Azoria

Azoria is an archaeological site on a double-peaked hill overlooking the Gulf of Mirabello in eastern Crete in the Greek Aegean. "Azoria" (o Αζοριάς or (c. 1900) Μουρί τ' Αζωργιά) is a local toponym, not apparently an ancient place name or epigraphically-attested Greek city.

Located about 1 km southeast of the modern village of Kavousi, and 3 km from the sea, the site occupies a topographically strategic position (c. 365 m above sea level) between the north Isthmus of Ierapetra and the Siteia Mountains.

The Azoria Project excavations have recovered evidence of an Archaic Greek city, established c. 600 BC, following a long period of continuous occupation throughout the Early Iron Age or Greek Dark Age (1200-700 BC) and Early Archaic (700-600 BC) (or Orientalizing) periods. The city was destroyed by fire early in the 5th century BC, to be subsequently reoccupied on a limited scale c. 200 BC—probably a single tower constructed on the peak of the South Acropolis.

The location was originally explored by the American archaeologist, Harriet Boyd-Hawes, in 1900, as part of an extensive campaign of excavations conducted in eastern Crete by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, including work at the sites of Vronda, Kastro, Tholos, Kephalolimnos (Khordakia), Avgo, Skala, and Skouriasmenos. At Azoria, Boyd excavated a single trench on the summit of the southernmost peak, finding a puzzling series of circular structures superimposed on a large rectangular building. In her 1901 article, she reported finding "latest Mycenaean" and "early Geometric" pottery associated with the earliest levels of the trench, as well as material she attributed to Orientalizing and Hellenistic periods.

Work of the American School of Classical Studies resumed at the site in 2002, beginning an initial five-year excavation campaign, called the Azoria Project. Tracing the growth of the Azoria settlement from the Bronze Age until its establishment as a regional centre in the Early Iron Age, the focus of the project has been the study of the 6th-century BC urban centre.

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