Continued excavations of the Minoan Neopalatial complex at Sissi, Crete

A team of the Université Catholique de Louvain under the auspices of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi and the Belgian School at Athens, aided by experts and students from many Greek and foreign universities, continued the excavation of a monumental court-centered building on the Kephali-hill at Sissi (Lassithi, Crete) during the summer of 2017.

Aerial view of the court-centred complex at Sissi 
[Credit: © EBSA/N. Kress]

The entire complex largely dates to the Neopalatial period of the Minoan civilization, roughly the 16th c. BC, and was abandoned close in time to the Santorini eruption, ash of which was found within the building.

Started in 2015, we finally achieved the clearance of the plastered central court, which is seen to have a maximum size of 16.50 by 33 m.

Ritual Installations and paved corridor leading into court 
[Credit: © EBSA/J. Driessen]

Several ritual installations are found on and along this central court, which was directly accessible from the outside to the southwest via a finely paved corridor with ashlar walls.

The excavation further revealed large parts of the east and west wings of the complex; the latter also comprises a circular water-collecting basin with an associated subterranean cistern.

Fragments of ritual vase, probably a kernos, from the Central Court 
[Credit: © EBSA/Chronis Papanikolopoulos]

The excavation further identified an early phase of Mycenaean occupation (end of 15th c. BC) within the settlement while the exploration of the cemetery was continued.

Source: Belgian School at Athens [September 22, 2017]

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Ancient textiles reveal differences in Mediterranean fabrics in the 1st millennium BC

Textiles represent one of the earliest human craft technologies and applied arts, and their production would have been one of the most important time, resource and labour consuming activities in the ancient past.

Twill example from Civita Castellana, Italy, seventh century BC [Credit: Margarita Gleba]

In archaeological contexts, textiles are relatively rare finds, especially in Mediterranean Europe where conditions are unfavourable for organic material preservation. Many archaeological textile fragments do, however, survive in mineralised form, which forms the basis of a new study published in Antiquity.

Detailed analysis of several hundred textile fragments has provided, for the first time, a much more detailed definition of the textile cultures in Italy and Greece during the first half of the first millennium BC.

According to Dr Margarita Gleba, the study's author and researcher at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, "Luckily for us, during the Iron Age (c. 1000-400 BC) people were buried with a lot of metal goods such as personal ornaments, weapons and vessels. These metals are conducive to the preservation of textiles as the metal effectively kills off the micro-organisms which would otherwise consume the organic materials, while at the same time metal salts create casts of textile fibres, thereby preserving the textile microstructure."

Weft-faced tabby example from Corfu, Greece, sixth century BC [Credit: Artex]

"This is how we get such a large number of textiles, even though they only exist now in tiny fragments. Through meticulous analysis using digital and scanning electron microscopy, high performance liquid chromatography and other advanced methods we are able to determine a lot of information including the nature of the raw materials and structural features such as thread diameter, twist direction, type of weaving or binding, and thread count."

The technical differences suggest that during the Iron Age, textiles in Italy more closely resembled those found in Central Europe (associated with the Hallstatt culture that was prevalent in modern-day Germany, Austria and Slovenia) while the textile culture of Greece was largely connected with the Near East.

Dr Gleba added, "There is overwhelming evidence for frequent contact between Italy and Greece during the first half of the first millennium BC, but this evidence shows that their textile traditions were technically, aesthetically and conceptually very different. This means that the populations in these two regions are making an active decision to clothe themselves in a certain way and it may have to do with traditions set up already in the Bronze Age."

"Textiles have been and still are widely considered one of the most valuable indicators of individual and group identity. Even in societies today, we frequently form opinions of others based on the type of cloth they are wearing: tweed is associated with Irish and British country clothing, cashmere with Central Asia and silk with the Far East for example."

"Curiously, by Roman times, the establishment of Greek colonies in southern Italy and more general oriental influences observed in material culture of Italic populations leads towards gradual disappearance of the indigenous textile tradition. Our future research will attempt to understand the cause behind this change in textile culture."

Source: University of Cambridge [September 21, 2017]

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2017 excavations at Minoan cemetery in Petras Siteia concluded

The excavation of the unplundered Pre- and Proto-Palatial Minoan cemetery (2800-1800 BC) at Petras Siteia in eastern Crete continued for the 12th season under the direction Dr. Metaxia Tsipopoulou, with excellent results.

