LECHAINA - 2006

Lechaina (property of I. Androutsopoulou). L. Papacosta (Στ’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports the discovery of architectural remains covering the entire plot, with walls of unworked stones and mud datable to at least three construction phases all dated within the Middle Helladic period. To the first phase belongs just one wall, running northwest-southeast in the southeast corner of the plot. A large building with at least eight rooms dates to the second phase; its full extent is unclear as it extends beyond the plot in all directions. The building is planned around a southeast-northwest axial wall, with six smaller rooms to the north and two larger to the south. With the exception of the stone paved northeastern room 2, the rooms have floors of beaten earth and gravel with traces of fire to varying extents. Th resholds were preserved between two rooms. A storage vessel was found in room 2 beneath a layer with masses of red clay and pithos fragments. Room 4 in the southwest produced the most significant finds: cooking vessels in a charcoal layer by the east wall, vessels in small pits with evidence of strong burning, and a small cist grave with a stone covering to the right of the door, with a loom weight and traces of burning on top, which contained at least two secondary burials without grave goods. During the final construction phase the building was adapted, with the addition of three rooms. The complex was founded on thick layers of sand and pebbles which included Middle Bronze Age pottery.

Finds include much handmade pottery, cooking pots (with soft, poorly fired fabric), table wares (mostly kylikes) and storage vessels, plus two fine bronze spatulas and fragments of flint. A small Archaic oinchoe in room 4 is an isolated later find.