Ancient Corinth - Olympia Odos - 2011

Ancient Corinth - Olympia Odos. LZ’ EPKA reports on the excavations that took place N. of the National Motorway and alongside the new Olympia Motorway. An archaic fortification (possibly of Ancient Corinth), Mycenaean constructions, Archaic spaces used for ancestral/heroic worship, some burials in stone sarcophagi and an extended cemetery were found.

The aforementioned sites were located between kilometric positions 1+230 and 1+500.

The Archaic fortifications (fig. 1) were found between kilometric positions 1 + 230 and 1 + 350. The walls extended to the entire length between them (120 m.) and they were oriented E-W. It was considered to be the northern part of the fortification of the city-state of Corinth.
The wall was built according to the pseudoisodome style, of sandstone of the quarry, adjacent to the space towards the NE (Figs. 2, 3).

At most of the back of the wall’s length, a trench was dug in the solid ground, filled for static reasons with fragments of coarse stones. Fragments of stones bound with mud were attached to the posterior surface of the wall to form a solid body with it. The total width of the fortification (wall and mix of mud and stone) at the excavated sites ranged between 1.20 and 2 m. (fig. 4).According to a first assessment of the data, the construction dated back to the late Archaic period (550-525 BC). Parts of the fortification were apparently rebuilt in the early Classical times, while small-scale interventions were made during the late fourth c. BC, a fact that indicates the use of the wall up to this period.

Mycenaean buildings and constructions were located in the entirety of the 120 m. long excavation. Mycenaean building 1, found in kilometric position 1 + 235, just S of the fortification. Due to the limited space available, only a small part of it, consisting of a wall, was investigated. A pressed floor made of clay was found on either side of the wall, from the surface of which were collected ceramics. They were purely Mycenaean, mainly bearing painted decorations, from vessels of good quality [(many sherds come from Late Helladic skyphoi (LHIIIB1)].

Some clay production areas, dated in the Mycenaean times were also found between kilometric positions 1+310 and 1+345 (fig. 5). They consisted of systems of successive circular pit-tanks which communicated with each other through grooves, of basins to store and process the clay, of gutters, and of a large white clay processing space.
An ellipsoid disposal pit dated in the Mycenaean times was found in kilometric position 1+315. Its insides revealed fine pottery (fig. 6). It must have been part of the clay production area, as they communicated through a groove. A rectangular space was excavated in the higher levels of this trench. It was oriented E-Wand it contained a multitude of fine pottery sherds dated in the late eighth-early seventh century BC. They were found amongst blackened soil and ashes, and molten iron masses were also found between them. It must have been a ceremony venue directly related to the ellipsoid disposal pit located underneath.
The Mycenaean building 3,8 (fig. 7) was deciphered as an extended building containing 25 rooms (fig. 8,9). Inside the rooms, wells, basins, grooves, storage areas and desks were formed. The non-existence in most of rooms of household units’ findings (i.e., hearths) and the immediate vicinity to the outdoor clay workshop, contributed to its characterization as a craft and storage area.

Worship areas were found alongside the excavation. They were considered to be dedicated to ancestral/heroic worship and they were dated in the Geometric and the Archaic times.
One of them was found in kilometric position 1+235. It was an altar, used between the late Geometric and the early Archaic times. It consisted of layers of beach stones mixed with offering’s vessels’ sherds and ashes. The vessels were of fine quality, with painted decorations. In the fortification area next to the altar parts of figurines (riders, pigeons and standing females) were found. Another altar was found in kilometric position 1+240. It was similarly constructed, but a stele was placed vertically in its middle. It was shaped like two parallel snakes, so the altar was named “Altar of the twin snakes” (fig. 10) and it was dated in the sixth century BC.

Finally, a cemetery was found on both sides of the ancient street. It was located between kilometric positions 1+450-1+485 (fig. 11) and it was continuously used between the Geometric (ninth century BC) and the early Hellenistic times (late fourth-third century BC). It consisted of 94 burials, seven of which belonged to children, and most of the grave-goods were clay vessels and bronze objects, dated in the Classical times (fig. 12-14). Close to that cemetery a burial was found (fig. 15) placed in a stone sarcophagus. It contained a multitude of grave-goods, as well as the shell of a tortoise, used as a speaker for a lyra (fig. 16), which the deceased held in his right hand. The burial was dated in the first fourth of the fifth century BC.

[Entry created by E. Kourti]