PRINIATIKOS PYRGOS - 2008
Informations Générales
Numéro de la notice
773
Année de l'opération
2008
Chronologie
Néolithique - Néolithique Final
Âge du Bronze - Bronze Ancien - Bronze Moyen - Bronze Récent
Antiquité - Archaïque - Classique - Hellénistique - Romaine
Mots-clés
Os - Four - Sépulture - Puits - Église - Édifice religieux - Installation hydraulique - Espace public - Habitat - Nécropole - Production/extraction
Nature de l'opération
Institution(s)
Localisation
Toponyme
Pyrgos
Pyrgos
Notices et opérations liées
20082010
Description
Priniatikos Pyrgos. B. Molloy (IIHSA/Dublin) and B. Hayden (ASCSA/Pennsylvania Museum) directed excavations at the FNeo−Ot site, continuing work in 2 trenches opened in previous seasons and opening 2 new trenches (Fig. 1).
In area H, the main objective was to clarify the nature of the deposits filling the clefts in the bedrock in the area behind the small kiln previously excavated. While some of the earlier deposits could have been washed into these gaps, most material was deliberately introduced as a levelling deposit. The material is primarily EM with some FNeo, but the rarer MM sherds give a likely date for this activity. It is probable that the kiln was in use in MMIB.
One wall appears to be MM in date, with possible reuse in the Hel period. A pebble layer directly E had small worn sherds of consistent EM date, probably brought from nearby to create a level terrace. This area has suffered much from both marine and aeolian erosion, making it difficult to ascertain its original nature and use. The ceramic sequence preserves phases from FNeo through to the MMIB, with some LM and Cl/Hel sherds in the uppermost levels.
In trench II, walls and other features (particularly an ossuary) were encountered directly beneath the surface during the 2007 campaign (Fig. 2). These features were exposed further. The associated pottery is predominantly LByz, and includes examples of very high quality (for example, imported sgraffito and trail-slip wares), indicating activity of significant status, and perhaps a monastic settlement. Local tradition reports churches on Priniatikos Pyrgos, and the mortar used in one apsidal wall suggests an EByz date for the revealed structure. Since the ‘apse’ would be located on the N, rather than the E, side of the building, this may be part of a triconch church with N, E and W apses. Excavation within the room to the N revealed no trace of a floor, but 3 probable MM−LM walls were exposed at deeper levels. The alignment of one suggests a Hel date, but the pottery in the fill around it was predominantly LMIA.
A major feature in trench II is an MByz or LByz ossuary. Excavation of ca. 35% of the structure has produced remains of at least 20 individuals deposited in a single event. These may originally have come from a cemetery associated with an EByz or MByz church, being reinterred when a later church was built. Since some of the pottery is EByz, it is clear that some of the original graves date to this period.
Two exploratory soundings revealed several phases of metalled surfaces, incorporating different size beach pebbles in different phases. While much of the pottery in the fill above was Rom, the surfaces appear to be of MM date. They represent a large outdoor area near the summit of the headland, possibly associated with a building underlying the Byz structures.
Trench III was opened on the W of the promontory, between kilns 1 and 2, to investigate activities in this area and determine the nature and extent of tidal erosion of deposits on this slope. A cobbled surface in the S of the trench appears to be part of a Hel or Cl road. Deeper, a series of clayey laminations were apparently washed into the area. It is suggested that these incorporate debris from pottery production, as the spot lies between two PH kilns, though the deposit appears to be LMIA at the earliest. This fits the suggested industrial function of this area throughout PH and historic times. Further N, a cement-lined reservoir may be Ot in date, reusing part of a MM wall. Beneath it in the centre of the trench, paving slabs of limestone, schist and conglomerate extend over an area larger than any domestic paved surfaces at nearby LM Gournia (Fig. 3). N of the paving, an artificial terrace was built at or just above the level of outcropping bedrock. The fill contained a large quantity of EM pottery, but the less numerous MBA sherds indicate that it was probably constructed in MM−II. A sounding to the W revealed small patches of surfaces and a pottery sequence probably spanning MMI−II to LMIA.
Trench IV was opened to the E to determine whether substantial depths of PH deposit exist on this side of the promontory. All of the walls encountered appear to date to the 19th Ct, though no associated floor level was discovered. An earlier, EM or MM, metalled surface lay just beneath the walls, though this was discontinuous throughout the trench. Erosion had stripped away later soil horizons (consistent with the damaged condition of the surface) and this surface was exposed in parts, possibly in the 5th Ct BC and certainly in E historic times. A large deep pit, possibly a well (excavation stopped at -1.6m), was located in the SE corner of the trench.
The chronological span of occupation underlines the site’s importance. PH, Cl and LByz materials in particular reflect the high status of the settlement at least in these periods. The secure deposits of various dates will be used to refine the local chronology developed for the Vrokastro Survey Project, allowing a more detailed understanding of this centre within its regional context. The diachronic research strategy will further illuminate the role of this community in the environmentally and culturally dynamic land and sea-scape setting investigated by the Istron Geoarchaeological Project.
Auteur de la notice
Catherine MORGAN
Références bibliographiques
Unpublished field report, Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens
Légende graphique :
localisation de la fouille/de l'opération
localisation du toponyme
polygone du toponyme Chronique
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Date de création
2010-03-10 00:00:00
Dernière modification
2023-10-04 08:54:22