Rock-cut Fish Tanks in Eastern Crete

Abstract

A Strange and unusual relic of ancient times in Crete is the tank cut in the rock near the sea for storing fish alive. Sinclair Hood and John L. Leatham some years ago made a detailed study of remains of fish tanks on the northern coast of Crete. These tanks belong to two groups, one at Chersonesos in central Crete, with a row of three tanks of various sizes, and one on the shore opposite the island of Mochlos in eastern Crete, with two adjacent and almost identical compartments. The authors date the tanks to Roman times and interpret them with the help of a rich documentation from ancient sources, mainly the two Roman agricultural writers Columella (viii. 16–17) and Varro (iii. 17).

Quaternary marine terraces as indicators of neotectonic activity of the Ierapetra normal fault SE Crete (Greece)

“…10). According to archaeologist Davaras (1974) its present position implies an uplift of the coast of about 50 cm while Flemming and Pirazzoli (1981) attribute the present position to a subsidence of the coast of about 20 cm.…”

Archaeological indicators for sea level change and coastal neotectonic deformation: the submerged Roman fish tanks of the gulf of Matala, Crete, Greece

“…However, the habit reached its peak during the period of the Roman Empire, from 100 BC until 100 AD, when fish consumption was especially widespread (Davaras, 1974(Davaras, , 1975Leatham and Hood, 1959;Pirazzoli, 1979e80). In the late Roman Republic along the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy, the construction of fish tanks was a conspicuous display of wealth.…”

“…Roman fish tanks have been reported at least at 80 sites along the coasts of the Mediterranean (Auriemma and Solinas, 2009;Davaras, 1974Davaras, , 1975Flemming, 1969Flemming, , 1971Flemming, , 1978Florido et al, 2010;Giacopini et al, 1994;Lambeck et al, 2004;Leatham and Hood, 1959;Mourtzas, 1988Mourtzas, , 1990Nicolaou and Flinder, 1976;Pirazzoli, 1976Pongratz, 1972;Sanlaville, 1977;Schmiedt, 1981). In the Greek area they are located mainly in the coasts of the central and eastern part of Crete, as well as in the northern coasts of the central part of Cyprus (Davaras, 1974(Davaras, , 1975Pirazzoli, 1981, 1979e80;Leatham and Hood, 1959;Mourtzas, 1988Mourtzas, , 1990Nakassis, 1987;Nicolaou and Flinder, 1976).…”

“…In the Greek area they are located mainly in the coasts of the central and eastern part of Crete, as well as in the northern coasts of the central part of Cyprus (Davaras, 1974(Davaras, , 1975Pirazzoli, 1981, 1979e80;Leatham and Hood, 1959;Mourtzas, 1988Mourtzas, , 1990Nakassis, 1987;Nicolaou and Flinder, 1976). Leatham and Hood (1959) referred to the existence of two Roman fish tanks in Chersonisos and Mochlos, located on the northern coasts of central and eastern Crete, respectively.…”

“…Leatham and Hood (1959) referred to the existence of two Roman fish tanks in Chersonisos and Mochlos, located on the northern coasts of central and eastern Crete, respectively. Davaras (1974Davaras ( , 1975 reported a system of fish tanks of the same period at the coast of Sitia, as well as a fish tank in the area of Ferma, east of Ierapetra, on the southern coasts of the eastern part of the island. Pirazzoli (1979e80) and Nakassis (1987) described a parallelogram-shaped rock-cut tank at the northern coast of the gulf of Kato Zakros.…”