Cretan Chronicle: An Archaeological Childhood
By (author) Mary Van Dyke
Paperback (Published)
(April 2026)
ISBN: 9781805833086
6.85 x 9.69 inches
Price: $42.00
In stock
A memoir of archaeology, identity and family, Cretan Chronicle follows Mary’s childhood between Crete and England, her work with her father Sinclair Hood, and her journey through love, trauma and self‑discovery. Blending myth and memory, it reveals the secrets and complexities of a mid‑20th‑century archaeological life.
Cretan Chronicle: An Archaeological Childhood is about love and stoicism.
As a young child, Mary is uprooted from her home in Crete among an archaeological community and resettles in England. Revisiting Crete each year, Mary begins to assist her father, Sinclair Hood, in his fieldwork. The ruined Palace of Minos transforms from her playground into her workplace. Sinclair struggles to publish excavation reports, preferring to revel in media acclaim. Burying family stories, he wrestles with pacifism and his Anglo-Catholic faith. Mary sets out to study architecture, and mixes pleasure and jealousy in a tangled love triangle with an artist-poet. She must learn to forsake lust, stop working for Sinclair, and figure her way out of her own Labyrinth.
Steeped in the myths of Zeus and his daughter Athena, and born in Greece, but not Greek, Mary interweaves themes of identity, trauma and redemption with stories of fickle deities and the regenerative power of nature. She unearths her archaeological family’s secrets with riveting intricacy to give a unique perspective on her father’s unusual upbringing by a capricious wealthy mother, as well as his loves and career.
Appealing to readers interested in mid-20th century archaeological lives, Cretan Chronicle sparkles with clarity and humour—strengthened and nurtured by the bright Mediterranean sun.
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Book One: Idyll
1: Making Marks
2: My Bronze Age Family
3: Down to the Palace, Up to the Villa
4: Thrill of the Chase
5: Round and Round
6: To Market
7: Moving Houses
Book Two: Loving + Leaving
8: Art Makes Permanent
9: Ancestral Footsteps
10: Unto Death
11: Skeletons on the Table
12: War and Peace
13: Doing Archaeology
14: Courtships
Book Three: The Eternal Return
15: Publish or Perish
16: Symbols of Power
17: Are We There Yet?
18: Reprise
19: Aligning Stars
Book Four: Choices
20: Looking for a Stone
21: You Never Know What You’ll Find
22: Stay Out of International Politics
23: Where to Look
24: Follow Your Heart
25: Messara and Monasteries
26: Sitting on a Rock
Book Five: Struggle For Freedom
27: Finding My Passion
28: Christmas Lunch
29: Questions
30: Marbled Cake
31: Resurrection
32: Make Visible
Book Six: Out Of The Labyrinth
33: Mud Glorious Mud
34: Sunsets
35: Pure Joy
36: Weekend Away
37: Postcards
38: Splinted Wings
39: Dancing Out
References
- By (author) Mary Van Dyke
Other Titles in this Series
Lost Worlds of Ancient and Modern Greece
Gilbert Bagnani: The Adventures of a Young Italo-Canadian Archaeologist in Greece, 1921-1924
Aleksei P. Okladnikov: The Great Explorer of the Past. Volume 2
A biography of a Soviet archaeologist (1960s – 1980s)
Connecting the Dots: Counting, Writing, and the Beginnings of Civilization
The Secret Lives of Clay Tokens: A Memoir
A History of the Congress of Roman Frontier Studies 1949-2022
A Retrospective to mark the 25th Congress in Nijmegen
Aleksei P. Okladnikov: The Great Explorer of the Past. Volume I
A biography of a Soviet archaeologist (1900s - 1950s)
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