Thorikos - 2022

Roald Docter (EBSA / Ghent University) and Sylviane Déderix (EBSA / Universität Heidelberg / Université catholique de Louvain) report on the 2022 season of a five-year project at Thorikos.

The excavation of trial trenches that were begun in 2021 at the prehistoric settlement on the acropolis of the Velatouri were completed (fig. 1). Trench 2, located below the rocky hilltop, revealed a thick retaining wall supporting an open court, along with poorly preserved building remains. Most of the pottery found in this trench dates to the Middle Helladic and early Late Helladic periods, suggesting occupation during those times. Stray sherds also indicate activity during the Final Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, late Archaic, and Classical periods. Trench 3, on the upper west slope of the hill, aimed to assess the nature and date of two concentric rings of walls. Roald Docter and Johannes Bergemann (Karl August University Göttingen) directed the excavations of an Early Iron Age building (fig. 2) on the lower southeastern slope of the Velatouri Hill. The excavation revealed badly eroded rooms and pottery dating to the Middle Helladic and early Late Helladic periods, similar to trench 2. The walls were well-preserved, and the finds (stone utensils, sea shell and pottery covered in heavy concretions; animal bones are rare) suggested a Final Protogeometric to Early Middle Geometric period, making it the earliest Iron Age house discovered in Attica. Plans to further restore the finds to offer more clarity regarding dating and function.