Minoan site of Petras [Credit: Petras Excavations Facebook]

In previous years some 17 monumental tombs, a funerary rock shelter, three pits and two extensive ritual spaces erected and used by prominent families of the palatial settlement have been excavated.

Monumental tomb [Credit: Petras Excavations Facebook]

The quantity and preservation of the skeletal remains is exceptional, as well as the variety of grave goods, many of which are made from imported raw materials.

Some of the grave goods discovered this year [Credit: Petras Excavations Facebook]

Finds include a large number of gold and silver jewellery, bronze tools, more than 200 stone vases, 65 seals carved from ivory and semi-precious stones, two signet rings and numerous small ceremonial statues.

Aerial view of the Minoan cemetery at Petras [Credit: Petras Excavations Facebook]

The quantity of ceramics is also very important and includes a large number of decorated, mainly ritual, vessels.

This year's excavations focused primarily on Early Minoan II and Middle Minoan II burial groups, which yielded new ivory seals, unique gold jewellery, beads of gold and semi-precious stones, as well as stone vases, figurines and polychrome 'Kamares' ware.

Source: ANA-MPA [September 20, 2017]

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Lost temple of Artemis found on Greek island of Euboea

A Swiss-led team of archaeologists in Greece has made a spectacular find: the temple of Artemis, a famous open-air sanctuary of antiquity.

Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

Researchers have been looking for the sanctuary for more than a century. The site was found at the foot of the Paleoekklisies hill near the small fishing town of Amarynthos on the Greek island of Euboea. It’s about 10km from the place where the temple was wrongly thought to be located.

Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

Since 2007, the search for the sanctuary has been led by Karl Reber, a professor at the Universty of Lausanne and director of the Swiss School of Archaeology in Athens.

Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

Researchers found parts of a massive wall dating back to the classical era, which they believe belongs to the stoa or portico built near the temple. Exploratory trenches were opened in Amarynthos in 2012, and the Swiss team brought to light a bigger part of the building.

Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

Now, after also finding artefacts with inscriptions, they are sure that they have located the site of the Artemis Amarynthia, which was the end point of the annual procession of people from the once prosperous trading city of Eretrea, 10km away.

They held a festival in honour of Artemis, the untameable goddess of hunting in Greek mythology. She was worshipped as the patron goddess of Amarynthos, which takes its name from an Eretrean man who was besotted by Artemis.

Source: Swissinfo [September 20, 2017]

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Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens to get structural makeover

The colossal Temple of Olympian Zeus or 'Olympeion' in central Athens, one of the signature monuments of the Greek capital, is to undergo a complete structural repair and restoration. The go-ahead for the plans was given by Greece's Central Archaeological Council in a recent session.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens [Credit: Kristen Fletcher, Flickr]

"The monument has several structural restoration problems. There had been no progress on the issue until now because it had to be inducted into some sort of National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) programme," the head of the Athens Antiquities Ephorate Eleni Banou told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Tuesday.

The restoration had to be attempted, Banou noted, "because as I said to the CAC, if we don't we will be answerable to history."

There is currently extensive structural damage to the colossal monument, she pointed out, especially to the columns, which make it urgent to mount a "rescue operation" to stop the causes for its continued wear and to reinforce its structural stability. The proposed plans envisage the repair of damaged architectural elements and work to maintain the marble surfaces.

The last recorded major damage to the monument was in 1944, during the Greek civil war, where the marks of the bullets were still visible on the columns, Banou said. Prior to that, the bulk of the damage was done in the Byzantine era when most of its 104 pillars were ground down to make first-class lime or looted for use as building materials.

Currently, only 16 pillars of the massive temple still survive and were re-erected in their present form in 1835, while the last work to structurally support the monument was done in the late 1960s.

Construction of the Olympeion began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until 638 years after later, by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. During Roman times it was renowned as the largest temple in Greece.

Source: ANA-MPA [September 19, 2017]

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Excavations at Minoan palace of Zominthos yield complex architectural features, rare artefacts

Staircases, richly decorated walls and important artefacts are among the findings of this past season's excavations at the extensive and complex Minoan palace of Zominthos, on the Psiloritis (Ida) mountain in central Crete, the ministry of Culture and Sports announced Monday.

Aerial view of entrance leading to the palace's main court [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Entrance leading to the palace's main court [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

The excavations on the palace were conducted by emerita director of antiquities Efi Sapouna-Sakellaraki from July to August. Excavations on a section of the palace began in the '80s by archaeologist Yiannis Sakellarakis, and have been conducted annually since 2004.

