Archeologists uncover mysterious Minoan structure on the Greek island of Crete.

Archaeologists on the Greek island of Crete carrying out survey work ahead of the construction of a new airport have uncovered a mysterious structure believed to date from the Late Palaeopalatial Period of the ancient Minoan civilization, according to a press release issued by the Greek Ministry of Culture on 11 June 2024.  The excavation work was being carried out on Papoura Hill on the eastern part of the island, where it was planned to build radar station to serve the new airport, though the significance of the discovery means that serious consideration is now being given as to whether this part of the project can go ahead as planned.

The new monumental structure discovered on Papoura Hill, Crete. Greek Ministry of Education.

The structure is believed to have been constructed between about 2000 and 1700 BC, and to have remained in use for several hundred years. It comprises a series of stone rings, which are on average 1.4 m thick, and rise a maximum of 1.7 m above the surroundings. The outer diameter of this structure is about 48 m, with what appears to have been a circular building 15 m in diameter at the centre. This building had entrances on the northwest and southwest parts of its diameter. The area surrounding the structure has produced thousands of Animal bones, suggesting that the site was used for ritual feasting.

The new Minoan structure seen from above. Greek Ministry of Culture.

No similar structure has been found at any Minoan site, despite many decades of intensive study of the culture, emphasising the uniqueness of the site. Possible similarities to structures at the Mycenaean site of Tiryns in the Peloponnese, or the elliptical Middle Minoan house at Hamezion on eastern Crete, although investigations at the site are still at an early stage.

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Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake to the south of Crete felt around much of the eastern Mediterranean.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake at a depth of 70.6 km,to the south of the island of Crete, slightly before 7.10 am local time (slightly before 5.10 am GMT) on Wednesday 29 December 2021. No damage or injuries have been reported following this event, but people have reported feeling the quake as far away as Sicily, southern Anatolia, and the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Cairo.

 

The approximate location of the 29 December 2021 Crete Earthquake. USGS.

The island of Crete lies to the north of the boundary between the Aegean Sea Plate, which underlies southern Greece, and the African Plate, which underlies most of the Mediterranean. The African Plate is moving northward relative to the Aegean Sea Plate, and is being subducted beneath it along the Hellenic Trench, which runs from the Ionian Sea to the south and west of the Peloponnese and then to the south of Crete. This is not a smooth process, as the plates frequently stick together then break apart once the pressure has built up sufficiently, leading to (fairly frequent) Earthquakes.

 

To the east the Arabian Plate  is being pushed north and west by the movement of the African Plate, further to the south. This leads to a zone of tectonic activity within the province, as the Arabian and Anatolian plates are pushed together, along the East Anatolian Fault, and past one-another, along the Dead Sea Transform.

 

This movement also leads to a zone of faulting along the northern part of Turkey, the North Anatolian Fault Zone, as the Anatolian Plate is pushed past the Eurasian Plate, which underlies the Black Sea and Crimean Peninsula  (transform faulting). This is not a simple process, as the two plates constantly stick together, then break apart as the pressure builds up, leading to Earthquakes, which can be some distance from the actual fault zone.  

 

Simplified map of the plate movements of the eastern Mediterranean. Univeriteit Utrecht.

 

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Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake to the south of Crete.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake at a depth of 17.0 km, about 89 km to the south of the island of Crete, slightly after 3.50 pm local time (slightly after 12.50 pm GMT) on Saturday 2 May 2020. No damage or injuries have been reported following this event, but people have reported feeling the quake on Crete.

The approximate location of the 2 May 2020 Crete Earthquake. USGS.

The island of Crete lies to the north of the boundary between the Aegean Sea Plate, which underlies southern Greece, and the African Plate, which underlies most of the Mediterranean. The African Plate is moving northward relative to the Aegean Sea Plate, and is being subducted beneath it along the Hellenic Trench, which runs from the Ionian Sea to the south and west of the Peloponnese and then to the south of Crete. This is not a smooth process, as the plates frequently stick together then break apart once the pressure has built up sufficiently, leading to (fairly frequent) Earthquakes.

 

To the east the Arabian Plate  is being pushed north and west by the movement of the African Plate, further to the south. This leads to a zone of tectonic activity within the province, as the Arabian and Anatolian plates are pushed together, along the East Anatolian Fault, and past one-another, along the Dead Sea Transform.

