MYCENAE - 2011

Mycenae. S. Iakovides (ASA) reports on the 2011 season of excavation in the East House and the Lower City.

In the East House (Fig. 1), the fill introduced in Mycenaean times contained a large quantity of sherds of LH IIIA1-L HIIIC domestic vessels as well as brick, mortar, a piece of lead sheet and fragments of human and animal figurine. LH IIIC deposits, earthen floors, a bench and strong evidence of burning were also found. The East House complex was destroyed in LH IIIC and then abandoned for some centuries before being re-occupied in Hellenistic times (walls defining rooms were revealed).

In the Lower City, along the west bank of the Chavos, the fills and flood protection wall described in 2010 were further investigated. The wall continues to the west and ends up at a round Geometric building which is probably a storeroom (it contained tools and vessels). A second building next to it probably served the same purpose.

The site plan (Fig. 2) confirms the existence among the few Mycenaean remains of a small Protogeometric installation which had larger and more extensive Geometric and then Archaic successors. The overall form of the complex remains to be clarified.

Finds studied from Petsas House include an almost complete oil jug and pieces of painted plaster. From the East House come an LH IIIB basin and an almost intact Middle Geometric amphora. From the Lower City come discarded Mycenaean and Archaic figurines (Fig. 3), lead ties, and Mycenaean, Geometric, and Archaic sherds.