MIDEA - 2009

Midea. The Greek-Swedish excavation on the Mycenaean acropolis of Midea continued in 2009 under the direction of K. Demakopoulou (Director Emerita, National Museum) with the collaboration of A.-L. Schallin (Director, Swedish Institute at Athens) and N. Divari- Valakou (then Γ' ΕΠΚΑ, now Director, Γ' ΕΠΚΑ, Director of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Ministry of Culture and Tourism). The Greek team excavated on the lower west terrace of the acropolis and the Swedish team in the area of the east gate.

The Greek team completed investigation of the syrinx through the west section of the fortification wall, discovered in 2007. The area in front of the entrance to the sally port in the inner face of the citadel wall was further cleared, with the removal of a destruction deposit next to the north jamb containing rubble, large stones and boulders fallen from the fortification wall. The removal of this deposit revealed bedrock in much of the area sloping down to the syrinx. This is cut vertically at the east and south sides, forming a rectangular shaft in front of the opening of the sally port. Piles of stones probably come from ruined steps leading to the entrance. The remains of a stone pavement belong to a north-south path approaching the sally port.

The interior of the sally port was investigated for 4.52m, and fill ca. 0.9−1m deep removed (Fig. 1). The syrinx is a passageway running east-west obliquely through the fortification wall, which at this point is 5.7m thick. The side walls are built of boulders founded on a layer of hard soil, small stones and pebbles. This layer is 0.55m deep by the entrance and gradually diminishes to 0.15−0.1m in the middle of the syrinx. The side walls curve slightly inward towards the top, while the roof is mostly covered with horizontal stone slabs. The floor, of levelled bedrock, slopes continuously with shallow steps at several points. The sally port is 1.4m high and 0.6m wide near the entrance, gradually reducing to 0.8m high and 0.45m wide as the passage runs deeper. Near the deepest point reached before the excavation was halted for safety reasons, the roof is lowered following the inclination of the floor, while the passage is so narrow as to be impassible. This is an effect of the devastating earthquake that hit Midea at the end of the 13th century BC, as evident in the distorted and tilted side walls and the fallen stones from the walls and the roof. In order to find the exit, some 1.2m outside the fortification wall, excavation continued in the three adjacent trenches opened in 2007 against the outer face of the wall.

A large part of the outer face of the wall was exposed for a length of 10m and to a height of 3m (Fig. 2). Examination of the exposed wall surface revealed that the construction of this section differed from that of most of the citadel wall and of the inner face of this part of the wall. Instead of boulders and large stones, medium-sized stones were used, with some boulders only in the lower part. Most of the outer face of the wall, plus part of the syrinx including the exit, collapsed or was severely damaged in the earthquake (noting many boulders and large stones in this area apparently from the collapsed section of the wall), and the wall face was rebuilt in LHIIICE and the sally port blocked. This work coincides with the construction of room I against the inner face of the wall, near the entrance to the sally port. At the same time the megaron complex on the lower terraces, which was also destroyed by earthquake, was largely repaired. A substantial programme of repair and rebuilding was therefore initiated on the lower terraces of the acropolis following the destruction.

The fill of the part of the sally port excavated this season was a dark, rather loose soil containing large and small stones, rubble and pebbles. A considerable quantity of mostly LHIIIB2 sherds was recovered. More abundant, and also fragmentary, pottery of the same date comes from the destruction deposit excavated near and in front of the entrance to the sally port. It is noteworthy that LHIIICE and M as well as Early Mycenaean and Middle Helladic sherds were found both in the fill of the sally port and in the destruction deposit, and that there were many joins between sherds from these two areas.

The commonest shape among the LHIIIB2 decorated pottery is the deep bowl (of all types, with Group A predominating). Stemmed bowls (some monochrome) are abundant (Fig. 3); many stems of this shape were found, some trimmed and probably used as lids. Kraters and mugs also occur. A fine semi-globular bowl, partly restored from many sherds, is banded in and out with a fringe of joining semicircles on the exterior rim. Also abundant are closed shapes, such as jugs, amphorae and hydriae, stirrup and collar-necked jars and alabastra. Plainware examples include conical and carinated kylikes, deep bowls, mugs, dippers, shallow angular bowls, basins and jugs. Numerous stirrup jar sherds are decorated mostly with stylized octopus tentacles. One of two non-joining sherds of another stirrup jar of this type preserves a trace of a Linear B sign. The coarseware recovered includes many sherds of pithoi and other storage vessels. There are also cooking vessels, including some in a fabric containing silver or gold mica, plus sherds of handmade burnished-ware jars.

A few stray LHIIIC sherds were found inside the sally port and in the destruction deposit. To LHIIICE belong sherds of kraters coated inside, and a fragment of an amphoriskos or collar-necked jar decorated with hooked stems. A large part of a shallow angular bowl with linear decoration dates to LHIIICM. Early Mycenaean sherds in both deposits include a number of LHIIA−B, mostly from Vapheio cups. The plentiful Middle Helladic sherds found in both deposits are of grey and black Minyan and matt-painted ware.

Other finds from both deposits are fragmentary terracotta human and animal figurines and a part of a throne model, the rim of a lead vessel, a fragmentary bronze pin, fragments of stone tools, blades and flakes of obsidian and flint, pieces of fluorite, mother-of-pearl and ochre, many fragments of painted plaster, as well as animal bones, seashells and carbonized figs.

Approximately 20−25m outside the northern section of the citadel wall was a massive Cyclopean terrace wall of boulders. Its north face, preserved to a height of 0.8−1.1m, was cleared for a length of 30m. This strong retaining wall supported a road leading to the main (east) gate of the acropolis. It is comparable with the retaining walls of Mycenaean highways in the Mycenae and Berbati areas, and with those of the Tiryns-Epidauros highway. This newly-found road connected Midea with areas to the northwest of the acropolis and probably with the highway from Mycenae to Tiryns. Its construction likely coincided with that of the acropolis fortifications.