NAUPAKTOS - 2003

Naupaktos. Junction of Thermou and Athanasopoulou Streets (property of the 2nd Public School of Naupaktos). F. Saranti (then Στ’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports the discovery of two Late Geometric apsidal buildings. Building 1 (preserved apse diameter 4.3m) had walls of large rough sandstone blocks set vertically: the floor was levelled bedrock, and five postholes surrounded the structure. Building 2 had two concentric walls 0.7-1.25m apart, and was similar in plan to building 1 (preserved diameter ca. 9m). The buildings were preserved to a height of 0.3-0.52m: partial preservation and a lack of finds apart from pottery preclude characterisation of their function. A curved wall which had collapsed over the western part of building 2 was originally a boundary or retaining wall founded on a step in the bedrock, and connected with stone mounds to the east. While it cannot be dated precisely, a tpq for its collapse is provided by two Hellenistic tiles graves within the walls of building 2 which were destroyed in the process. A further disturbed two-part Hellenistic cist tomb was found at a higher level. The area was again used as a cemetery from Early Christian times onwards, when burials close to the surface disturbed earlier remains.