Mochlos was abandoned many times in its long history. Situated at the eastern end of the Mirabello Bay in East Crete, the harbor town of Mochlos flourished during Minoan Second Palace Period, only to be abandoned ca. 1200 B.C.  During the 8th century B.C., Cretans began visiting the site again, leaving small tokens of reverence by the graves of their ancestors. In the course of the 7th century B.C., groups, no longer afraid of sea attacks, would gather on the summit of Mochlos in plain sight. In Hellenistic times, Mochlos became Hierapytna’s proxy on the north coast.

Systematic excavations since the 1990s have shown that the site was abandoned and resettled several times during the historical period, each time being cast to play a different role in the larger history of East Crete.  Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan applies a diachronic approach to her examination of settlement continuity and discontinuity at Mochlos, while seeking the causes that promoted exploitation of this unique coastal Cretan site.