PRAISOS - 2007

Work in 2007 concentrated within the fenced zone on the NW slopes of the first acropolis of Praisos, immediately to the W and N of the so-called andreion or Almond Tree House, investigated by R.C. Bosanquet in 1901. (Fig. 1) Three trenches were opened. The smallest (A-100), immediately N of the andreion, was defined by 2 of the surviving walls which Bosanquet had called ‘earlier’. Two larger trenches were opened to the W of the andreion, A-200 to the N and A-300 to the S. For recording purposes, the andreion was itself considered a trench (numbered A-400).

A-100: this area, defined by 2 of Bosanquet’s ‘earlier walls’ to the N of the andreion, was not completely investigated this season. However, these 2 walls, though of inferior workmanship, clearly abut and are therefore later than the NW outer face of the andreion. The walls do not underlie this monumental structure, as Bosanquet thought. To the W, cleaning the face of the outermost and lower wall revealed a layer of possible roofing debris underlying the wall, which was not excavated this season.

A-200: like its neighbour to the S (A-300), the most prominent feature in the upper levels of this trench was the Med−mod. (probably Ven) terrace wall (A-203). The upper layers below topsoil were rich in cultural material: large quantities of animal bone, tile and pottery of various dates from the BA until the present, with Hel and LCl material predominating. Some bases of LAr cups, together with some shoulders of what appear to be very thin-walled (and so probably Cl) high-necked cups could also be discerned. Small finds from these layers comprised numerous terracotta loomweights of all types (pyramidal, round/disc and bi-conical, with the former predominating) and one terracotta plaque of a young man. (Fig. 2) Below were layers which, if not closed, were relatively undisturbed. To the E, a rock cutting formed the E extent of an anc. surface (almost certainly not a floor), below which were a number of small rock-cut pits and natural hollows, one of which contained a mass of animal bone and another a high-necked cup. This surface, which was probably an open-air space, was squared off to the SW by a stone setting and marked to the S by a rock cutting. To the W ran a substantial anc. wall (A-210), at least 0.7m w., set almost against the vertical face of the bedrock. To the NW of this wall was a cross-wall (A-215) with a threshold in the NW corner and a rock-cut floor. The area behind this to the NW (A-213) contained numerous small finds − an iron and a bronze nail, an iron knife and a lead weight, a mysterious stone foot, a kernos and some pithos fragments. These seem to be associated with other terracotta weights which had fallen into the adjacent room (A-216), finds associated with further pithos fragments and the only (bronze) coin of the season. Excavation of this adjoining room proved particularly productive. While the NW of the room had been disturbed by a later pit (A-217), a layer of fragments of at least 2 pithoi which had fallen in situ were found in the SE corner (Fig. 3). In the centre of the room was a stone column base and to the SW a rectangular stone-built hearth with a setting of stones and a small amphora to the S. The stone setting is interpreted as a ‘warming stone’ and around this were masses of carbonized material.
A-300: the upper layers in this trench, opened up around the probable Ven terrace wall, contained material which was, in most respects, very similar to that found in the upper layers of A-200; masses of animal bone, pottery of all dates from the BA to the E20th Ct, with Hel material predominating. There were some slight differences however. First, there were about double the number of loomweights (one pyramidal example, stamped AΔ) and far fewer examples of Ar cup bases. Moreover, there was some possibly Rom ridged ware (about 5 sherds). After the upper tumble was removed, at a d. of about 0.7m, a complex of walls was uncovered, some standing quite high. To the S of the trench, a pair formed 2 sides of a probable building whose inside was filled with tumble. Excavation concentrated on the N and NE corner, on either side of the extraordinarily well-preserved wall A-310, which ran broadly E−W (Fig. 4). This wall, with its well-defined stone door jambs, survives to a h. of about 1.8m above the original ground surface. Another wall, A-314, at right angles to and partly below this, clearly abuts (and is therefore later than) wall A-309. A partially rock-cut bench sits next to a possible window in wall A-314. To the W is another wall, A-315. Excavation concentrated on the area immediately S of wall A-310, where a very large pithos had fallen onto an original ground or floor surface. This surface was in turn directly overlain with largish blocks (tumble). A bronze pin was found immediately adjacent to this pithos.
In sum, there is a complex of several walls in several phases, broadly datable to the Hel period. The working hypothesis is that these represent several phases of houses.
A-400: the W face of the andron was cleaned, fully revealing a monumental façade in a clearly mainland style broadly characteristic of the 4th Ct BC. The structure is highly visible to anyone travelling along the route from the coast along the old kaldirim route from the mod. village of Maroneia past the Skalais cave.
No other areas were excavated, but several worked blocks from a large monumental structure were recovered. These do not seem to fit the so-called andreion, and may indicate the existence of another large civic building in the vicinity.
The upper layers in trenches A-200 and A-300 comprise mixed deposits. The presence of residual BA (tripod legs and one probable MM III fineware sherd) and EIA (one PGeo sherd with compass-drawn concentric circles), Geo and Or (one pithos with a guilloche embossed on a raised band) materials confirm the results of the survey − they indicate E habitation further upslope on the first acropolis. Part of the upper layers probably represent Bosanquet’s dump partly mixed with hillwash. That this dump comprised, in part, Ar and later drinking vessels and animal bone (with at least one jaw of a wild pig) is at least consistent with his hypothesis that the monumental building he also called the ‘Almond Tree House’ might, at some stage, have been an andreion, i.e. a public area for communal dining and drinking.
In his description of this building and the adjacent structures which he excavated, Bosanquet did not remark how all the surrounding walls butt onto, and thereby partially obscure, this structure. He was probably right in thinking that its original purpose was not for processing olive oil: the olive presses must relate to a 2nd phase, when the use of the building was quite different. There are no parallels for such a monumental building on Crete in LCl or EHel times, and this provides a prima facie case for its being some kind of civic building, rather than a private house. The fact that it would have been so clearly visible to travellers coming from one of Praisos’ ports makes it a very appropriate building for a public guest-house or koimitiria, and the large quantity of animal bone and drinking cups found in the upper layers are at the very least consistent with some kind of public dining.
The date of the final phase of occupation remains unsolved. Wall A-310 seems to be the latest of our walls; if one follows Strabo and the Moni Toplou inscription, it ought to date to the last building phase of the city, i.e. in the decades before 146 BC. But no clear destruction horizon exists, nor is there any layer of tile collapse or roofing debris consistent with a phase of abandonment. This last might be explained if the building of A-310 had been robbed of its tiles before the building fell in. Though we would like to date wall A-310 to the E2nd or L3rd Ct BC, we cannot rule out some kind of ‘Hierapytnan reoccupation’ in the latest Hel period. The absence of any quantity of Rom pottery rules out the notion that there was any serious Rom reoccupation of this part of the city.