated by Theofanidhis in 1937. The illustrated sherds are all LM III B in date.'
3.    Sherds.   Hood [1965], 112    'L.M. III and later sherds, including Roman, were noted in the cave of 'Korakia' ... by Theophanides, 1937.'
4.    Sherds.   Faure [1956], 98    'A l'entrée, parmi des ossements humains, des tessons MM I et III et romains.'

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. Middle Minoan I: (2100 BC - 1900 BC)
    a.    Hood [1965]: 112, 'M.M. I, M.M. III, and Roman sherds, together with human bones, were seen by Faure ...'
    b.    Faure [1956]: 98, ' ... des tessons MM I et III et romains.'
    c.    Moody [1987]: , 'DATE: MMI MMIII LMIII ...'

2. Middle Minoan III: (1750 BC - 1675 BC)
    a.    Hood [1965]: 112, 'M.M. I, M.M. III, and Roman sherds, together with human bones, were seen by Faure ...'
    b.    Faure [1956]: 98, ' ... des tessons MM I et III et romains.'
    c.    Moody [1987]: , 'DATE: MMI MMIII LMIII ...'

3. Late Minoan III: (1420 BC - 1075 BC)
    a.    Hood [1965]: 112, '...a sacred cave with cult during L.M. III times if not later ...'
    b.    Moody [1987]: , 'DATE: MMI MMIII LMIII ...', 'Faure believes this cave functioned as a sacred cave in LMIII.'

4. Late Minoan IIIB: (1330 BC - 1200 BC)
    a.    Kanta [1980]: 237, 'The illustrated sherds are all LM III B in date.'
    b.    Moody [1987]: , 'DATE: MMI MMIII LMIII (mostly IIIB)'

NOTE

1. According to Faure [1956] 98, '19' the cave of Korakia is about 15 minutes SE of the town of Asprosykia. The town of Asprosykia (deserted since the German occupation in WWII) is located at 35.353964° N, 24.250979° E (F4251); almost due west of Georgioupolis. I placed the marker 15 minutes walk S of its ruins but this is a guess only.

rhc

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Faure [1956]: Faure, Paul. ‘Grottes crétoises’, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique (80), 95-103, 1956., '19) Korakia', pg. 98. Online here.

2. Hood [1965]: Hood, M.S.F.. ‘Minoan Sites in the Far West of Crete’, The Annual of the British School at Athens (60), pp. 99-113, 1965., 'D. 7. Asprosikia: 'Korakia' Cave', pg. 112. Online here.

3. Kanta [1980]: Kanta, Athanasia. The Late Minoan III Period in Crete; A Survey of Sites, Pottery and their Distribution. Paul Åströms Förlag, Göteborg. Sweden. 1980., '5. Asprosykia', pg. 237.

4. Moody [1987]: Moody, Jennifer Alice. The Environmental and Cultural Prehistory of the Khania Region of West Crete: Neolithic through Late Minoan III. Ph.D. Dissertation. The Graduate School of the University of Minnesota. 1987., 'ASP1', Online here.