NE entrance leading through a hallway to the eastern wing's shrine [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Interior staircase leading to upper floor [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

The ministry said that the new evidence revealed by this summer's excavations includes data about "the complex's internal layout and its architecture (staircases, rich wall decorations), with multiple findings from the excavation of the interior and its rooms, where a very rare coin was found from Marcus Aurelius' reign (161-180 AD). All elements point to the significance of this huge, labyrinthine building at an altitude of 1,200 meters."

Pendant in shape of a sea shell [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Rock crystals, like the above, were found throughout the palace complex [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Among the new data uncovered during this season, according to the Culture ministry, are two new entrances, one in the NE corner of the palace leading through a hallway to the eastern wing's shrine, and the other - damaged by alterations in the Mycenaean and Roman years and by looters in the 60s - leading to the palace's main court. The palace appeared to have multiple levels, internal staircases, floors constructed of expensive materials and walls lavishly decorated. Some of the walls have survived to a height of three meters.

Large hall with central pillar [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Stone storage units for the safe-keeping of valuable items, as suggested by a locally produced Egyptian scarab, 
a sealstone and several conch shells that were found here [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

Palace rooms have yielded stamps, vessels in different shapes, stone cases for valuables, a local reproduction of an Egyptian scarab made of copper, and seashells that were not meant for consumption, pointing to the worship of a sea goddess. Other findings include bronze daggers, sections of large ceramic storage jars, and remains of beehives.

Bonze coin of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]

The date of the earliest settlement on Zominthos (around 1900 BC), almost coinciding with the first settlement in the Knossos area, and its proximity to the Idaean Cave, the most important and perhaps earliest shrine on Crete, point to the significance of the palace in the economic, political and religious network of the island of Crete.

Source: ANA-MPA [September 18, 2017]

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Man charged for theft of fossil footprints in Crete

Greek police arrested on Friday a 55-year-old man in connection with the theft of 10 fossilised footprints which were stolen on earlier this week from the site where they were uncovered in Kissamos, Western Crete, authorities said.

The vandalised site, showing fresh sand along the edges of the slab where it has been lifted and the holes left 
by the removal of two blocks in the centre [Credit: Babis Fassoulas]

The suspect faces charges of violating laws on protection of cultural heritage. Authorities were able to locate quickly in regions of Kissamos and Thessaloniki all ten fossils. The objects will be send to Chania to be examined by experts.

The site has been buried in haste to avoid further thefts [Credit: Babis Fassoulas]

Ten of some 40 footprints on the site were cut away and removed from the rock where they were found by a Polish paleontologist in 2002. The 5.7-million-year-old fossils are believed to belong to a hominid ancestor of modern humans and their discovery could upend established theories of human evolution.

The buried site [Credit: Babis Fassoulas]

The theft was reported by a member of the public that visited the site on Tuesday and alerted local police, and was later confirmed by the Natural History Museum of Crete. The investigation of the case is continuing.

Source: ANA-MPA [September 15, 2017]

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Fossil footprints of early human ancestor stolen from Crete

A number of fossilised footprints believed to belong to a hominid ancestor of modern humans have been stolen from Kissamos on Crete, by a person or persons unknown, authorities revealed on Thursday. Ten of some 40 footprints on the Kasteli site have been cut away and removed from the rock, where they were found by a Polish paleontologist in 2002.

Athens-Macedonian News Agency Photo

The theft was reported by a member of the public that visited the site on Tuesday and alerted local police, and was later confirmed by the Natural History Museum of Crete.

Police and scientists are now investigating the case, while Kissamos Mayor Thodoris Stathakis, in statements to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, said it raised an issue of protecting cultural heritage sites in the area.

"The issue of showcasing but also protecting antiquities that exist in the region must be dealt with directly," he said.

In an announcement issued on Thursday, the Natural History Museum of Crete confirmed the theft and was sharply critical of those responsible.

".. Following information we received, a member of the research team, Charalambos Fasoulas, visited Kissamos on Wednesday and carried out an inspection. This confirmed that at some time, probably at the beginning of the previous week, unknown individuals acting selfishly and without conscience had proceeded to destroy and remove from the archaeological site sections of rocks that included 10 footprints out of a total of 40 that have been studied. Mr. Fasoulas went to the police station in the area and reported the incident, providing all information possible," the announcement said.

