GREMOULIAS - 2008

Gremoulias. G. Ladstätter (Austrian Institute) and G. Alexopoulou (Στ' ΕΠΚΑ) report on continuing collaborative excavations on the Gremoulias saddle, 3.5km SE of Kalavryta.
Since 2005, several soundings on the small plateau have gradually revealed a Doric peripteral temple. The substructure of the peristasis is almost entirely preserved in situ, and several limestone architectural members have been found, some still positioned as they had fallen. Above a euthynteria of 13.9m x 34.75m, a colonnade of 6 x 14 can be reconstructed. The architectural members (and particularly the shape of the Doric capitals) indicate that this limestone temple was built no earlier than the 4thCt BC. In 2007, a parallel foundation was discovered 10.2m E of the temple; its superstructure had fallen to the W. Blocks, parts of column shafts and capitals of crystalline limestone can be ascribed to a monumental Doric structure of the L6thCt BC and were reused as spolia (reported in 2007).
The 2008 excavation concentrated on the LCl limestone temple and the structures to its E. In the W part of the temple, for the first time, the substructure of the sekos was exposed, as was part of the foundation of the S peristasis (Fig. 1). The fully preserved toichobate in the SW corner of the sekos is made of limestone slabs of varying sizes, laid on the ground without any foundation. In the carefully smoothed top surface, mortises for the blocks of the wall above it have survived in places. Based on their axial orientation, the stone settings found in the N-S section in 2005 also belong to the sekos. Thus, the relationship between sekos and peristasis in the building plan can be reconstructed as follows. The sekos had an outer w. of 6.6m and an internal w. of ca. 4.5m. This sekos, set symmetrically within the peristasis, is clearly narrower than the calculated position of the 2nd and 4th columns on the W façade (axial distance 7.5m). Therefore, the W limit of the sekos should be assumed to have been a closed wall, not an opisthodomos harmonizing with the peristasis. This is further supported by the fact that within the 6.5m stretch of the W part of the sekos that was excavated, no internal traverse wall was detected: the sekos did not contain a separate W room.
Generally, the ground-plan of the limestone temple, with its elongated peristasis of 6 x 14 columns and its strikingly narrow sekos, suggests LAr features, as known, for example, at the Temple of Athena at Alipheira. In this context, one should also note the numerous limestone architectural elements of the LAr Doric order that had been built into the wall E of the temple. It is more than likely that they belonged to a LAr peripteral temple, the ground-plan of which was reused for the LCl temple.
To the E of the temple foundations, excavation was extended southwards in 2 soundings. This led to the discovery of the continuation of the N-S foundation. The rock, cut away to allow the placing of this foundation, has a right-angled W turn in the S, and exactly on that E-W axis, another limestone slab still rests in situ. In all likelihood the 2 in situ limestone slabs discovered in 2007 belong to a W foundation. Contrary to the initial 2007 interpretation of the remains as a supporting wall, it can now be assumed that they are part of a small-scale architectural structure measuring 4m by at least 7m and placed in axial symmetry 6.6m in front of the limestone temple. Probably, this is the altar of the sanctuary (Fig. 2).
In 2008 as in 2007, several LAr architectural members made of limestone were discovered as they had fallen from the structure in which they were in secondary use. They include blocks, numerous fragments of Doric columns, one shaft surviving to a l. of 2.05m and a Doric capital fragment.
It is noteworthy that the entire area of the altar so far excavated was characterized by a packing of dark burnt earth. Besides a few fragmented bones and scarce small chips of pottery, this area contained finds suggesting votive activity: the assemblage included an Ar female head with polos, a clay pigeon and numerous iron lance or spear points. A Geo bronze bull/cow was found, albeit in a secondary deposit, at the S peristasis of the limestone temple.
Although the deity to whom this sanctuary was dedicated cannot yet be clearly identified, it can be assumed that the sanctuary on the Gremoulias saddle was already established in the Geo period. According to the results so far, a limestone peripteral temple was erected in the LAr period, marking the monumentalization of the sanctuary. For reasons that remain unclear, a new peripteral temple was erected, with direct reference to the original plan, in the LCl period; probably at the same time, an altar was built to its E, using numerous spolia from the old temple.