The Sphakia Survey

Stacked sanctuaries at the mouth of the Samaria Gorge, Sphakia, Crete: Classical temples, Late Roman basilica, Venetian-period church. Photo: O. Rackham, July 1987.

Stacked sanctuaries at the mouth of the Samaria Gorge, Sphakia, Crete: Classical temples, Late Roman basilica, Venetian-period church. Photo: O. Rackham, July 1987.

The Sphakia Survey is an interdisciplinary archaeological project investigating  the sequence of human activity in Sphakia, from the time that people arrived in the area (later 4th millennium BC), to AD 1898, the end of the Turkish period in Crete. The Survey uses environmental, archaeological, material, and local ('ethnographic') information. It is jointly directed by Lucia Nixon (Wolfson College, Oxford) and Jennifer Moody (University of Texas at Austin).  

Survey publications include three preliminary reports, many specialized articles, and a short book.
A subsidiary but important goal has been to train students (directly by fieldwork, and indirectly through the Sphakia Survey video). We are committed to reporting on the Survey to the widest possible audience: inhabitants of Sphakia and other people in Greece; general public in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, and elsewhere; academics and researchers; and students (school and university).

Further details:

Co-director: Ms Lucia Nixon

Email: lucia.nixon@classics.ox.ac.uk

Website: http://sphakia.classics.ox.ac.uk/