Plot of N. Stamatakis
The plot of Nikolaos Stamatakis lies in the settlement of Petras. It is adjacent to the tarred provincial road Petras-Piskokefalo and it is located between Richardson plot and Spyridon & Eirini Mamas plot. The test excavation which took place in 2007 revealed Neopalatial architectural remains, part of a Roman irrigation pipe and a Byzantine oil or wine cistern.
Until today the Middle Byzantine cemetery (11th-12th c. AD), which was found on the summit of the hill in the area of the Minoan palace, was the only evidence of the use of the site during Byzantine period. The cistern testifies agricultural activities related to oil or wine production in Petras in an earlier period (maybe Early Byzantine). The pipe adds new evidence about the use of Petras in Roman period. This period was known only for the few Roman tombs which were found in the modern settlement.
Additionally, the excavation of Stamatakis plot gives new evidence about the habitation of the site. It becomes obvious that the human activity on the foothills is not limited to the LM III period as it seemed until today according to the big walls of the Richardson plot. It is clear that the Neopalatial settlement of Petras was much more extended and it wasn’t limited to the summit and the slopes of the hill but it also reached the foothills, next to the coastline of that period.
