GORTYN - 2010

Gortyn, Prophitis Ilias settlement. N. Allegro (SAIA/Palermo) reports on continuing excavation in 2010, focused north of Building IV and the court B6, and then north of Buildings II and III (Fig. 1).

The first area (Building VI and the Boundary Wall) also includes the west part of the upper terrace in Sector B. Under topsoil lay an east-west wall of local limestone pieces which runs some 25m to the east, beyond the excavation limits. To the west, a possible boundary wall makes a wide curve to the north west: it sits on other walls that belong to the upper terrace of the eighth- seventh-century settlement. Inside the enclosure at its east and west ends are two rooms, indicating buildings. The construction of this possible boundary probably involved earth moving, especially on its south front where a Geometric-Orientalizing house is cut away. No datable material is associated with this new construction, but stratigraphically it postdates the abandonment of the village in the second half of the seventh century. Probably it continued to the point after the first century BC when this side of the hill ceased to be used.

In the second area, rooms B29 and B30 of Building VII were found. These rooms were probably bordered to the south by an alley which separated them from Buildings II and III on the lower terrace of Sector B, and a walkway made of stone chippings. The only finds on the beaten earth floor of B29 were a pair of fragmentary vases. Room 30 had a cooking area, and to the northeast, numerous fragments of at least two large pithoi. One has on its body raised bands decorated with incised herringbone patterns; the other has plastic cordons. A large limestone slab set flat in the middle of the room was perhaps a base for a pithos or a wooden roof support.

Excavation thus provides information about the organization of living space in the eighth- to seventh-century village, and suggests the survival of some ritual interest after its abandonment (Fig. 2). Each of the two terraces in Sector B was occupied by a group of houses. On the lower terrace, Buildings I to IV faced onto the east-west street, and the upper terrace could be bounded by another parallel street yet to be unearthed. If so, this would show that the eighth and seventh-century settlement was organized by blocks. The arrangement of east-west axial routes may be taken to imply large-scale town planning, if experimental in character. Though imperfect, probably due to pre-existing conditions, this would recall western colonial arrangements, where parallel roads define blocks containing a single household divided by narrow corridors (ambitus). On the ruins of the eighth- and seventh-century village lay a moderately-sized enclosure, perhaps a temenos of a sanctuary. This would indicate that a cult area survived the abandonment of the settlement.

 

Pythion: the Theatre. E.F. Ghedini and J. Bonetto (SAIA/Padova) report on the sixth excavation season. Investigation focused on the architecture and stratigraphical sequence of the stage to complement the extensive knowledge gained in earlier seasons of the auditorium and the east entrance to the building. A trial was opened in the east sector of stage, between its front wall and the rear wall enclosing the theatre, where the 2002-2003 campaign located rubble from the building’s collapse in the fourth century, perhaps in 365 AD when a severe earthquake is documented (see AR 51 [2004-2005] 113).

Collapsed traces of a large structure running east-west were also revealed in excellent condition (Fig. 3). Built of square bricks with trapezoidal cross-sections arranged radially, it is probably the barrel-vault that covered the stage interior (Fig. 4). The removal of the upper debris revealed items employed after the theatre fell into disuse: three small basins, with holes, placed behind the stands and up against the wall at the northern end are nearly identical with others at the east side of the stage and the aditus. They form part of the remodelling of the theatre into a stable which took place before the dramatic collapse in the earthquake.

Beneath the remains of the barrel-vault was a second, deeper layer of brick and cement in poor condition. This is also vaulted and is divided into two, corresponding to the north and south parts of the entire block. A third massive structure, again in a collapsed state, was located near the north wall of the stage. This is a central pier from which sprang two arches, still partly preserved: it probably served as the base for the barrel-vault.

 

Pythion: the Byzantine Quarter. E. Zanini (SAIA/Siena) reports on the 2010 excavation, focused on understanding transformation in the urban fabric in this area from Roman times (Fig. 5) to Late Antiquity and the Early Byzantine period (fifth-eighth centuries AD; Fig. 6). Work concentrated immediately west of the Pythion, and north west of the Late Antique/Early Byzantine road where earlier excavation had revealed an important late structure.

Near the Pythion, detailed investigation was made of dumps of sundry materials alternating with more or less consolidated street surfaces. This suggests a return in Late Antiquity to a more private use of this area following the earthquake that levelled the Temple of Apollo and the theatre. Study was completed of the street levels in Late Antiquity, whose partial removal permitted a better understanding of a small Roman building – perhaps a manteion – in front of the temple (excavated in 2007-2008).

Byzantine House Complex: the Altar of Theos Hypistos. J.M. Fabrini (SAIA/Macerata) reports on study of material from the 2003 excavation of the altar and from the 1997-1998 excavation of the rear face of the temple in the Praetorium.