The announcement also noted that the entire site and the footprints found have been accurately measured and recorded by research teams using laser techniques, so that every part of it is immediately identifiable and recognisable. As a result, it added, it would be impossible to attempt to sell the footprints without this being immediately detected.

"Consequently, if anyone thought that they could profit from this act they are out of luck. The Museum unequivocally condemns this action, which is shameful for our country and for all of us. It accepts the share of responsibility that probably belongs to it and calls on all the agencies and services involved to take immediate action today to protect the site and the fossils from possible similar destructive actions, as well as to take the necessary action to showcase the finds, which was the desire of the entire research team."

Source: ANA-MPA [September 14, 2017]

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Spanish scientists use cutting-edge technology to uncover cave paintings

A team from the Cantabria Museum of Prehistory in northern Spain is using cutting-edge technology to uncover Paleolithic cave paintings in an area that includes the UNESCO World Heritage Altamira site.

Part of an area being scanned by scientists at Los Murciélagos, a cave in Cantabria 
[Credit: Museo de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Cantabria]

Led by researcher Roberto Ontañón the team has used non-destructive and non-invasive techniques to extract information about geometric drawings and their underlying surface shapes and color in four caves. Using photometric techniques that involve computational cameras, they have captured a series of images under different light angles, recovering measurements of brush and tool marks in the process.

Ontañón says there are some 70 caves with paintings in the Cantabrian mountain range, and that his team will use photometric techniques to continue uncovering them.

“Our goal is to visit the caves and use the latest technology to uncover walls that have been painted or decorated but where these marks cannot be seen with the naked eye. These discoveries will add to the map of art in this area,” says Ontañón, one of Spain’s leading prehistorians and an advisor to UNESCO.

The four sites where art has been found are El Rejo (Val de San Vicente), Las Graciosas (Medio Cudeyo), Los Murciélagos (Entremabasaguas) and Solviejo (Voto). The project is being funded by the regional government of Cantabria. The majority of the decorations are simple geometric patterns using red and ochre that are difficult to discern in deep caves many thousands of years after they were created.

An image of a deer created through photometric techniques from the El Rejo cave in Cantabria 
[Credit: Museo de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Cantabria]

The research team is also using lasers and 3D scanners to recreate the features inside the caves, coupled with a range of photographic techniques to create high-definition, three-dimensional images. Aside from a few drawings of deer in one cave, the majority of the images are simple geometric designs.

The drawings have been dated back to between 22,000 and 28,000 years ago, making them significantly older than the bison of Altamira, which were painted around 16,000 years ago. Scientists have dated other cave art in Cantabria back 40,000 years, making them among the oldest so far discovered on the planet.

Cantabria’s mountains host one of the largest concentrations of prehistoric art in the world. “It was a very good place to live during the Ice Age,” says Ortañón. “The Cantabrian Sea warmed up the climate and vast herds of wild animals such as horses passed through that narrow strip between the sea and the mountains.”

The Altamira caves host the largest legacy of prehistoric art in the area, and their discovery in 1868 changed our views of humanity, establishing that our most distant ancestors thought and expressed themselves in ways similar to our own, and had their own concepts of spirituality.

Author: Guillermo Altares (transl. Nick Lyne) | Source: El Pais [September 14, 2017]

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More on the discovery of ancient military harbour used in Battle of Salamis

The ancient harbour where the Greek fleet gathered on the eve of the Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C. - a pivotal naval battle that prevented the invasion of Greece by the Persian Empire and largely determined the course of Greek and Western history - has now been uncovered by archaeologists in present-day Ambelakia Bay on the island. The Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) was given an exclusive tour of the site by the  archaeologists in charge of the dig, who revealed they expected more finds to emerge as the work continues.

Photo Credit: ANA/Vassilis Mentogiannis

One of their goals is to find artifacts linked to the Battle of Salamis before 2020, which is the 2,500-year anniversary of the great naval battle that changed the course of history.

"The excavation is of great importance because there are a number of things that remain to be proven about the battle's history, which we did not know until now. They are just written in ancient sources and nothing more. This research should have started many years ago but this was not possible because of the pollution in the seabed, given that there are a number of shipyards and ship repair units in the area. It was made possible, however, with the assistance of the Institute of Underwater Archaeological Research (IENAE)," the head of the Underwater Antiquities Ephorate Aggeliki Simosi told ANA. 

"We hope that in the coming years we will have the same success as this year, when we uncovered sections of very sturdy buildings that have not yet been fully identified. The existence of two towers, however, one round and one square, indicates that this was a fortified military harbour of the ancient city," she added.

