KALAMI - 2008
General Information
Record ID
1871
Activity Date
2008
Chronology
Antiquity - Classical - Hellenistic - Roman
Key-words
Cistern - Numismatics - Tools/weapons - Architectural terracotta - Metal - Minerals - Bone - Stone - Hydraulic installation - Production/extraction site
Type of Operation
Institution
Localisation
Toponym
Kalamion
Kalamion
Linked Record
2008
Report
Kalami (Chalakatevakis-Ventouris property). K. Tzanakaki (ΚΕ' ΕΠΚΑ) reports on excavations (Fig. 1) conducted in 2007-2008 which uncovered much of an Early Hellenistic structure (Figs 2-3) overlying Late Classical remains. The initial Hellenistic structure (of which three rooms are noted) was constructed on at least three levels to fit the lie of the land. In the later second century BC extensive renovation, perhaps following an earthquake, divided rooms into smaller units with the insertion of internal walls, leading to an east-west internal division. A total of 13 closed spaces/rooms were examined: most had earth floors, with one paved (room 8). Earthquake destruction probably caused the final abandonment in the later first century BC (stone and tile destruction deposits are traced on the floors). The early house was a site of olive and wine production on some scale: a wine press is preserved on the west side, with parallels from Black Sea sites such as Mirmeki and Olbia. A re-used oil press with Cypriot parallels was found in room 11 (Fig. 4); an inverted pot with olive pips (room 1 [Figs 5) and a small cistern underscore the connection. In room 10 (Figs 8-10), a small hollow capped by a marble altar held a pair of clay figurines of Cybele and Attis alongside stone and clay ritual vessels of the third century BC. Lead and bronze objects were also retrieved from room 10. Though the structure retained its agricultural connections in the later phase of occupation, the nature and scale of operations changed. Finds now include many bronze coins, clay vessels (including amphorae from Kos, Knidos, Rhodes, etc.). Room 4 (Fig. 11) was partly open to the air: on the floor were scattered lead ring-links, with pumice and shells. Room 13 (Figs 12-13), always partly sunken into the ground, was employed for storage, with benches situated along the walls. In the stone and tile destruction debris were broken amphorae, stone tools and items of bronze. The presence of a pig jaw, plus another below the floor, look like deliberate deposits of a ritual character.
Author
Don EVELY
Bibliographic reference(s)
AEK 1 (2010), 719-31
Legend :
location of excavation/archaeological operation
location of modern place
polygon of place (AG Online)
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Date of creation
2011-02-21 00:00:00
Last modification
2023-10-06 11:52:13
Picture(s)
Fig. 1/ Map of the excavation in northeast of Aptera.
Fig. 2/ Ground plan of the structure.
Fig. 3/ View from the northwest of the structure.
Fig. 4/ Room 11: press weight.
Fig. 5/ Room 1: handleless small skyphos.
Fig. 6/ Room 1: stone vessel.
Fig. 7/ Room 1: plate of Eastern Sigillata ware.
Fig. 8/ Room 10: amphora of Dressel 1b in the destruction deposit.
Fig. 9/ Room 10: deposit underneath the earth floor.
Fig. 10/ Room 10: fragment of relief skyphos.
Fig. 11/ Room 4: lead objects in the floor.
Fig. 12/ Room 13 from west: bench and wall 21.
Fig. 13/ Room 13: fragments of amphora.