KYTHERA ISLAND PROJECT - 2008

Kythera Island Project. C. Broodbank (BSA/London) and E. Kiriatzi (BSA) report on the 2008 study season.
Study of the Rom pottery was a principal objective: the Rom component at Kastri and at 26 further sites was examined and the absence of Rom material at many more sites verified (Fig. 1). Sites selected included large coastal establishments (for example, site 129) and inland sites that range substantially in size (for example, sites 020 and 108). Overall, LRom is most common (17 sites with substantial quantities of sherds plus 6 with tiny amounts), but a substantial amount of MRom is also notable: distinct ERom phenomena are small, coastal sites rich in finewares and a major Hel and/or ERom presence at Diakofti, the alternative harbour to Kastri, at a period when activity at Kastri is reduced. There are strong indications of distinctions between assemblages at different kinds of sites, and much evidence for shifting patterns of off-island contacts and activity well into the L7th Ct AD. One further Cl site (082) emerged.
A large amount of MByz to E/MVen pottery (ca. 12th-16th Ct AD) was studied: a particularly fruitful comparison was made between 2 large inland sites, the slightly earlier site 108 and site 174, the late phase at which overlaps with the 18th Ct AD start of regular census records. Two hundred samples of MByz to E/MVen wares were selected for petrographic and chemical analysis, the largest-scale sampling of such material yet undertaken in the Aegean.
Analysis of the Cl-Rom metallurgical debris collected by the survey (primarily ca. 45kg of slag, mostly from 23 sites) continues (M. Georgakopoulou). The widespread occurrence of small-scale Cl-Rom debris contrasts strikingly with the extremely restricted distribution of PH copper metallurgy, though it remains far from ubiquitous. Specific instances of Cl and Rom metallurgy can be identified, and in the case of multiperiod sites, internal spatial resolution is sometimes sufficient to indicate an earlier or later date for such activity. All slags have been examined macroscopically, revealing a distinction between a group with a flow texture on their upper surface, sometimes with iron ore fragments, commonly associated with a N Kytheran or S Laconian smelting origin (bloomery smelting has been inferred from Cl fragments in the Kastri excavation material) and another group comprising residues from small smithing hearths. On pure Cl sites, the 2 types do not coincide, perhaps suggesting specialized production areas. These preliminary observations are currently being tested through analytical examination (chemical and microstructural) of a large sample selected to cover both slag-type and inter-site variation.