Photo Credit: ANA/Vassilis Mentogiannis

Heading the dig for the IENAE, Ioannina University professor Dr. Yiannos Lolos noted that the three-year cooperation programme launched by the Ephorate and the Institute, with the participation of the Patras University's Laboratory of Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography, will likely continue and possibly be extended.

"It is a major excavation now in its early stages. It will continue, however, now that the [Ephorate] and the [Institute] have decided to begin investigating this very significant historic location of Greece. There are, of course, several difficulties but the goals are important. And I am convinced that we will unearth portable finds along the way - we already have some important ones - that are linked to the very important events of Athenian history. And, of course, an event of tremendous importance is the naval battle in 480 B.C. - zero hour for Athenian and Greek history," Lolos said.

He noted that the excavation was focused on the harbour of the ancient city of Salamis and parts of the sea on the north side and around the tip of the Kynosoura peninsula, which encircles the south side of the bay.

Photo Credit: ANA/Vassilis Mentogiannis

"Also located at the end of Kynosoura was the Nike trophy, or probably one of the trophies, that we know were erected after the great victory of 480 B.C." Lolos added. Like Simosi, he echoed his conviction that the sea at the end of the peninsula will yield parts of the ancient trophy.

"There are stone plinths in the sea that must be from the trophy. We know that the monument was at the tip of Kynosoura, we will investigate the sea on both sides of this section of the peninsula, the north and south, and believe we will find segments of it," they told ANA.

The finds unearthed in Ambelakia Bay over the last two years include the two towers and a section of a wall measuring 162 metres long in the northwest, which appear to be linked to the defences of the Classical- and Hellenistic-era city and its port. Another sturdy structure made of well-formed stone plinths about 13 metres long, believed to be a public building such as a temple or stoa, has been found in the north side of the bay.

Photo Credit: ANA/Vassilis Mentogiannis

There are also a number of portable remains dating to the time of the harbour's last use, around the 3rd century AD, indicating that this structure was one of the last buildings of the ancient city near the port and possibly one seen and described by the traveller Pausanias in the 2nd century AD.

Lolos said the building was probably a temple, noting the numerous shards of statues found there, as well as a corner of a carved marble altar and other marble vessels. Further evidence, he said, was the earlier nearby find in 1882 of a marble pedestal for a statue with a dedicatory inscription, dating to the 4th century B.C. He noted that this was inscribed with the names of a cavalry chief and members of the cavalry, dedicated to the nymph Salamis.

According to Lolos, this was seen as an indication that there had been a sanctuary dedicated to the nymph nearby and, while the inscription was lost, it had been published in the German archaeological institute's periodical in 1882.

Photo Credit: ANA/Vassilis Mentogiannis

The building is adjacent to a more contemporary 48-metre pier that was built prior to 1900 using ancient materials. Similarities between the building materials in the pier and those of the more ancient structure lead archaeologists to believe that they came from the public building now being investigated.

In addition to the underwater excavation, there is continued geophysical research focusing on the interior section of the bay and up to Kynosoura, with the assistance of Patras university. The aim is to find and reconstruct an outline of the Classical-era coastline and paleogeography and locate "targets" of possible archaeological interest that may be on lying on the seabed or buried at depths of up to 1.5 metres.

"There has to be an excavation to identify these 'targets'. Are they newer or ancient objects? It is very possible that some are ancient objects and we hope that some may be significant but a systematic exploration at such depths requires a lot of work. We have to decide, in collaboration with the geologists, which of the 50 targets to choose and where to begin," Lolos said, noting that the cooperation started for three years but would need much longer, so any help would be useful.

Photo Credit: ANA/Vassilis Mentogiannis

According to Simosi, meanwhile, "Chinese underwater archaeologists had shown great interest in the region when they visited Greece a few days earlier and expressed a desire for cooperation.

The results of the two research periods in the bay will be presented in a joing announcement by the two head researchers at an international conference organised by the Honor Frost Foundation in Nicosia, on October 20-24.

Source: ANA-MPA [September 13, 2017]

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Earthquake faults may have played key role in shaping the culture of ancient Greece

The Ancient Greeks may have built sacred or treasured sites deliberately on land previously affected by earthquake activity, according to a new study by the University of Plymouth.

Temple of Apollo at Delphi [Credit: GTP]

Professor of Geoscience Communication Iain Stewart MBE, Director of the University's Sustainable Earth Institute, has presented several BBC documentaries about the power of earthquakes in shaping landscapes and communities.

