PAVLOPETRI - 2011

Pavlopetri. E. Spondylis (EMA), J. Henderson (BSA/Nottingham) and D. Sakellariou (Hellenic Centre for Marine Research) report on the third field season conducted in 2011. The overall aim of the project is to outline the history and development of the submerged prehistoric town, a principal port of entry into the Peloponnese especially for traffic via Crete and Kythera, which lies just off the Pounta shore opposite Elaphonisos.

Three-dimensional survey of the submerged remains continued using a more advanced version of the technology trialled in 2010. The entire settlement area (ca. 8ha) was surveyed using a stereo-photogrammetric Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, deployed by a team from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (figs 1,2). A full photo-realistic record of the site was made, and the data are now being stitched together to build a complete 3-D model of the submerged town. These very precise data, combined with finds lifted from the seabed, support site reconstructions made by the BBC for a BBC/Discovery Channel documentary on the project (figs 3,4).

In collaboration with the Hellenic Centre for Maritime Research, further oceanographic and geomorphological work was carried out along the coast to explain when and how Pavlopetri became submerged. Three bands of beachrock, indicating the positions of old shorelines, were identified underwater and sampled (figs 5,6). Radiocarbon dates so far obtained show that Pavlopetri sank in at least three earthquake events, the first soon after 1,000 BC, and the others striking over the next 2,000 years until the city was completely submerged by 1060 AD. More samples will be submitted for radiocarbon dating to further elucidate the sequence of submergence.

Limited excavation in 2011 focused in an area between narrow walls immediately northwest of Building 10 (fig. 7), one of best preserved structures on site, centrally located at the intersection of three streets. Building 10 differs from the Bronze Age domestic plans seen elsewhere at Pavlopetri, and is more like a strongly-built structure of specialised function. The narrow walls may indicate a corridor or more likely a storage magazine adjacent to it, a hypothesis supported by the many pithos sherds recovered from the area. An in situ early Neopalatial pithos was excavated: similar in profile to examples from MMIIIB Kastri on Kythera (fig. 8), it was decorated with horizontal rows of stamped seals and finger-impressions, and sealed with a large schist slab. It was completely surrounded by grey marine sand, and its base rested on firmer sand alongside fibrous organic material which was sampled for radiocarbon dating. Monochrome and polychrome pottery from the grey sand, in what appears macroscopically to be local clay, belongs to the end of the Middle or very beginning of the Late Bronze Age, likely contemporary with, or slightly later than, the pithos. A second smaller pithos lay close by to the southeast, and to the northwest a dark circular organic deposit may be the remains of a container, perhaps a basket or barrel, set alongside the other pithoi in this area. These discoveries within one small trench support the hypothesis that the area was used for storage. The narrow long walls likely represent foundations: they are at the same level as the pithos mouths, making it likely that the pithoi were set into the ground and accessed at ground level.

In the north corner of a room in Area L, the remains of three separate pithoi were found in situ, with associated deposits (figs 9,10). The first bears decoration below the rim reminiscent of Neopalatial material from Kastri; the second and third have rope impressed bands. Initial observation suggests that they are similar in date to those in the area of Building X. All of these pithoi therefore relate to buildings occupied in the Neopalatial period, and since both areas lie on the fringes of the settlement, it is possible that Pavlopetri was particularly extensive in that period, with lesser occupation continuing into the Mycenaean period as at Kastri. The discovery of complete miniature vessels at the close of the excavation in Area L implies that intact occupation deposits are preserved here (fig. 11).

The frequency of ‘Minoanising’ pottery among both excavation and surface finds confirms the close links between Pavlopetri and Kastri in Neopalatial times. Finds include Lustrous Decorated sherds and, to a significantly lesser extent, coarse Red Silver Micaceous wares. Lustrous Decorated is mainly represented by limited examples of polychrome painted jars or jugs. Most of the painted wares recovered this year belong to vessels bearing monochrome decoration in black and occasionally in red. Plastic decoration is attested on storage and basin-like vessels of Orange, Red or Grey Micaceous fabrics. In terms of shape, ‘Minoan’ traits are seen in the shape of the excavated storage vessels, tripod cooking pots, a jug and the limited numbers of conical cups. Later finds include an Arabic gold dinar of the 10th- to 12th-century AD.