Upper terraces of Zou from below

The country house near the village of Zou, south of Siteia, was discovered and excavated by N. Platon in the 1950s. Part of the site was unfortunately destroyed when the road to the village was built, but a significant building was uncovered. The existence of other buildings nearby suggests a settlement rather than an isolated country house. The house contains about 20 rooms built on five different terrace levels. Two architectural phases have been detected.

The main entrance led into a room (8) with a window, a paved floor and benches. A double door joins this room to the next room (6) which in its final phase was used as a kitchen and a workroom. It contained small internal cupboards and a lot of kitchen ware as well as loomweight, stone tools and an olive press were found here. Four smaller storage compartments are connected to the room and some of these were full of plain pottery. A layer of ash under the side walls of these storage compartments suggests that they had been constructed after destruction by fire at an early stage.

Next to the storage comparments was a room (2) which contained two hearths. On the next level, were two rooms (4, 5) which were entered up a staircase and which also contained a hearth. Higher still, there was a small court (area 12) in which yet another hearth was found. Next to the court is room 11, which is paved and has an oval basin with upright slabs, fed by a drain. Judging by the finds in room 13, to the east, it may have been a shrine. Part of a rhyton and a clay table were uncovered here. Originally, there may have even been a pillar in the room.

At the highest level, area 18 consists of three walls with bedrock on the fourth side. This may have been where animals were kept. Beyond the building an area was identified which was probably used for the production of pottery.

In Platon's view, the building was destroyed in LM IA, most likely by earthquake.

Rooms Δ and E	Rooms H and Λ
Room Z	Room K
Rooms Mα and Μβ	Lower terraces seen from above
Room K seen from above	Walled-off area in room Z