ANCIENT PHENEOS - 2015

Ancient Pheneos. K. Kissas (Ephoreia of the Corinthia) and P. Scherrer (Austrian Archaeological Institute/Graz) report that excavation and cleaning exposed the fortification wall of the ancient acropolis.
A 230m long stretch of the 3.2m-wide wall, with two finished faces, was traced around the north slope of the acropolis, preserved to a maximum height of 4.5m. It was reinforced with four semi-circular towers (5.5m in diameter) plus a fifth which was three-quarters round (varying in diameter from 5.9 to 6m). At the east end of the slope, the wall ended in a gate, but at the west end the scattered surviving spolis and rock cuttings do not permit reconstruction of its form. The only evidence for the fortification of the other sides of the acropolis consists of some 150 disengaged stone blocks.

Both the wall and the towers were built in a combination of courses of trapezoidal and polygonal masonry, with the exception of a small stretch on the east end of the hill which is regular polygonal. The construction of the fortification is dated after 345BC on the basis of excavated finds - notably a bronze coin of Sikyon in a layer disturbed by the construction.
The construction of the part of the wall that surrounded the natural plateau of Ag. Konstantinos had disturbed the remains of a Middle Helladic settlement. Remains date to three phases (Early Helladic III-Middle Helladic I, Middle Helladic II, and Middle Helladic III-Late Helladic I). Traces of Neolithic settlement, located beneath these remains, are the first found in this area.
A sanctuary dedicated to a female deity was found on the east slope of the acropolis. A rectangular structure, 15.5 x 4m, had two building phases dated to the Archaic and the Classical period. During the latter, a monolithic stone base for a cult statue was added, along with a terracotta hearth. Among the numerous votives dating to both phases were fine quality pottery (kotyles, skyphoi, pyxides, lekythoi, kraters and miniature vessels), terracotta female figurines and protomes, bronze phialae, bronze and iron pins, bronze and bone fibulae, bronze dress ornaments, and glass and bone beads.