Monumental 4,000-year-old stone building in the shape of a labyrinth

The excavation of soil for the construction of the radar system of the new airport on the top of Papoura hill, northwest of the Cretan town of Kastelli, revealed a monumental circular structure dating back to the Bronze Age. Scientists do not yet know what it was used for. The magnificent work is attributed to the Minoan civilisation, and is unparalleled in the archaeological record.

The circular structure with a diameter of 48 metres and an area of about 1 800 square metres is located on top of a hill at an altitude of 494 metres above sea level. The structure consists of eight stone circles with an average masonry thickness of 196 cm and a height of 170 cm, which surround a central structure with a circular base 15 metres in diameter. The building in the centre was divided into several parts and probably had a conical roof.

The inner structure is surrounded by another circle with radial walls that intersect the rings of the lower levels to form smaller enclosures. The spaces are adjacent to each other through narrow openings. Two main entrances lead from the outer circle to the central zones on the south-west and north-west sides. Archaeologists do not know of any Minoan parallels, and research has not yet been completed.

Experts speculate that the structure may have been used for religious or ritualceremonies, and that it may have been some form of labyrinth, which were well known and quite extensive in Minoan culture: "Perhaps (the site) was regularly used for ritual ceremonies involving the consumption of food, wine and possible sacrifices," reads a statement from the Greek Ministry of Culture. "Its size, architectural layout and meticulous construction required considerable labour, specialised know-how and a robust central administration."

The archaeological finds so far are mainly pottery fragments and a large number of animal bones, mostly concentrated in two central zones. This leads experts to believe that the site was more likely to have been used ritually, occasionally and visited over a long period of time. Based on the dating of the pottery, it was found that the site was most intensively used between 2000 and 1700 BC, and was founded around 2100 BC.

The airport is scheduled to open in 2027, replacing Greece's second-largest airport at Heraklion and handling up to 18 million passengers a year. Because of a possible conflict of interest, the hastily convened government discussed the solution: "This is a unique find that is of great interest. There are solutions in place to complete the archaeological research and protect the monument," Culture Ministry representative Lina Mendoni said on Tuesday about the meeting.

The ministry's plan is for detailed research, with the airport construction to continue and the radar to be placed elsewhere. So far, 35 other archaeological sites have been uncovered during work on the new airport in Castelli and its infrastructure.

Roman Nemec

Sources: phys.org, ekathimerini.com, apnews.com

A 4,000-year-old monumental structure on top of a hill

View from above

above a circular structure with stone walls