The Pylos Regional Archaeological Project

T HE PYLOS REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT (PRAP) was formally organized in the fall of 1990, its purpose being to investigate, primarily through the techniques of surface survey, the history of prehistoric and historical settlement and land use in western Messenia, in an area centered on the Palace of Nestor (Fig. 1).1 In the course of a "reconnaissance" campaign in the summer of 1991 and in three major campaigns during the summers of 1992-1994, approximately 40 km2 were examined intensively (Fig. 2). These included areas to the north, east, south, and west of the modern town of Hora,2 and the entirety of the Englianos Ridge (upper and lower). Our fieldwork doubled the number of sites previously known in the area intensively surveyed. PRAP has also investigated nearly all previously known sites in an additional 30 km2, defining their spatial extent and chronological components with greater precision. In addition to the archaeological survey, natural environmental investigations (geological, geomorphological, geophysical, and paleobotanical) have been supported by PRAP since 1991, organized and coordinated by Eberhard Zangger.3 The preliminary results of the archaeological survey are the focus of this part of our report. After a brief discussion of the goals of PRAP, the relationship of our research to previous archaeological endeavors in the area, and our field methods, the principal