Now he believes fault lines created by seismic activity in the Aegean region may have caused areas to be afforded special cultural status and, as such, led to them becoming sites of much celebrated temples and great cities.

Scientists have previously suggested Delphi, a mountainside complex once home to a legendary oracle, gained its position in Classical Greek society largely as a result of a sacred spring and intoxicating gases which emanated from a fault line caused by an earthquake.

But Professor Stewart believes Delphi may not be alone in this regard, and that other cities including Mycenae, Ephesus, Cnidus and Hierapolis may have been constructed specifically because of the presence of fault lines.

Professor Stewart said: "Earthquake faulting is endemic to the Aegean world, and for more than 30 years, I have been fascinated by the role earthquakes played in shaping its landscape. But I have always thought it more than a coincidence that many important sites are located directly on top of fault lines created by seismic activity. The Ancient Greeks placed great value on hot springs unlocked by earthquakes, but perhaps the building of temples and cities close to these sites was more systematic than has previously been thought."

In the study, published in Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Professor Stewart says a correspondence of active faults and ancient cities in parts of Greece and western Turkey might not seem unduly surprising given the Aegean region is riddled with seismic faults and littered with ruined settlements.

But, he adds, many seismic fault traces in the region do not simply disrupt the fabric of buildings and streets, but run straight through the heart of the ancient settlements' most sacred structures.

There are prominent examples to support the theory, such as in Delphi itself where a sanctuary was destroyed by an earthquake in 373BC only for its temple to be rebuilt directly on the same fault line.

There are also many tales of individuals who attained oracular status by descending into the underworld, with some commentators arguing that such cave systems or grottoes caused by seismic activity may have formed the backdrop for these stories.

Professor Stewart concludes: "I am not saying that every sacred site in ancient Greece was built on a fault line. But while our association with earthquakes nowadays is that they are all negative, we have always known that in the long run they give more than they take away. The ancient Greeks were incredibly intelligent people and I believe they would have recognised this significance and wanted their citizens to benefit from the properties they created."

Source: University of Plymouth [September 12, 2017]

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2017 excavations at Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou completed

The Department of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus has announced the completion of the 2017 fieldwork season undertaken by the Italian Archaeological Mission at Erimi (Università degli Studi di Torino), at the site of Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou under the direction of Dr. Luca Bombardieri. This year’s fieldwork was carried out between 2-25 August 2017.

Excavation at the workshop complex (Area A) of Erimi-Laonini tou Porakou site 
[Credit: Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus]

As observed during the previous seasons, the site of Erimi-Laonini tou Porakou, located on a high plateau on the eastern Kouris river bank, was intensively occupied during the whole of the Middle Bronze Age, with two distinct major phases (Phases A and B). The area seems to have then been scantily used during the late Hellenistic and Roman periods, following a long period of abandonment.

The focus of the 2017 season was to investigate four areas, which differ in their use and function: the workshop complex (Area A); the domestic area, located on the lower terrace (Area T2); the large circuit wall (Area T1) and the southern cemetery (Area E).

The investigation of the workshop complex at the top of the hill confirmed the relevance of this industrial area, mainly devoted to the production of dyed textiles. A series of three new units were located by extending the investigation area to the western wing of the complex, where an additional large, rectangular roofed unit has been fully excavated (SA IV; 10.20×5.40 m). The access to the Unit from the West is characterized by a large monolithic stepped threshold, while two floors have been detected, pertaining to the main occupational phases mentioned above. A series of large ceramic storage containers and smaller pouring vessels were found on the upper floor, as they possibly were deliberately left within the building room. The peculiarities of deposit and context suggest that this was part of a ritual of abandonment of the complex, towards the end of the Middle Bronze Age.

The excavation of the residential quarter, located at the major lower terrace of the settlement, revealed the extension of a large rectangular domestic unit in Area T2 (Unit 1; 8.30×5 m). The access to the Unit to the North is marked by a large stone threshold and a stair that directly connects this domestic unit with the top of the hill, where the production complex is located. A series of small-scale work installations (mortars, pots emplacements) and a large deep pit cut into the bedrock below the Unit floor were found. The installations, along with the residual artefacts assemblage suggest a domestic use for this area.

