Agios Vasileios (Xerokampi) - 2016

Agios Vasileios (Xerokampi). A. Vasilogamvrou (ASA) reports on continued excavation at this site in the complex known as the West Stoa with a view to defining the location where the room with Linear B tablets was found, which, according to the excavator, was on the first storey of the so-called stoa. After removal of Byzantine remains a level produced by the first-floor collapse was revealed, comprising building materials and, among them, fragments of tablets, the majority inscribed. In the stoa the built stand with 4 built-in pithoi was fully cleaned, as was a stone-fill with 2 clay elements of cylindrical section, whose function is as yet unclear.

The most significant find [from elsewhere on the site] was a cube-shaped altar (0.31m x 0.33m x 0.44m) of soft limestone with a carved rectangular hollow on a large surface and a second arch-shaped on a small surface. Above the altar were found 2 horns of consecration, also of limestone, and a horse-figurine, while around it were found 6 clay bull-figurines along with fragments. An ivory male figurine was found, holding a calf (Fig. 1), as well as an Egyptian scarab seal of Amenhotep III (Fig. 2). The figurines are dated to the Late Helladic IIIA2 period, while an undecorated kyathos found together with them is also dated to LH IIIA2.