Speaker: Carl Knappett, Art History, U of T, Wednesday Talk: March 11, 2026, 2pm-4pm, Faculty Club and Zoom – hybrid
March 11 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Speaker: Carl Knappett, Art History, U of T
Title: “The Coastal World of Minoan Palaikastro”
Abstract: Lying on the eastern tip of Crete, Palaikastro was one of the largest towns on the island during the Bronze Age. Much of the archaeological exploration of the site has set out to find its presumed palatial centre. Yet, after many seasons of fieldwork, such a structure still eludes us. The most recent work at the site has focussed more on the settlement’s coastal location, and its possible role as a trading port within the wider east Mediterranean. However, the more that we investigate the coastline, the more we have to reckon with the significant geomorphological changes that have occurred since the Bronze Age. I will present our latest findings from underwater survey, coastal excavation, and palaeoenvironmental study, shedding light on the coastal world of Minoan Palaikastro.
Bio: Carl Knappett holds the Walter Graham/ Homer Thompson Chair in Aegean Prehistory in the Department of Art History (UofT). He has published widely on the archaeology of Crete and the east Mediterranean, material culture theory, and network analysis. Among over 15 authored and edited books are An Archaeology of Interaction: Network Perspectives on Material Culture and Society (2011, OUP), and Maritime Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean World (2018, CUP). He was Chair of the Department of Art History from 2017 to 2022, and is the Director of the Mediterranean Archaeology Collaborative Specialization. For the past decade has run a fieldwork project at the site of Palaikastro on Crete.
(Re-scheduled from last fall, when illness prevented our hearing it.)
The link to register is https://forms.office.com/r/PWt5nKmMsf
The deadline to register is the Monday before the event at noon. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants only.
If you have any questions, please contact the organizer, Linda Hutcheon at l.hutcheon@utoronto.ca.
