This contribution is dedicated to the memory of Professor Ursula Martius Franklin, a true pioneer of archaeometric research, who passed away at her home in Toronto on July 22, 2016, at the age of 94. Making ceramics by firing of clay is essentially a reversal of the natural weathering process of rocks. Millennia ago, potters invented simple pyrotechnologies to recombine the chemical compounds once separated by weathering in order to obtain what is more or less a rock-like product shaped and decorated according to need and preference. Whereas Nature reconsolidates clays by long-term diagenetic or metamorphic transformation processes, potters exploit a ‘short-cut’ of these processes that affects the state of equilibrium of the system being transformed thermally. This ‘short-cut’ is thought to be akin to the development of mineral-reaction textures resulting from disequilibria established during rapidly heated pyrometamorphic events (Grapes, 2006) involving contact aureoles or reactions with xenoliths. In contrast to most naturally consolidated clays, the solidified rock-like ceramic material inherits non-equilibrium and statistical states best described as ‘frozen-in’. The more or less high temperatures applied to clays during ceramic firing result in a distinct state of sintering that is dependent on the firing temperature, the duration of firing, the firing atmosphere, and the composition and grain-size distribution of the clay. Hence, the salient properties of the ceramics have to be assessed in a temperature-time-composition space. Owing to the variability of clay composition, the mineralogical processes during thermal transformation of clay minerals can be very complex, not least because most reactions occur far removed from thermodynamic equilibrium and hence are kinetically controlled; that is, they are time- and temperature-dependent. Indeed, kinetics imposes constraints on thermodynamics by retarding reaction rates because of low temperatures, large temperature gradients present in primitive pottery kilns, short reaction times, inhomogeneously distributed reaction partners, and varying redox conditions triggered, for example, by ingress of air during reducing firing cycles. In the context of ceramic technological development over time, the role and development of pottery technology within complex societies is discussed. The close relationship between pottery development and changes in life/societal organization appears to be a major driver in this endeavour. In this chapter, the phase evolution of some typical ancient and historical ceramics will be traced using ceramic phase diagrams, i.e . chemographical expressions of Goldschmidt’s mineralogical phase rule. In particular, the systems CaO–Al 2 O 3 –SiO 2 (in which most ancient low- to medium-fired ceramics can be accommodated), K 2 O–Al 2 O 3 –SiO 2 (applicable to high-fired Chinese stoneware and European hard-paste porcelain) and Na 2 O–CaO–(Al 2 O 3 )–SiO 2 (typical of some ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian alkaline glazes and French soft-paste porcelain) are discussed.

Abstract The Eastern Mediterranean is one of the most seismically active regions in Europe. Crete, located in the centre of the Eastern Mediterranean, should experience tsunamis resulting from large magnitude earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. At three locations, boulders were observed that may relate to tsunami or storm events. At Lakki, the size of the boulders slightly favours a tsunami origin for deposition. By contrast, at Kommos, boulder size and geomorphology are consistent with storm parameters in the Mediterranean. The most compelling evidence for tsunami transport is found at Diplomo Petris, where a lithologically varied grouping of large boulders (≤690 t) is exposed at sea level. The calculated storm wave heights (15 m) required to transport the observed boulders significantly exceeds winter averages: therefore, these accumulations are interpreted as tsunami deposits. Radiocarbon dating of encrusting biological material was undertaken to constrain periods of boulder motion. Encrustations from Diplomo Petris and Lakki predate the 365 CE earthquake, suggesting that this event transported the largest boulders; the first time that boulder deposits have been identified on Crete from this tsunami. Therefore, these data are important for developing local and regional hazard assessments but also to inform numerical models of tsunami propagation in the Mediterranean.

The earliest use of seismological observation to identify and date archaeological sites in western Crete was attempted by Captain T.A.B. Spratt in the late nineteenth century. Since then, the development of the subdiscipline of archaeoseismology has offered a great deal to our understanding of western Crete, especially regarding major sites such as Phalasarna and Kissamos. This paper is a review and summary of archaeoseismology in western Crete, presenting the archaeoseismological and excavation evidence from Phalasarna and Kissamos. It also presents evidence from other archaeological sites in western Crete and expresses the potential the region has for future archaeoseismological research.