ACHARNAI, Agios Athanasios - 2006

Acharnai, Agios Athanasios, Sagariou Street (O.T. 1550, property of A. Pasalide). Maria Platonos (Β’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports the discovery of nine graves.

Grave 1: in the middle of the plot, the upper part of a small pithos, oriented north-south. While it contained no finds, the presence of pyres in the area suggests that this may have been a pithos burial. Removal of the pithos revealed a trefoil-mouthed oinochoe, a Corinthian pyxis and two miniature kotylai, dated in the first half of the seventh century BC.

Grave 2: south of grave 1, a tile grave (0.73 x 0.5 x 0.28m, oriented northwest-southeast) contained no bones or burial offerings. Two sherds of a Corinthian aryballos were collected from the area.

Grave 3: a pithos burial (oriented east-west) in the eastern part of the plot. The pithos, which had been repaired with lead clamps, contained only a few bones and sherds.

Grave 4: a tile grave (0.54 x 1.2 x0.5m) similar to grave 2, oriented northwest-southeast, containing a supine inhumation. Both faces of the tiles preserve black slip.

Grave 5: a half-preserved pithos burial (0.79 x 0.5m) northwest of grave 1.

Pyres 1, 2, 3: three pyres in parallel south of grave 1. Only the western part of the southernmost pyre 1 was preserved (0.57 x 1.6 x 0.52m, oriented north-south); the few sherds excavated from the ash layer include a rim fragment with serpent decoration. To the north, only the west edge of pyre 2 survives: a globular trefoil-mouthed oinochoe came from the ash layer. Only the northern part of pyre 3 was preserved.

Pyre 4: pyre 4 lay south of grave 3, oriented east-west. Only the northern part was preserved. The ash layer yielded a bronze object (possibly a pin), and part of a plain jug of the second half of the eighth century BC.