A Minoan-era building dating from 1,600 to 1,400 BC was unearthed at an altitude of 900 metres at the Gaidourofas site, near Ierapetra, in eastern Crete. According to initial assessments, the building served as a late Bronze Age (Neopalatial period) "mansion".
The structure retains all of its walls and has not been pillaged. It is believed that its residents abandoned the building after a catastrophe without taking with them personal and household objects. The nature of the catastrophe has not been clarified and will be the subject of further excavation and research.
The excavation was part of a five-year research programme implemented and funded by the University of Athens, with the financial backing of several institutions in Greece and abroad. The programme is headed by Yannis Papadatos, a professor of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Athens, and Costas Halikias, a lecturer at the Heidelberg University. (AMNA)
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