Mochlos
Mochlos is a small island 200 meters off the coast of Greece, and the name of the settlement nearest the island. During the summer of 2022, I was able to spend a summer volunteering as an archaeologist on the site. The site was a Minoan town with Hellenistic overlay. During the excavation of building walls, we uncovered many ceramic shards, loom weights, stone tools, and many other artifacts. Near the end of the project, I was promoted to run my own trench.
Situated on the shores of eastern Crete, Mochlos is a tiny village. The town is so small, you can hear the waves crashing against the rocks anywhere in town. Even inside my room, I could listen to the waves as I fell asleep. My favorite memories are strolling the streets with my friends, visiting our favorite tavernas, and watching the sunset from the cliff above the town. Every now and then, the director of the site would rent us cars and take us on field trips throughout the island. It was exciting to escape Mochlos after a while and see the wonderfully diverse island that is Crete.
The majority of the artifacts we found on the island were ceramic pieces. They came on all shapes and sizes, and from all different periods of occupation. Many were painted with fantastic designs of red and black pigment. My favorite two ceramic artifacts we found where these two above. The one of the left is a representation of a Minoan lily and the one on the right is a carved design. These two pieces, along with all of the other artifacts we found, were taken to INSTAP study center in Eastern Crete to be studies and published.
Other than ceramic shards, we found stone and ceramic loom weights and ceramic vessels. On the left is a stone loom weight. They are identifiable by the circular shape and a perfect hole through the middle. They where used to weigh down strings of a loom so the Minoans could weave cloth. This one had some red pigment on it, indicating it was once painted. On the right, you can see me excavating a ceramic cup. This cup still had soil packed inside of it. This was exciting because we were able to send the entire cup with dirt of to the study center where they can perform particle analysis on the dirt, to identify what types of food or liquids was once inside. This would provide valuable information to the researchers and archaeologists as it would give great insight to every day life in Mochlos 2,500 years ago.
During the 10 weeks I lived in Crete, I got to experience authentic Greek culture. We became engrained in the local community as we meet and befriended the locals. Throughout the summer, we would be invited to what is essentially a Greek street party in neighboring towns. There, we participated in Greek dancing, listened to live Greek music, and ate Greek foods. The cultural aspect of what I experienced during the summer of 2022 is honestly indescribable. It had a profound impact on my life and truly made me appreciate life so much. I am forever grateful for the friends I made and the community I was a part of.
