GLYFADA Mesi - 2008

Glyfada, Mesi. G. Koutsouflakis (EMA) undertook a preliminary survey of a site off the coast of the village of Glyfada, Mesi, which had been reported to the Archaeological Service by a local resident.
A hoard of EBA bronze tools was located and subsequently retrieved 450m from the coast and at a d. of 3.5m, concentrated in an area no greater than 10m². One hundred and ten tools had been identified at the time of writing, with more remaining to be disengaged from the mass in which they were found. These are almost exclusively percussion tools, especially a type of double axe with 2 percussion surfaces which occurs in 3 different sizes. The presence of lath-hammers and single-bladed axes is attested in smaller numbers, as well as fragments of tools of unidentified type. Below the tools, sunk down into the sea bed, were 2 bases of EH vessels, which probably contained the hoard: mat impressions were also found in a mass of bronze. This is the largest EH hoard of tools so far found in Greece or the neighbouring Balkans. There is no evidence at present to link it with a shipwreck nor are there settlement remains nearby. The details of the context combine to indicate that the hoard was most probably deliberately concealed in a coastal location which was then on dry land. In addition to providing information about metalworking styles and techniques in the S Balkans during the EBA, this discovery also promises to shed light on the physical development of this area of coast.