NEW LATE BRONZE AGE CHRONOLOGY FROM THE IALYSOS REGION, RHODES

Abstract

The prehistoric settlement of Ialysos (Trianda) in Rhodes (28°9' Long., 36°25' Lat.)is inhabited uninterruptedly from the Middle Bronze Age until the Late Helladic Ⅲ A2 period. The stratigraphy of the site has already provided valuable evidence for the relative chronology of the prehistoric Aegean.New high precision radiocarbon dates derived from the above settlement contribute to the solution of the major problem of absolute chronology of the Aegean.Inaddition, the Early Bronze Age site at Asomatos near Kremasti (28°7' Long.,36°25' Lat.), within the wider region of lalysos has already provided saf evidence for the preceding period. This fact is confirmed by the vertical stratigraphy of the neighbouring site at Serayja on Kos (27°17'30" Long, 36°53'25" Lat.), where continuous habitation from the end of the Early Bronze Age until the late Mycenaean period is observed .More specifically, the new dates contribute to the period preceding the eruption of the volcano, the interval between the temporary abandonment of the settlement and the ash fall in the south-eastern Aegean and the succeeding Late Minoan IB period. Although the study is still in progress and new Middle Bronze Age samples are under analysis, this study proposes a chronological framework for the rest of the Aegean.