Kotroni - Lakithra in Cephalonia - 2023

The team identified two substantial shafts—each reaching depths of up to 5 m—surrounded by carefully arranged stone rings (Fig. 3.86). Monumental in appearance, these features retain traces of rock-mining tools, carved sockets that once held wooden staircases or platforms, and stratigraphic indications of intentional backfilling. In front of the larger shaft, excavators recorded a clay platform mixed with deliberately broken household pottery, flint flakes, and shells, dated to the Late Bronze Age. The predominantly handmade sherds, with their visible inclusions, point to continuity with earlier ceramic traditions, alongside a small amount of local Mycenaean pottery. The purposeful breakage highlights a distinctive ritual practice. Entrances to both shafts were sealed with layers of calcium carbonate and vessel fragments, further underscoring their ceremonial significance. West of the complex lay a series of terraces made of red and black clay soils rich in shell inclusions. Flint also appeared throughout the site’s stratigraphy, suggesting activity on a potentially large scale. These cylindrical shafts are thought to have begun as mining wells and were later transformed into prominent monuments. The Lakithra wells, dated to roughly 1200–1100 BC.