KEPHALLONIA - Same - 2010

Same. A. Soteriou (Director, ΛΕ’ ΕΠΚΑ) reviews the development of the town from prehistoric to Roman times based on recent rescue excavations and research programmes.

The known Early Helladic settlement at the Phourni site can now be related to newly-discovered architectural remains on the EKO property at the southern entrance to the modern town (the exact nature of the connection awaits completion of the excavation). Finds to date include an extensive destruction layer, a small cist tomb (?), and a line of walls. Continuing activity into the Middle Helladic period has not yet been confirmed, although it would be premature to conclude that the area was abandoned.

Public works at Karavomylo, a short distance from Same, revealed a Late Mycenaean cist tomb (surely part of a cemetery) near to the Mycenaean settlement at Ag. Theodoroi.

In the southern part of the modern town, on the N. Rassia and Vrettos properties, Early Iron Age enchytrismoi and small cist graves contained highly contracted skeletons with vases as grave offerings. Settlement of the EIA-Archaic periods is found at Loutro, north of the modern town, the most substantial Archaic remains come from the west cemetery, where cist and tile graves and vases, were recovered from this waterlogged site. Loutro was also the focus of the Classical and Hellenistic city which also developed along the west slope of the hill of Ag. Phanenta at Kaminia. The city boundary corresponds to modern Dichalion Street. The town and acropolis were protected by a city wall, the date of which remains uncertain. In 2008 the coastal defence wall was discovered, and in Konstantatou Square, a krepidoma with mooring posts which defined the area of the Classical harbour. Definition of the east, north, west and south cemeteries completes the topographical plan of the city, although the location of the agora and temples remain elusive. A wide-ranging research programme focuses on the documentation and public display of the acropolis and city fortification.

During the Roman period, the city plan extended beyond modern Dichalion Street towards the plain, and along the shore-line, although there is no indication that the area within the city walls was abandoned. The harbour was moved to Loutro, where the submerged jetty is visible, while on the shore parts of the commercial centre of the city have been excavated. A striking number of baths excavated at several locations in the town remained in use for long periods. There is as yet little evidence for the architecture of simple private houses, although there are several instances of buildings distinguished by luxurious features such as floor mosaics depicting anthropomorphic scenes, floral or geometric patterns. On the central road through the modern town excavation revealed two public buildings with extensive mosaic floors, while public works revealed a two-roomed vaulted structure (a pump-house for drinking water) at Loutro, as well as a strong retaining wall for the bank of the neighbouring torrent.