KARYSTOS Kampos - 2007

Kampos (Karystos). M. Chidiroglou (Athens), Z. Tankosic (Indiana), D. Keller (Boston) and M. Wallace (Toronto) report on a survey undertaken under the auspices of the Canadian Institute in Greece. In 2007, the Southern Euboea Exploration Project (SEEP) continued the survey of the alluvial Karystian Kampos (plain) W of Karystos.
The survey area was divided into arbitrary 100 x 100m squares, which were further divided into 10 10 x 100m transects. Each transect was further subdivided into 5 20m l. sections, which served as the basic recording units in the field. Total collection was carried out on the surface of all areas designated as findspots, while the thin material scatter between findspots was recorded (for non-feature material) or recorded and collected (feature sherds, obsidian, etc.). Ca. 35% of the entire survey area was surveyed using a stratified sampling approach; squares were selected so as to include all the geomorphological features present in the survey area and to take account of the results of the 2006 season.
Sixteen findspots were discovered, giving a total of 26 from the 2 seasons of the Kampos survey. The most numerous (11) of the 2007 findspots have a PH component or are purely PH, 8 have a Rom component or are purely Rom and one is tentatively identified as a Cl site. Since the material from the sites identified as Rom dates very late in the period, it may be possible to reassign some Rom findspots to the EByz after detailed study. Most findspots (14) are surface scatters, while 3 also have accompanying features defined loosely as architectural remains, altered natural features, pits, cairns or similar. Two PH findspots, 07N35 and 07S28, have produced more than 2,500 (Fig. 1) and 300 pieces of worked obsidian respectively, but little other material. Both are preliminarily dated to the EBA.
The PH findspots constitute the most significant finds of the 2007 season. They consist almost entirely of obsidian scatters with little or no other material. In some locations (e.g., 07S28) an almost complete reduction sequence is present, testifying to the importance of the area in the BA obsidian trade in this part of the Aegean. Findspot 07N35 represents an obsidian workshop connected to the known EBA site of Ag. Georgios Kampou, ca. 100m E. Why other types of material culture (especially pottery) are absent from the PH findspots is a matter for further research. Based on the 2006 survey and preceding investigations in the area, we had expected PH sites in the Kampos to have been covered by alluvium, but, plainly, the extent of alluviation caused fewer problems of visibility than had been thought.