The Leukos Survey Project (LSP) was a three-year archaeological survey documenting human activity and land use at Kato Leukos, a Late Roman and Early Byzantine port town on the Greek island of Karpathos, and the nearby islet of Sokastro. Directed by D. J. Ian Begg (Trent University) and Michael C. Nelson (Queen’s College – CUNY), the project ran from 2009 to 2011 as a collaboration between the 4th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of the Dodecanese and the Canadian Institute in Greece.
As the first ever systematic investigation on the island, LSP employed a range of digital methods to record the site’s topography, vegetation, ancient and modern architecture, diagnostic surface finds, and all other natural or human-made features. These datasets were then analyzed in both two- and three-dimensions using ArcGIS, PhotoModeler and Autocad Map 3D. Ceramic assemblages at Leukos date almost exclusively to the 5th and 6th centuries CE, indicating that the town was occupied for roughly two centuries before its abandonment in the 7th century CE. While the reason for the site’s abandonment is uncertain, it was perhaps a result of instability among coastal ports amid the Arab incursions into the Aegean. The reoccupation of the area in the 11th century, following the Byzantine re-conquering of maritime routes, is marked by the establishment of a heavily fortified settlement on Sokastro and appears to have no connection to the earlier port town at Leukos. The site’s extensive fortifications and multiple cisterns suggest concerns about enduring prolonged sieges or the need for protection against piracy.
Select Bibliography
Kelly, A., M. Nelson, I. Begg, & T. Brenningmeyer. 2018. “The Leukos Survey Project.” 157-176. In Naxos and the Byzantine Aegean: Insular Responses to Regional Change. J. Crow & D. Hill eds. Papers and Monographs from the Norwegian Institute at Athens, 7. Athens: Norwegian Institute at Athens.
Kleinspehn, K.L., & M.C. Nelson. 2023. “Late Roman–Early Byzantine Leukos settlement, Karpathos, Greece: Geoarchaeology, archeoseismology, and paleogeography.” Geoarchaeology 38, no. 5: 588-614.
Nelson, M.C., A. Kelly, I. Begg, & T. Brenningmeyer. 2015. “The Early Byzantine Settlement at Leukos, Karpathos” The Annual of the British School at Athens 101.1: 321-367.
To learn more about this project, go to https://www.qc.cuny.edu/academics/art/leukos-survey-project/
