Contextualizing the Late Minoan Tombs of the Western Siteia Mountains

Scholars have long been aware of tombs in the western Siteia foothills of Crete, dating to the end of the Bronze Age and yielding an array of notable finds. While detailed analyses of these finds have been invaluable, the settlements to which the tombs were tied have proven elusive. Using topographic and GIS studies, this article analyzes the broader archaeology of these foothills to link the burials to their settlements. We now know that the tombs were part of a bustling landscape, one that adapted the preexisting settlement hierarchy of the region during a period of both continuity and change. This has important implications for current narratives of collapse and shows that life, though undoubtedly altered, did not end abruptly with the Bronze Age.