The excavation of the area where the large settlement wall is (Area T1) confirmed the relevance of this massive wall structure that appears to limit the settlement to the West, following the natural edge of the terrace. The current extension of the wall is 31.5 m. The structure’s width is 1.60/1.70 m, where a cut within the bedrock of 0.60/0.70 m deep was carved to create the foundation of the structure, filled with rubble stones and large stone blocks with plaster mortar. Such foundation would be able to support a wall in dry-stone masonry up to 1.80/2.00 m in elevation. This impressive wall structure appears as a sort of circuit wall of the settlement and can be presumably ascribed to the most recent phase of occupation of the settlement (Phase A), during the end of Middle Bronze Age.

The southern cemetery area (Area E) extends on a series of terraces sloping towards the South-East of the settlement, just outside the large circuit wall, mentioned above. The funerary cluster is characterized by a series of rock-cut pit and chamber tombs, dated back to the same chronological horizon of the settlement. Two interesting additional tombs have been excavated during this season, of a special interest as to the funerary architecture and mortuary treatment.

Tomb 464 is a large multi-chambered tomb with a rectangular vertical dromos (190×1.70 m). The dromos allows access to four funerary chambers (T464 - chambers A–D). Two of the chambers were found partially looted, while the other two were found sealed with large vertical stone blocks, originally used to close the entrance. An additional tomb (Tomb 465) was found on the same terrace, similarly characterized by a large irregular vertical dromos, allowing access to two funerary chambers, and a separate external area for the display of a set of vessels, presumably used during funerary ceremonies.

The 2017 fieldwork season involved a team of archaeologists of the University of Torino, with the joint support of an anthropologist from the University of Sheffield, an archaeobotanist of the Cyprus Institute and a team of three restorers from the University of Torino (Centro di Restauro della Venaria Reale).

Source: Press and Information Office, Ministry of Interior, Republic of Cyprus [September 12, 2017]

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Monumental Mycenaean tomb discovered near Orchomenos in Boeotia, central Greece

A monumental Mycenaean rock-cut chamber tomb came to light this summer at Prosilio near Orchomenos in Boeotia, central Greece, during the excavations conducted there by the Greek Ministry of Culture & Sports/Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia and the British School at Athens/University of Cambridge.

Excavation around the tomb’s dromos (passageway) in progress [Credit: Yannis Galanakis, 
Prosilio Excavation Project]

The tomb, known as Prosilio tomb 2, is one of the largest of its kind ever to have been discovered in Greece. A rock-cut passageway (dromos), 20m in length, leads to a monumental façade 5.40m in depth. The façade gives access, through a doorway (stomion), to the burial chamber which has an area of 42sqm, making this example the 9th largest out of c. 4000 Mycenaean chamber tombs that have been excavated in Greece in the last 150 years. The chamber’s roof was originally gabled and had a height of c. 3.5m. Over the years, and perhaps even since Mycenaean times, the original roof started to crumble creating a cavernous interior with an existing height of 6.5m. The crumbling of the original roof disturbed, to some extent, the burial and its furnishings in the chamber but also helped seal the burial layer. Inside the chamber, a rock-cut bench was carved on all four sides of the rectangular tomb. The bench was enhanced by the addition of mud-plaster.

The façade of the monumental chamber tomb 2 at Prosilio with the dry-stone wall blocking the access
to the doorway and chamber [Credit: Yannis Galanakis, Prosilio Excavation Project]

The construction of the tomb dates to the middle of the 14th century BC. Its excavation has yielded one of the best documented assemblages of a Mycenaean palatial individual burial on mainland Greece. The presence in tomb 2 of a single burial with important finds is an extraordinary discovery, rarely attested in monumental Mycenaean chamber tombs. Tombs of this type are used for many burials making it difficult to associate particular objects with individual burials. In the case of tomb 2 at Prosilio, however, the discovery of a single burial allows for the association of the objects placed in the tomb with the dead individual buried there.

Pair of horse bits from Prosilio tomb 2 as found [Credit: Yannis Galanakis, 
Prosilio Excavation Project]

On the chamber floor, the Prosilio team discovered the burial of a man, 40-50 years old, accompanied by a number of objects, the study and conservation of which has just begun. The assemblage includes ‘tinned’ clay vessels of various shapes, a pair of horse bits, arrows, pins, jewellery of various materials, combs, a sealstone and a signet ring. The discovery of this burial and its associated finds will allow the researchers to understand better funeral practices in the region during the Mycenaean period.

