Karfi

Karphi (Greek Καρφί Karfi, nail ' ) is the name of a Late Minoan hilltop settlement on the western edge of up to 1559 meters high mountains Selena ( Όρος Σελένα Oros Selena ) on the Greek island of Crete. It is named after the peak of about 1100 meters high mountain Karfi on which they lay directly on a southeast-facing slope. The excavations of the settlement is located northwest of the Nisiro Plateau ( Οροπέδιο Νίσιρος Oropedio Nisyros ), about 7.5 kilometers south of the center of Malia on Crete's north coast and 2.5 kilometers northwest of Tzermiado.

The settlement remains difficult to identify from Karphi are overgrown with low vegetation and exposed to erosion after their exposure took place in the 20th century by archaeologists, including 1937-1939 by John Pendlebury. In this case, it is believed that only about one third of the original area of ​​the building was excavated. In mittelminoischer time (2000 to 1550 BC ) was located here is probably a Peak Sanctuary. The origin of the settlement with one-storey houses, cobbled streets and a shrine with altar is dated to the Late Minoan period LM III C, the time of " Seevölkersturms ". Near the place where probably temporarily lived about 3500 residents, two cemeteries were with tholos tombs found 17 small graves around the Vitzelovrysis source and 4 near the Astividero source. The people lived by hunting, their herd animals and olive growing below the settlement. Richard Wyatt Hutchinson refers to the permanently inhabited settlement in the mountains as a refuge, which was well- chosen only for reasons of defense, as the living conditions there were obviously harder because of the weather than in the lowlands or on the coast of Crete.

The settlement existed until the nachminoische time. It was abandoned after about two centuries around 950-900 BC. In the settlement of Karphi found pottery is on display in Room 11 of the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.