The Habitation Model Trend Calculation (MTC): Ancient Topography – The Mycenaean Spercheios Valley Case Study

Abstract

The initial goal of the Mycenaean Spercheios-Valley Archaeological Project (MY.SPE.AR.) is to undertake a systematic archaeogeophysical survey of the Spercheios Valley in central Greece. The extensive and intensive survey focuses on locating, documenting, mapping and analysing environmental features in correlation with the archaeological remains of Mycenaean sites in the region. This documentation and analysis have already commenced and will be further implemented with use of technologies such as Mobile GPS, UAV photography, satellite imagery analysis, remote sensing, spatial analysis with GIS, test pits and trial trenches. The aim of this paper is to examine and compare the results of the standard MTC prediction model method applied in Messenia with another location, that of the valley of Spercheios, in Fthiotida, Greece. In the spatial analysis carried out in Messenia, common features were observed for all the residential places, which in no case could be characterised as random, while the structure of the administration of the society presented characteristics that were compatible with a hierarchical distinction of the functions of each residential ensemble. The key question is whether we can observe these same characteristics that determine a habitation site (geomorphological, climatological, and geological) in another region. This comparison between two major study areas (the regions of Messenia and the wider valley of Spercheios) may contribute to archaeological research generally by posing new questions and methods of examination of the broader landscape in an area of archaeological interest.