Introduction1

1Spread over the lower slopes – looking out over the Libyan Sea – of the same ridge which to the east is occupied by Phaistos, the centre of Haghia Triada played a key political role in the management of the Western Mesara towards the end of the Late Bronze Age. Its importance was already obvious to the Italian excavators who brought the site to light at the beginning of the last century, but it was only with the recent cycle of excavations started in 1977, especially aimed at clarifying the chronology of the great buildings of post-LM I date, that a clear picture began to emerge (Banti 1941-1943; Halbherr et alii 1977; La Rosa 1977; 1979; 1985a; 1985b; 1987; 1991; 1994; 1995; 1997; Militello 1998; 2003; D’Agata 1999a; 1999b; 1999c; Cucuzza 2001; 2003; D’Agata 2005; Privitera 2008; Cucuzza & Hellner 2009; La Rosa 2010; D’Agata 2011; Privitera 2011; 2014a; 2014b; 2015; D’Agata forthcoming) (Fig. 9.1).

2In most cases these ‘excavations within the excavation’, as it