ARACHAMITAI - Ag. Paraskevi - 2010

Arachamitai, Agia Paraskevi. B. Forsén (Finnish Institute at Athens) reports on the 2010 excavation season. Between 2006 and 2008, a magnetometer survey and trial trenches at Ag. Paraskevi located a 30 x 11m Late Hellenistic building (Fig. 1) and another 65 x 65m square structure with a central courtyard. The 30 x 11m building is connected to a sacred deposit and a sanctuary of the Late Archaic to the Late Hellenistic period. The courtyard structure, of uncertain function, dates to the third or fourth century AD. In 2010 a new five-year programme of excavation was begun, focusing on the 30 x 11m building and its immediate surroundings in order to understand both this structure and the earlier stages of cult activity at the site.
Ca. 60m² of the western part of the 30 x 11m building were excavated. In addition, the walls were traced further to the east, revealing the outlines of the building for some 11 x 14m. The outer walls are 0.5-0.6m thick and built of head-size stones with soil fill. The 0.35-0.7m high foundation is built of smaller stones: above it lies the socle of larger stones (0.55-0.85m high), and above that walls probably of mud brick now lost. The thick walls and strong foundation indicate that the building had two storeys.
Three rooms were excavated: the large rectangular Room III (ca. 9 x 5m), the round Room I (ca. 5m in diameter), and the rectangular Room II, the short side of which is ca. 4.5m long. No doorways leading into the house have so far been detected. None of the rooms was excavated in its entirety. All were covered by a thick layer of Laconian roof tiles (Fig. 2), except in parts of Room III where the collapsed roof was apparently destroyed by later agricultural activity. In Room I, a well-laid tile mosaic was uncovered immediately below the collapsed floor. This room contained few finds except for a Late Hellenistic lamp. Its function remains unclear, although it may have been used for some kind of washing as it was drained towards the west (through Room III) by an open pipe. Room I could be entered through a doorway from Room II to the north. This room was only partly excavated: three floor levels were found, one paved with reused tiles and the others made of packed earth. The room contained large amounts of pottery, including jars, juglets, a pithos and other storage vessels, but also some bowls, plates and cups, two lamps, two fragmentary female figurines, a piece of multicoloured millefiore glass and two coins; most finds were made along the walls. This room was apparently used for storage.
Room III, a large rectangular room in the west short end of the building, had a floor of packed earth. It also contained large amounts of pottery and a total of seven coins. The pottery differs from that in Room II in the amount of cooking and fine drinking vessels represented, together with a number of amphorae and kraters. The majority of the Megarian bowl fragments and fine red-slip cups (eastern sigillata B) came from this room, indicating that it may have been used for communal eating and drinking.
The pottery and other finds recovered inside the building mainly date to the second to first centuries BC. Two coins (from Laconia and Megalopolis) of the mid-first century BC belong to the latest finds, although some pottery may continue into the first century AD. The building shows two construction phases, with Room 1 belonging to the later phase.
Below the floor level of Room III, black-glazed pottery of the fourth and third centuries BC, decorated with ribbing and grooves, represents layers predating the building. A handful of other finds connected with earlier activity at the site was also recovered, mixed into the Late Hellenistic layer. The finest piece is the handle of a bronze mirror depicting a Caryatid in a Doric chiton, holding her skirt in her right hand and a small bird in her left (Fig. 3). It is best paralleled among the Caryatid mirrors of the Sikyon school which date to the 470s BC. Further fragments of Corinthian roof tiles belonging to an earlier building, including part of a painted sima, were also found. The sima can be dated to the sixth century BC, thereby giving a clearer date for this earlier building (a temple?).
In addition to the couple of fragmentary female figurines found in Room II, fragments of similar figurines were found outside the building itself, on its south side. Further indication of cult activity is given by the roof tile stamps. The trial trenches produced stamps beginning with ΑΡΤΕΜ… and ΔΕΣΠ… Further examples of these stamps, one reading ΑΡΤΕΜΗ… and another …ΠΟΙΝΑ… found in 2010 strengthen the assumption that the roof tile stamps give the genitive form of Artemis and Despoina, i.e. the names of the goddess(es) worshipped at the site.
The central court of the Roman courtyard structure was accessed from the west along a ca. 15m wide passage flanked on both sides by rows of small square rooms. In previous trial excavations it was noted that part of the northern flank of this passage was built on top of the Late Hellenistic building. In 2010 part of one of the square rooms was found along the northern flank of the passage leading to the courtyard. The walls of this room are built of fist-size stones and soil. They are only 0.4-0.5m wide and built directly onto the surface with no foundation, indicating that the superstructure must have been very light and of only one storey.