Kiladha - 2019

Kiladha. J. Beck (ESAG / University of Geneva) and Andreas Sotiriou (Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities) report on the 2019 season of research undertaken around the Bay of Kiladha in the southern Argolid. The objective of the underwater project in the Bay of Kiladha and the Lambayan- na zone,where an important Early Bronze Age settlement was discovered in 2014,was twofold. First, to study the finds stored in the premises of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in Athens and secondly, to follow up the survey of structures onsite. A new bathymetric system was also tested which proved efficient. A small underwater cave was discovered during the exploration of the bay. It was probably connected to a freshwater spring and provided an ideal shelter during Prehistoric times before sea level rise.

Study was carried out on sherds that had been collected in surface survey of the area and from the excavation at Lambayanna. Stylistic and petrographic analysis suggests that the coastal settlement of the Early Bronze Age was an intermediary in a network of exchange between the Cyclades and the wider Peloponnese.

Investigation at Lambayanna focussed on the foundation walls and buildings of the Early Bronze Age structures. Some of the remains were visible, while some were submerged and identifiable through geophysics. The aim was to produce a full subsurface map of structures, continuing topographic mapping that had begin in 2016.

Divers also investigated certain areas of the sunken landscape. The aim was to locate channels identified in geophysical survey that had been unsuccessfully found in 2018. This is in an area outside Franchthi Cave. Two unsuccessful attempts were made to locate this area, as low visibility provided problems.

A cave was located west of Kiladha, small in size with a shallow opening. Its floor was covered in small pebbles. There was also a lower temperature in the cave, and suggests to the divers that there was a source of fresh water nearby.