ANO MELPEIA - 2011

Ano Melpeia, Petroula. X. Arapogianni (former Director, ΛH’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports on excavation following the discovery of a large quantity of architectural spolia during the demolition of the modern church of Prophitis Ilias (fig. 1). The foundations of a late sixth- or early fifth-century BC temple were revealed (fig. 2), with maximum preserved dimensions of 20.65x10.75m (the full length is calculated at 23m). A small foundation within the building probably belongs to the first, Archaic, temple of the late sixth-century. In addition to pottery (plus miniature vessels), finds include a bronze bracelet with snake-head finials, a bronze figurine of a naked warrior carring a spear, a bronze rod terminating in a lion’s head, a small bronze vessel, bronze sheet with a relief depiction of a procession of women carrying branches, iron nails, a large quantity of iron spearheads (figs 3-4) and a sherd with a dedicatory graffito ΑΝΕΘΕΚΕΝ.