AGIA IRINI SETTLEMENT - 2009

Informations Générales

Numéro de la notice

1839

Année de l'opération

2009

Chronologie

Antiquité - Hellénistique

Mots-clés

Fortification - Citerne - Maison - Figurine - Four - Lampe - Pierre - Installation hydraulique - Habitat - Nécropole

Nature de l'opération

Fouille

Institution(s)

ΚΕ' Εφορεία Προϊστορικών και Κλασικών Αρχαιοτήτων (XXVe éphorie des antiquités préhistoriques et classiques)

Localisation

Toponyme
Roussospition

Notices et opérations liées

20052009

Description

Agia Irini settlement. N. Karamaliki (ΚΕ' ΕΠΚΑ) reports on excavation in a Hellenistic settlement (Fig. 1) of the early third to late second century BC. Sited on a hilltop, it is defined to the north by a fortification wall (Fig. 2) of isodomic masonry. Beyond probably lay the cemeteries, to judge from scattered pieces of funerary vases, such as lamps.

In the Koulakis plot (Fig. 3) lay a building terraced to follow the slope of the land (higher to the west). Parts of two rooms were excavated, with a further two less well understood: typically the walls are set on bedrock and still stand quite high; better dressed stone serves for jambs and thresholds, the floors are beaten earth and the roofs tiled. Room 1 (Fig. 4) has a squared stone base (perhaps to support a beam) by the east wall, a stone hearth and a large quern set just west of the doorway. These, plus the tablewares, suggest that food was prepared here. A terracotta model of two standing warriors armed with shield and spear on a support frame (Fig. 5) shows that other activities were practiced in the area, as is also suggested by the presence of a column krater (Fig. 6), a lamp and more than five braziers. To the east, room 2 (Fig. 7) is a storeroom with a covered drain set below the earth floors (of which three can be recognized). At the southwest, a structure built of stone slabs may be a hearth; in the centre of the room is a structure of four slabs with a hole within. To the south and east, eight or more pithoi and four amphorae are set by the walls, and of the 56 loomweights found in the room, 16 were inside a smashed pithos. The pottery from room 1 (especially the oinochoe [Fig. 8] and phiale [Fig. 9]) reveals clear ties to Knossos: other Cretan traditions are strong in such shapes as cylindrical cups (Fig. 10). Indeed, the braziers (Fig. 11) seem to recall the Minoan era. The structure was in use for about a century from the late third to the late second century BC.

On the Koulakis-Liodakis plot (Fig. 12), two walls (north and south) of a room were found, with hints of the east wall preserved in the rock. At the centre of the room was a hearth, with a stone cylinder to its east. Outside, under a stone pile, a cistern (Fig. 13) was cut into the bedrock; this was probably covered with hydraulic cement. Associated pottery indicates its use in the second century BC.

Further settlement remains were found on the Politakis plot (Fig. 14), comprising at least four covered spaces with a large yard to their east. Room A (Fig. 15) had destruction debris (tiles and stone) over its largely earth floor; stone slabs had been set on this surface at the northwest, with a small stone bench to the south and two further stone slabs, all perhaps to accommodate the storage vessels retrieved. What may be a stone hearth lay inside the entrance; vases, loomweights and burnt wood were recovered at the north. Along with the storage pithoi, the plain domestic wares (basins, jugs, plates and cups) date to the third century BC. A similar picture pertains in rooms Δ and E to the north. The yard had a rock surface sloping slightly to the east, into which were cut three small, rectangular pits running parallel to the wall and ca. 0.5m from it, which may have held wooden uprights for a lean-to shelter.

Finally, on the Spandagos plot (Fig. 16) to the north, three walls of a room were recovered plus a little pottery (Fig. 17) of the late second century BC.

Auteur de la notice

Don EVELY

Références bibliographiques

AEK 1 (2010), 512-24