CHALANDRIANI Kastri - 2008

Syros Chalandriani. M. Marthari (Director, ΚΑ' ΕΠΚΑ) reports on continuing excavation on the hill of Kastri (Fig. 1), in the SE part of the upper crescent-shaped wall (squares I6−7 and Y6). The d. of the fill varied from 0.1−0.9m, according to the profile of the bedrock: finds were many and varied, but mostly sherds and tools for day-to-day activities. Pottery included tablewares, i.e. bowls of various types, conical cups with mat or leaf impressions on the base, 2-handled beakers and bell-shaped cups. Larger vessels for the storage and transport of foodstuffs include kadoi, small pithoi and larger ones with plastic or incised decoration, amphorae with incised decoration on the handles and large prochoes with cylindrical necks. A third category of vessel is cooking equipment, chiefly the basin-shaped hearths which were built directly into the ground. Other shapes represented in sherd form include kernoi, small kraters with burnished, impressed or incised decoration, and pyxides. Imported vessels from Siphnos, Melos and Thera continue to be found, confirming communication and trading connections between the islands. In addition to pottery, finds include obsidian blades and unworked pieces of obsidian, stone grinders and rubbers, and a small spool-shaped rubber made of bone. Evidence of the diet of the inhabitants of the settlement is provided by shells and ovicaprid bones. The acropolis is shown to be the site of an organized settlement, with roofed dwellings containing the necessary equipment and foodstuffs for daily life. Sherds of 2-handled beakers and bell-shaped cups were also found in the previous excavation campaign conducted in the 1960s, in the settlement immediately below the crescent-shaped wall, indicating that the summit wall dates to the L stages of ECycII. In addition, the pithoi with incised decoration, which had been thought to appear at the start of the MCyc period, are now seen to begin earlier.