IKLAINA - 2008

Iklaina. M. Cosmopoulos (ASA) reports on excavation in the BA settlement.
In the S sector, investigation continued of the layer containing 2 floors which bore evidence of destruction by fire. Both floors were made of pebbles and beaten earth, and covered by a layer of fire-hardened earth which contained MHIII vessels and sherds, burnt pig and ovicaprid bones, various small finds, including an anchor-shaped pendant and 2 biconical spindle-whorls, and small fragments of burnt plaster. The 2 floors were separated by a heap of stones formed by the disintegration of wall foundations, burnt mud-brick and burnt MH coarseware.
In the S sector of the excavation there were at least 2 rooms occupied during the 2nd half of the MH period and destroyed by fire at the end of that period. This destruction was so extensive that it is impossible to define the location and direction of the walls or the plan of the rooms. It remains unclear whether these were 2 houses or 2 rooms in the same house. In the upper levels of both rooms were numerous LHIIIA2−LHIIIB sherds mixed with MH pottery, but there are no remains of walls to associate with them. In 2006, a long LHIIIA2−LHIIIB wall was excavated, associated with a stone paved area of uncertain function. Excavation of this area was extended to the E, exposing parts of 4 houses and water channels, which probably date to LHIIIA2−LHIIIB. (Fig. 1).
House A has 3 rooms (Fig. 2). Room A1 is rectangular (3.1m x 2m), oriented NW-SW and enclosed by walls α, β, γ and δ. The S half of wall a (up to 1.5m from its S end) preserved one course of large and medium-sized stones which bear strong traces of fire. By contrast, the N half of the wall is built of 3 horizontal rows of medium-sized stones, with no traces of fire: this part of the wall was built after the fire had destroyed the original construction. Wall β, which is also burnt, bonds and is contemporary with the S part of wall α, while walls γ and δ, which enclose room A1 to the E and N, are of different construction and do not bear signs of fire. The S part of the room contained a butterfly-shaped construction, of which parts of 2 burned walls survive. The floor of the room, made of pebbles and beaten earth, was built over a foundation course averaging 0.4m d. It is covered by a destruction layer 0.1−0.2m d., which contained fire-hardened earth (with very strong signs of fire in the S part of the floor, around the butterfly-shaped structure, but only sporadic traces in the N half), stones and burnt pig, ovicaprid and bovine bones, and numerous LHIIIA2−LHIIIB sherds. On the floor and in contact with the N arm of the butterfly-shaped structure, a large tripod vessel was found in situ. Room A2 lies to the E of A1, and is an irregular parallelogram in shape. The floor is made of pebbles and beaten earth upon a foundation level as that of room A1. The pottery from room A2 was also identical to that from A1. Room A3 lies to the N of A2 and is separated from it by wall ε. It is a small room, perhaps used for storage; it was full of stones which had fallen from the later water channel constructed above. House A had 2 building phases. The earlier phase includes the S part of room A1 with the S part of wall α, wall β and the butterfly-shaped structure inside the room, all of which were destroyed by fire. After this destruction, the room took its final form with the construction of the N extension of wall α, walls γ and δ, and the unburnt N part of the floor. Rooms A2 and A3 belong to this same phase. The pottery of the 2 phases does not differ significantly, and it seems that they occurred in quick succession within the LHIIIA2−LHIIIB period.
House Β lies to the E of house A. Room B1, oriented NW- SE (Fig. 3), is more recent than house A, and all its stones bear strong traces of burning. The interior has not yet been fully excavated, but part of a floor has been located. This floor is made of medium-sized stone slabs in beaten earth, on which lay LHIIIA2−LHIIIB sherds mixed with burnt earth and burnt animal bone. Room B2 has an E-W l. of 5.4m; its dimension N-S is not yet established. In the E face of wall l, a row of 5 large stones forms a large rectangular bench 0.4ml. x 0.26m d. The floor of room B2 has not been uncovered, but the pottery from inside the room includes many LHIIIA2−LHIIIB sherds and sherds from burnt kylikes.
House Γ includes parts of 2 rectangular rooms oriented E-W. The E, N and S walls of room Γ1 survive, but the W wall was removed to lay down stone paving. On the floor, made of pebbles and beaten earth, was found a large quantity of LHIIIA2−LHIIIB pottery, including sherds of 2 rhyta and stems of at least 60 kylikes, an animal figurine and a large number of animal bones. The animal bones found in house Γ belong mainly to pigs and ovicaprids, but there were also many bones of deer, wild boar and hares, which are evidence of extensive hunting. A set of deer antlers, on the verge of being shed naturally, indicates the animal was killed in the autumn. Finally, the discovery of a forest species of snail (Lindholmiola corcyrensis) demonstrates the existence of woodland nearby.
At house Δ, part of a building with at least 2 rooms was located at the N edge of the excavation area. Room Δ1 was long and narrow (1.3m internal w.) and oriented N-S; the E-W dimension has not been established since the E part has yet to be excavated. An opening 0.5m w between the S end of wall γ and wall β of house Γ forms the entrance to the building from an exterior space, probably a courtyard, which opens to the W and leads to a paved area. Room Δ2 was destroyed by the laying down of the paving and only 2 walls are preserved.
Built water channels were placed between houses Β and Γ; these run E-SE and join the paved area in the W. Channel 1 is the largest; it is covered by 14 large slabs, set in a straight line which follows the slope. At the W end of the channel, by the final cover slab, is a hole 0.1m di.and 0.22m d., filled with very fine gravel, which probably held a post to support the roof. From channel 2, only the channel itself and the cover slabs by the outflow are preserved. It lies 1.4m from channel 1 and curves from SE to NW. The NE corner of wall ζ of room A3 was removed for the construction of the outflow of the channel. The walls of the channel outflows are built of upright slabs supported by smaller stones. They are filled with clayey earth and a very few undatable sherds. The outflows of the 2 channels come together at the NE edge of the paved area.
A burial was found W of the long wall, at a d.of barely 0.4m below the mod. ground surface. Only the cranium, parts of the right arm and 2 spinal discs were excavated: a 12/15-year-old female, buried in an upright, contracted position, with the head markedly pushed down towards the chest and the right hand below the jaw. The young woman suffered from porous lesions on the right eye socket and porotic hyperostosis in the cranial vault. While the precise factors behind this case cannot be determined, these symptoms are generally associated with anaemia, which can be genetic, a result of lack of iron in the diet or of internal haemorrage caused by parasites. Additionally, the 3rd molars show excess enamel, something which is also present on the crowns of the canines and incisors. This feature indicates illness or bodily harm one or 2 years before death. The head rested on the neck and rim of a MH storage vessel.
The results of excavation so far indicate that the settlement was first occupied in the 2nd half of the MH period, and was destroyed by fire at the end of that period. The site was reoccupied in LHII−LHIIIA1, as shown by the walls found at the deepest points in house B (walls λ and μ) and house G (walls δ and ε). Thereafter, in the LHIIIA2−LHIIIB period, the oldest part of house A was built (the S part of room A1, with the S part of wall α, wall β and the butterfly-shaped structure). Room A1 was destroyed by fire during this same period but was soon reused and extended to the N, with the additions to wall α and wall β, while rooms A2 and A3 were added to the house and wall hwas built. The next phase, which also dates to LHIIIA2−LHIIIB, encompasses houses B, Γ and Δ, the water channels and the paved area, which co-existed with rooms A1 and A2. The latest architectural feature to appear is the long wall, which was built at a higher level than wall δ of room A1 and above the paved area. The settlement was finally destroyed by fire during LHIIIB, as is clear from burnt pottery in the destruction layer.