A ‘tinned’ clay kylix (drinking cup) from Prosilio tomb 2 [Credit: Yannis Galanakis, 
Prosilio Excavation Project]

The first examination of the finds suggests a conscious selection of the objects interred with the body by the tomb-using group that was responsible for the burial’s preparation. As in the case of the ‘griffin warrior’ discovered at Bronze Age Pylos in 2015 – chronologically earlier by at least a century to the burial in Prosilio tomb 2 – the placement of different shapes and types of jewellery with a male burial contests the, until now widely held, belief that jewellery should mostly be associated with female burials. It is also worth noting that, with the exception of two painted stirrup jars, commonly used to store aromatic oils, no painted pottery was discovered in the tomb – a feature which is otherwise widely attested in tombs of this period.

A clay stirrup jar used for storing aromatic oils from Prosilio tomb 2 [Credit: Yannis Galanakis, 
Prosilio Excavation Project]

The Prosilio team believes that tomb 2 is associated with ancient Orchomenos, a major regional centre controlling northern Boeotia. Orchomenos, which is c. 3.5km away from tomb 2, supervised and controlled during the 14th and 13th c. BC the partial drainage of Lake Kopaïs – a project that yielded sizeable land for agricultural activities. The power of this centre is reflected in its most famous monument, the tholos tomb of ‘Minyas’, first excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in the 19th century, and comparable only in size and refinement to the tholos tomb of ‘Atreus’ at Mycenae. Finds from earlier excavations at Orchomenos also attest to its power in Mycenaean times. The dead man from tomb 2 at Prosilio was most likely associated with the upper echelons of society at this major Mycenaean centre.

Documenting human remains from the chamber of tomb 2 at Prosilio 
[Credit: Yannis Galanakis, Prosilio Excavation Project]

Directors of the inter-disciplinary five-year Prosilio project are Dr Alexandra Charami, Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia, and Dr Yannis Galanakis, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. The Prosilio team also includes Kyriaki Kalliga, archaeologist of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia, Dr Panagiotis Karkanas, Director of the Wiener Laboratory at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Dr Ioanna Moutafi, bio-archaeologist and Senior Researcher at the Wiener Laboratory, and Emily Wright, field supervisor and PhD candidate in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge.

Excavation documentation in progress in the dromos (passageway) of tomb 2 at Prosilio 
[Credit: Yannis Galanakis, Prosilio Excavation Project]

Special thanks for their enthusiastic support and hard work for the duration of the project are due to Yannis Panagiotopoulos, foreman, Sofia Perlepe, archaeologist, Maro Karadimou, conservator, of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia; and to the 25 archaeologists, experts, students and workers. The team of students, in particular, thoroughly sieved, in 4700 episodes, all 75 cubic metres of soil that were removed during the excavation of the tomb’s dromos and chamber.

The Prosilio project was conducted with the permission of the Greek Ministry of Culture & Sports and of Ioannis Papadopoulos, owner of the land. The project was generously funded by, among other sources, the University of Cambridge (Faculty of Classics, the McDonald Institute, the Cambridge Humanities Research Grant scheme, and Sidney Sussex College), the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) and the British School at Athens. The study of the archaeological data and the conservation of objects and skeletal remains are in progress.

Source: British School at Athens [September 11, 2017]

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Relief marble slab from the 4th century BC seized by Greek police

A marble relief slab carved with a female figure of significant archaeological and historical value, as well as a section of a cylindrical amphora handle, were discovered during the course of an organized operation by the Ioannina Police Department, in a car in the area of ​​Agrinio (in the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit of Greece), followed by the arrests of the driver and co-driver.

Ioannina Police Department photo

According to an archaeologist from the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina, the stylistic features of the triangular-shaped relief, which appear to be part of a funerary stele, indicate a date "probably in the 4th century BC".

The seized antiquity was handed over to the Ephorate of Antiquities for safe-keeping and further assessment, said to the police announcement.

Source: ANA-MPA [September 07, 2017]

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Archaeological site of Faragola in Puglia damaged by fire

A fire damaged the ancient archaeological site of Faragola in Puglia overnight. "It looks like the work of professionals," said Puglia-born archaeologist Giuliano Volpe, who said he was "devastated" by the damage to the fourth-sixth century site, as well as by a series of thefts.

He said pots and terracotta panels had been split by the heat of the flames.

Volpe, head of the higher council for cultural and landscape heritage, said he was "particularly saddened" by the theft of an ancient winged figure.

Source: ANSA [September 07, 2017]

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