SARONIC HARBOURS ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT Korphos Kalamianos - 2009

Saronic Harbors Archaeological Research Project (SHARP). D. Pullen (ASCSA/Florida) and T. Tartaron (ASCSA/Pennsylvania) report on the third and final field season in 2009, which again focused on the Mycenaean harbour settlement at Korphos-Kalamianos and the surrounding territory (Fig. 1).

An architectural plan of the LHIIIB town with its circuit walls has been produced, plus detailed plans and descriptions of many structures at Kalamianos and Stiri (Figs 2-3). Systematic surface collection of material both within the enclosed area and in the walls of individual structures provided chronological and functional information. Aerial photographs of Kalamianos and its architecture were taken from a tethered balloon (Fig. 4).

Surface survey focused on areas and locations so far understudied, particularly to the west and southwest of Korphos village; on detailed investigation of features of potential significance recorded in 2008; on the resurvey of several Architectural Discovery Units at Kalamianos; and on finer-grained survey at sites of particular interest, especially the upland site of Stiri. All survey zones and the most significant sites and other ancient features within them have now been appropriately explored. Of particular note are: a major Early Bronze Age component at Stiri, Late Roman occupation west of the village of Korphos and the only Classical site discovered by SHARP, in the upland basin of Lakka Gliata (Spati).

Continued geological and geomorphological study of the Korphos region resulted in the complete mapping of bedrock and landform. The bedrock in the region consists of Mesozoic limestone with well-developed karstic features. Faults are common in the area: most have normal or oblique shear motion and south side down relative offset. Landforms include still active debris fans on the flanks of steeper slopes, making it likely that any Bronze Age surface is deeply buried within any given fan. The landscape also displays prominent karst landforms.
Analysis of the neotectonic history aims to provide a better understanding of the relative (and if possible absolute) motion on faults near Kalamianos and Stiri. This area is broken into several fault blocks, each potentially moving with a different tilt or to a different degree of uplift/subsidence. Data on the orientation of geological bedding were collected at 182 locations from Korphos to Stiri to enable reconstruction of the movement of each fault block relative to all others. These will also determine whether the Kalamianos block, which beachrock data shows to have subsided, has tilted rather than undergone simple vertical subsidence.