TIRYNS - 2008

Tiryns. J. Maran (DAI/Heidelberg) reports on the 3rd season of excavation in the W lower town.
Investigation of grid squares L51 and L52 focused on the hitherto little-known occupation of the site during the pre-Myc, EMyc and EPalatial (LHIIIA) periods, as well as during the EIA. Although Pre-Myc and EMyc levels have not yet been reached, the basic course of occupation is reflected in finds appearing as earlier admixtures in later levels. Another EH sealing supplements the group of such objects already known from 2007. An unusual object of likely MBA date is a steatite stamp seal, the form and decoration of which has close parallels in Minoan seals of MMII-III date (Fig. 1). The earliest confirmed architectural remains date to LHIIIA2 and belong to a building distinguished by its relatively large size and massive wall, resembling the LHIIIA building complexes uncovered between 1969 and 1974 in the zone immediately S of the current excavation. Until now, only a segment of the S exterior wall of this new building and parts of 2 rooms with associated floors have been exposed. In refuse deposits, which had accumulated above the former ground surface in an open area outside the building, a 0.037m l. fragment of a Linear B tablet of very fine clay was found (Fig. 2). Only a short segment of one original straight edge of the tablet is preserved, whereas on all other sides the piece is broken and heavily worn. The surface shows 3 parallel lines and traces of a 4th, as well as one partially preserved sign. Although the size of the object and its bad state of preservation render it useless as a textual source, its significance lies in the fact that it comes from a chronologically homogenous context, and it is the earliest example of such a tablet in Tiryns.
Still within the sub-phase LHIIIA2, the above building was replaced by the room uncovered in 2007 and interpreted as a potter’s workshop. The walls of this latest attested Myc building phase were not founded on top of those of its predecessor and were built in a different technique. It is now clear that the room, which yielded most of the unusual objects, plus installations thought to be linked to pottery production, was not a roofed space, but rather a courtyard associated with a building outside the S boundary of the excavation area. It is likely that most of the examples of painted plaster found in 2007 and 2008 had decorated the walls of this building. A Myc sealing with an unclear impression probably predates the use of the courtyard, as it came to light inside the fabric of its floor. The ceramic evidence confirmed last year’s assessment of only a minor overlap of the latest Myc building phase with LHIIIB1 and a subsequent abandonment of the area during most of LHIIIB and LHIIIC.
The most significant EIA discovery is a structure interpreted as a Geo burial precinct, only partly situated inside the excavation area (Fig. 3). To the N the precinct was enclosed by a reused earlier terrace wall probably of Myc date, and to the W by a row of at least 3 large stone blocks. Cut into the N boundary wall and arranged at an approximate right angle to it, a Geo amphora lay obliquely on its belly, with its mouth toward the interior of the enclosed space. Parts of another large vessel found at its mouth probably served as a cover. Along the W side of the amphora, 2 small vessels, an undecorated trefoil-mouthed jug and a decorated skyphos, were found standing in an upright position. Linked to the deposition of the amphora is a pavement of broken limestone slabs which followed the inner side of the N boundary wall and curved in a bow outwards in front of the mouth of the amphora. The amphora was removed en bloc to allow investigation of the contents. In light of these discoveries, the possibility arises that the pavement of large limestone slabs uncovered in 2006, and first interpreted as the covering of a cist grave, served as an access to the burial precinct. In such a case we would be dealing with a very elaborate construction. A remarkable stray find from an EIA level is a golden spacer bead (0.0085m l.) consisting of 4 thin tubes of which the 2 in the middle are slightly shorter than the ones on the outside (Fig. 4). This is likely to come from a disturbed rich grave of the Geo period. In grid square L51, the uppermost part of a curved structure built with small stones began to appear. This possibly represents a PGeo house.
Restoration and analysis of the large complex of wallpaintings found between 1999 and 2001 in excavations conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service in the area of the western staircase was continued in cooperation with A. Papadimitriou (Δ' ΕΠΚΑ) and U. Thaler. An intensive search for joins between the fragments led to significant progress in reconstructing fresco compositions which add to the known range of Tirynthian palatial frescoes, especially scenes linked to the religious sphere.