Arvala plot, Naupaktos - 2007

Arvala plot, Naupaktos. Maria Gatsi (ΛΣΤ’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports on discoveries made during the construction of a new wind farm (Fig. 1).

An ancient fortification came to light 250M N of the medieval castle of the city. The area was enclosed both by vertical natural rock, and an enclosure wall (2.5m wide). Large sections of rock were built into this construction (Fig. 2). The wall was made of local brown limestone cut into uneven blocks, preserved to a height 1.67–1.97m. 

In the NE corner of the enclosure, a square tower was found, measuring 5.10 x 5.70m, now reused in modern times as a sheep pen. The tower had a simple gate, rather like an opening in the wall (Fig. 3), 1.2m wide. Its floor was paved with stone slabs, while the inner opening was blocked in a second phase of the wall, probably the Hellenistic period. To the W of the gate, the wall was reinforced to a length 6.80m, reaching 3.5m, forming a rectangular bastion. A second gate was found near the W end of the N part, 2.6m wide (Fig. 4). A bronze coin of the Roman period was found at the main gate (gate B), dating to the third century BC, while the masonry looks Hellensitic. 

An ancient quarry was found to the NW of the site.