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544
Methodology
PHILIP P. BETANCOURT ET AL.
Methodology in 1976-1983
The work carried out between 1976 and 1983 was a rescue excavation con-
ducted with very limited resources. In 1976, during road construction,
the cave was opened by a dynamite blast that created a hole in the roof of
room 1. The original entrance was not visible until later when, as noted
above, the cracked upper part of the cavern was removed with power equipment
in 1982 to eliminate the danger of falling stones from the unstable
ceiling. Before removal of the bones and artifacts, the floors of the rooms
inside the cave were covered with human skulls and complete vases, and
disarticulated bones mixed with both broken and complete artifacts were
underneath this surface level.
Because of the danger of looting, the bones and artifacts had to be
removed quickly and taken to the Hagios Nikolaos Archaeological Museum.
Complete vases were marked with their room number, and many
sherds were marked as well. No plans were drawn or photographs taken.
Because the ephorate had very limited resources for conducting the type
of excavation required by this specialized site, the room 4/5 entrance and
room 5 were left intact to wait for a future time when more resources
would be available to excavate this unusual site properly, and the cavern
was closed with a stone and concrete wall to preserve it. The pottery was
saved by room at the time of excavation, but by 2002 it had become mixed.
Complete vases were mended at the museum after the conclusion of the
excavations.
Methodology in 2002 and 2003
After looters broke through the concrete wall in the year 2000 and removed
objects lying on the surface inside the unexcavated rooms (but did not do
any digging inside the cave), the senior author (PPB) was invited by Davaras
and by the director of the 24th Ephorate, the late Nikos Papadakis, to organize
a new excavation of the cavern. Because of the unusual character of
the archaeological site, specialized techniques for recovery and conservation
were used in 2002 and 2003. An EDM Survey Instrument was used both for
mapping and for plotting locations inside the cave. Over a hundred plotted
reference points inside the cavern were used to establish the locations of
features and artifacts. Technical and logistical support was provided both by
the 24th Ephorate through the Hagios Nikolaos Archaeological Museum
and by the INSTAP Study Center for East Crete in Pacheia Ammos, so
that the project was able to make use of outstanding facilities for conser-
vation, photography, water sieving, and petrography, as well as study space,
computer facilities, and other necessary support.6
The main focus of the project was the excavation of the room 4/5
entrance and room 5, the spaces that had not been previously investigated.
Before excavation, room 5 consisted of an elliptical room with about 25
skulls and numerous long bones on the surface, with these large bones lying
on a layer consisting mostly of smaller human bones in a disarticulated
condition. At the north and in the center of the room, no soil at all was
visible because the surface was completely covered with bones at the north
6. The complete transformation of
the science of archaeology in East
Crete between 1983 and 2002 completely
justifies the 1983 decision to
leave one part of the cave for a future
generation to excavate with proper
resources. See the appendix to this
report for additional comments on
conservation techniques.