Leontion - Achaia - 2022

Oliver Hülden (ÖAI/ ÖAW) and Georgia Z. Alexopoulou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia) report on the fieldwork carried out in Leontion in Achaia.

This work is part of a 5 year’s collaboration which aims to further our understanding of the history and archeology of the polis of Leontion in Achaia. The first years of fieldwork were characterized by survey and prospection activities which, among other things, resulted in a first detailed plan of the settlement on Kastritsi hill near Kato Vlasia, Kalavryta, which was identified as the urban centre of the polis (fig. 1).

After the break of the pandemic, in 2022, a new trench was opened in the back part of the terrace -- in 2019 excavations started and a trench was opened in the centre of a u-shaped terrace building next to the southern parodos of the theatre -- where a rock face forms the transition to a higher terrain step. At first, it could be observed that the back wall of the building on the terrace was superimposed the heavily jagged rock face, and there was also evidence of an installation for draining rainwater. For further excavation, numerous larger stones had to be removed from the terrace, some of which had broken out of the back wall. Below them, first fragments of bricks and pottery were found mixed with more collapse material. Although the bricks were neither widespread nor too numerous, they may still have come from the collapsed roof of the building.

In the front part of the trench, the ancient walking level was reached. In contrast to the floor excavated in 2019, it did not consist of broken bricks, but of tamped clay enriched with light-colored limestone chips. An underlying fill of grey clay served as an additional stabilizer and leveling layer over the natural ground interspersed with rocks (fig. 3). Numerous pottery fragments as well as some small finds made of bronze, iron and clay were found on and pressed into this floor.
Five find coins from this layer are chronologically relevant. Four can be determined and belong to the period between approx. 330 and 270 BC. Among them is a silver triobole of the Polis of Sicyon with the Chimaira on the obverse and a dove on the reverse. The earliest sherds of pottery can also be dated to the 3rd century BC, whereas the rest mainly belong to the 2nd century BC and only a few fragments date back to the 1st century BC. Pre-Hellenistic pieces are missing as well as later, i.e. Roman material.

Although the evaluation is still ongoing, it can be assumed that the terrace building was erected and used in the Hellenistic period. It is also certain, that it was connected to the theatre although its function remains unclear. Finally, there are no indications of a post-Hellenistic use. Beside the results of the survey and prospection, this is a further indication of the idea that Leontion was founded or re-founded as a small town by Antigonos II. Gonatas in the early 3rd century BC and, after a brief heyday, declined already in the later Hellenistic periods. In addition to the settlement of Leontion, two other sites in the immediate vicinity were in the focus of our research. The first is situated approx. 600 m southwest of the town and is a small section of a fortification wall including parts of an axial gate. It came to light some years ago by earthwork close to the modern asphalt road to Patras and was excavated in 2013 by a team of EphArch. In 2022 we studied it again and completed the documentation with drone photographs (fig. 4). Although the fortification seems to be from the same time period as the city wall of Leontion its connection remains an open question. The second site that was surveyed in 2022 was a further fortified structure situated on top of Aghios Athanasios hill west of Kato Vlasia. It was already identified as a Frankish castle and settlement which in the 13th century AD belonged to the Barony of Kalavryta. In 2023 the fieldwork at Leonion will be finished.