Central vs. Eastern Crete. Reassessing the function and distribution of so-called defensive architecture in Early and Middle Bronze Age

In this paper I present an ongoing study on the so-called defensive architecture attested in settlements of Early and Middle Bronze Age Crete, corresponding to the Minoan periods of Prepalatial (Early Minoan I-Middle Minoan IA), Protopalatial (Middle Minoan IB-IIB) and early Neopalatial (i.e. Middle Minoan III). For this contribute I will focus only on the evidence of Prepalatial and Protopalatial times, not dealing with that of the successive Neopalatial period. Following the typology proposed by T. Alusik in 2007, I will concentrate on one type of defensive architecture, the enclosure walls in settlements, paying attention to their chronology, function and different distribution in Central - North and South - and Eastern Crete.