 
This movement also leads to a zone of faulting along the northern part of Turkey, the North Anatolian Fault Zone, as the Anatolian Plate is pushed past the Eurasian Plate, which underlies the Black Sea and Crimean Peninsula  (transform faulting). This is not a simple process, as the two plates constantly stick together, then break apart as the pressure builds up, leading to Earthquakes, which can be some distance from the actual fault zone.

Simplified map of the plate movements of the eastern Mediterranean. Univeriteit Utrecht.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

 

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Joania cordata & Argyrotheca cuneata: The discovery of abundant Brachiopods in a Seagrass meadow on the south coast of Crete suggests that these 'rare' Invertebrates may be more common than previously thought.

Brachiopods (or Lampshells) superficially resemble Bivalve Molluscs, though they are not closely related. They were abundant in the seas of the Palaeozoic, often dominating benthic faunas, but today are comparatively rare, and seldom seem outside the tropics. Brachiopods have a filter feeding apparatus called a lophophore, unlike anything found in any Mollusc, but also found in Bryozoans and Phoronid Worms. This is encased with in a shell with two valves, each symmetrical about a midline, but not necessarily the same as each other, along with the rest of the organs of the body; there is typically remarkably little flesh to a Brachiopod compared to a Mollusc with a shell the same size. Brachipods formed a dominant part of benthic invertebrate communities during the Palaeozoic, but became steadily rarer during the Mesozoic Marine Revolution, during which the appearance of many types of grazing invertebrates, such as Starfish, carnivorous Snails, and Decapod Crustaceans, caused many earlier benthic groups to decline or disappear. Brachiopods are still around today, but are rare, with most species found either in deep waters or cryptic environments such as caves.

In a paper published in the journal Marine Biodiversity on 14 June 2019, Paolo Albano and Martina Stockinger of the Department of Palaeontology at the University of Vienna, describe the discovery of a dense population of Brachiopods living within a Seagrass meadow on the south coast of Crete.

Albano and Stockinger used a vacuum pump system to suck up organisms from the dense rhizome (root) mat layer of a meadow of Neptune Grass, Posidonia oceanica, at depths of between 5 and 20 m off the south coast of Crete. This environment is difficult to sample using traditional methods such as dredging or handpicking by divers, due to the dense nature of the Neptune Grass, and therefore little is known about the organisms which live their.

A meadow of Neptune Grass, Posidonia oceanica, note the density of the colony. Alberto Romeo/Wikimedia Commons.

This method revealed colonies of two species of Megathyrid Brachipod, Joania cordata and Argyrotheca cuneata, living on the rhizomes of the Neptune Grass, as well as many shells of these species, plus large numbers of a third species, Megathiris detruncata, and a single specimen of a fourth, Novocrania anomala, in the sediments below. None of thee species reaches more than a few millimetres in size, making them more-or-less impossible for divers to spot among the dense Neptune Grass.

Living Brachiopods from the rhizome layer of the Posidonia oceanica meadow in Plakias, southwestern Crete Greece. (a) Joania cordata on plant debris, from a depth of 20 m; (b) Argyrotheca cuneata on plant debris, from a depth of 20 m; (c) Joania cordata inside the aperture of an empty shell of the Gastropod Bittium latreillii, from a depth of 10 m; (d) Joania cordata beneath the Bryozoan Patinella radiata, from a depth of 10 m; (e) Joania cordata attached to the Foraminiferan Miniacina miniacea, from a depth of 20 m; (f) Argyrotheca cuneata attached to the Foraminiferan Miniacina miniacea covered by a Bryozoan colony of Hippaliosina depressa. Scale bar is 1 mm. Albano & Stockinger (2019).

Most living populations of Brachiopods are found below the photic zone, or in cryptic environments such as caves (or shipwrecks), environments where predator numbers are lower, but so is nutrient availability. As such Brachiopods are considered to be minor parts of modern ocean faunas. The discovery of Brachiopods living in a dense population within a Seagrass meadow challenges this assumption, as such meadows are one of the most widespread habitats in shallow marine environments, suggesting that Brachiopods could be much more abundant today than is generally realised.

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