TO THE "AKRA" (EDGES): HUMAN MOBILITY IN BRONZE AGE MOUNTAIN-HEADS AND CAVES OF CRETE

The features of the natural relief of extreme rural sites, either surface places (mountain-heads) or underground ones (caves), selected in the decisive centuries that led to the consolidation of the palatial system in Minoan Crete, greatly affect human mobility. Spatial capacity, dynamic slope inclination, gaps and chasms seem to have not only determined site selection, but also interacted in ritual formation in these remote places. Gradual centralization of a certain priesthood in consolidating a ritual praxis on these sites during the Middle Minoan centuries should have brought significant changes in the accessibility to individual spots of these sanctuaries – not only in physical accessibility, but also in visual, acoustic, even tactile accessibility. This paper attempts to delineate some general observations on the individual places of the broader field of mountain-heads and caves as they are deduced from comparative data of the known peak sanctuaries and sacred caves during this period.