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Het Lassithiplateau (Kreta). Dynamiek van het mediterrane landschap en rurale bewoning in de microkosmos van een hoogvlakte

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Abstract

The Lassithi Plateau is a highland plain in the central part of the eastern Lassithian mountain range of the Greek Island Crete. The closed character of the place, environmental and socio¬ economic, allowed us to investigate the area as a separate entity, yet without isolating the study from the Cretan and Mediterranean context. As an attempt to integrate both human- and landscape-ecological aspects, the study aimed at investigating the evolution of the mutual influence between human and environmental conditions in the specific physical context of a 'polje’ by combining the spatial and temporal dimension. Archaeological evidence indicates settlement on the plateau already since 3000-2500BC, though successful draining of the polje only dates back to the seventeenth century. Still there never has been any settlement in the alluvial plain of the plateau. During history the style of life has not changed significantly until very recently, when technological improvement of draining and irrigation allowed raising of cash crops such as potatoes. This has infected the functional organisation of the landscape by man.

How to Cite:

Sevenant, M., (2001) “Het Lassithiplateau (Kreta). Dynamiek van het mediterrane landschap en rurale bewoning in de microkosmos van een hoogvlakte”, Tetradio 10(1): 4, 101–122. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tetradio.91957