AGIOS VASILEIOS - 2010

Agios Vasileios (Xerokampi). A. Vasilogamvrou (ASA/Director, E’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports on the first full excavation season in 2010 (Fig. 1).

In sector I lay building A, with a mud brick superstructure, which had been destroyed by fire. Seven rooms were identified (Fig. 2), one of which contained a large quantity of arms and armour (16 bronze swords, a dagger, a knife, spearheads, a bronze helmet and the remains of a boar’s tusk helmet: Fig. 3) the position of which implies that they were placed in a chest. In a neighbouring room, objects found below the collapsed roof include the neck of a stone vessel (Fig. 4), a bull-shaped rhyton (Fig. 5) inlay from the upper part of a sword handle (Fig. 6), an Egyptian scarab (Fig. 7), and gold sheet ornaments (Figs 8-10). Associated pottery (including almost intact vessels) dates the complex to MH III – LHI/IIA.

Just to the north of building A was an MH III - LH I cist tomb cemetery (Figs 11,12). Ten tombs were found at different depths and with different orientations (east-west and north-south). Several had large cover slabs while others were uncovered: they were used for one to three burials. Similar but appreciably smaller tombs were used for child burials. Goods consisted of a few pottery vessels. One child burial held an LH I cup, and another an askos and a kantharos (Fig. 13).

Building B: within the building (Fig. 14) was a quantity of fragments of wallpaintings, including depictions of human figures as well as ornament. Depictions include a lower leg clad in a greave on a blue background (Fig. 15), a female head set within a banded border (Fig. 16), and part of a chariot wheel (Fig. 17).

In sector II, to the south, was a group of chamber tombs built in LH I - II and used until LH IIIA1, to judge from the pottery which included restorable vessels (Figs 18,19). One tomb was used as a rubbish dump after the collapse of its roof. The upper layer of this contained a large quantity of broken vessels, pieces of wallpainting, terracotta figurines and an amulet.