MAVRA LITHARIA - 2010

Mavra Litharia, harbour of anc. Aigeira (Nachmia Iakovou property). The ΛΖ’ ΕΠΚΑ reports the discovery of part of the harbour mole oriented east-west (figs 1-2). The 17.4m-long stretch revealed three levels: the superstructure was built of cobblestones of varying sizes set horizontally and vertically in cement; the middle level was of courses of dressed masonry of local stone (mostly sandstone), most of which were in secondary use; the bottom layer consists of sand, shell and cobbestones in a natural conformation. On the west side of the plot was a large natural rock which probably closed the harbour basin on the west side. The finds, especially pottery, show that the harbour was built in the second or first half of the third century AD, coincident with the construction of the theatre at Aigeira in the reign of Maximinus Thrax (235-238 AD). The abandonment of the harbour should be related to the general abandonment of the city after an earthquake in the mid-third century AD.
A synthetic study by P. Micha (EMA) draws together evidence for the harbour works as a whole, and notes the conclusion of a 2007 inspection by the ROMANCONS (Roman Marine Concrete Study) team that hydraulic cement was not used in the construction of the harbour wall.