Afratì-Arkades in context: rethinking an old excavation in South-Central Crete

The site of Afratì (South-Central Crete), traditionally known as Arkades, was discovered and explored by Federico Halbherr (1894) and Gaetano De Sanctis (1908), members of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Crete. In 1924 extensive excavations conducted by Doro Levi, on behalf of the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens, brought to light a Geometric-Archaic settlement (8th-6th cent. BC) and a necropolis in use from the Protogeometric to the late Orientalizing periods (10th-6th cent. BC) (LEVI 1927/9). The Italian researches in the region also represented a human experience rich of political and cultural implications. These "collateral" aspects of field research represent the object of this study which, according to the most recent critical reviews (e.g. VAROUCHAKIS 2017 and KOTSONAS 2019), aims to define an unknown part of the history of archaeological research in Crete. The reconsideration of the Italian investigations at Afratì, topic of my doctoral research, led me to collect and analyse all the archival documents, mostly unpublished, preserved at the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens , with the aim of reconstructing the old archaeological contexts and prepare a new study of the numerous materials found during the excavations (local ceramics, imports, bronzes and jewels), currently preserved at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. In the framework of this preliminary analysis I have been able to develop some "related issues" useful for a wider reinterpretation: 1) The political meanings related to the presence of the Italians in the region in a period of important transformations for Cretan archaeology, marked by the shift from the colonialist approach of foreign scholars to the progressive formation of a local consciousness; 2) The field work experience, therefore a glimpse of the daily activities, problems, logistical and economic issues implied with doing archaeological research in a Mediterranean island between the late 19th and early 20th century; 3) The travel impressions of the scholars committed in a "remote" island, their perception of the environment and their relations with the local communities, aspects generally excluded from the official reports and publications. The analysis of these features has provided a more solid basis for the ongoing reanalysis of the Afratì-Arkades site, highlighting several unexpected and unpublished data. Reconstructing the memory of a past excavation is not only a useful exercise to establish a new step in the history of local archaeology, but also offers the opportunity to reflect more generally on the meanings, sensations and interactions connected, still today, to the overseas studies.