Pallini - Kantza - 2010

Pallini - Kantza. Αthina-Maria Romanidou (Ephorate of Antiquities of East Attica) reports the following:

A Middle Bronze Age site was discovered in October 2010 in the property of “Kantza Commercial S.A.” in the area of the former Campas winery – recently declared as a heritage landmark – in Kantza, Pallini, Attica. The excavation revealed eight circular structures with common constructional features and post-holes, arranged at regular intervals of 8m to 11m, two quadrangular constructions, a two-room house of oval ground plan furnished with a horse-shaped hearth, one circular platform made of river pebbles, an intramural pithos burial and pits. All structures were carved into bedrock and their excavation yielded numerous fragments of Middle Helladic Grey Minyan and Matt-painted pottery, flakes and blades of obsidian and flint, sea shells and loom weights. These finds suggest trade contacts of this community with other regions in the Mainland and the Aegean. The arrange- ment of the circular structures, extending for a length of at least 66m (on an east-west axis), in conjunction with their common constructional features, indicates a particular type of planning hitherto unknown for MH culture. The site, which was probably used by a small rural-industrial community of the early MBA, complements the ancient topography of Attica and enriches our knowledge of the MH period since its characteristic features have no parallels elsewhere in the region.