Agia Paraskevi
of Arachamitai
2006 - 2007
2008
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015

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AGIA PARASKEVI OF ARACHAMITAI
Preliminary
report for 2008
Further trial
trenches were opened at the site with the purpose of clarifying three issues
concerning the two monumental buildings detected here – a large courtyard
structure and what looks like a Hellenistic stoa. Firstly, we wanted to define
the date and function of the large courtyard structure. Secondly, we wanted to
collect more information concerning the relationship between the two buildings,
which are differently aligned and thereby seem to be of different date. Finally
we hoped to find out more about the pre-Hellenistic activities at the site,
which were known only through a handful of finds from the trial trenches of 2007.
The
magnetometer survey of 2007 gave us a fairly clear idea of the ground plan of
the monumental courtyard structure. Rows of 5 - 6 m large square rooms are visible
on all sides around the courtyard, in the centre of which there seems to be a
round pit. Furthermore it seems as if there existed two entrances to the
courtyard, one in the centre of the western side and another in the centre of
the eastern side. Two trial trenches were opened in 2008 in order to verify the
existence of this structure as well as to find out information concerning its
date and function. Trench E was placed at the location of the possible central
pit and Trench F in one of the square rooms flanking the courtyard.
Trench
E turned out to be a disappointment. Part of it was excavated until a depth of
165 cm below surface without producing anything but a handful of sherds and some
tile fragments. The quality of the soil is better here than anywhere else on the
site, being mixed with organic material but void of stones. The trench was too
small to clarify whether there really was a man-made pit here or not.
Trench
F revealed the exact location of three of the walls in one of the square rooms.
The walls are built of small natural stones with no mortar and have a width of
ca. 60 cm. They are still standing to a height of some 60-70 cm with their upper
part covered by some 20 cm of top soil. The area between the walls, i.e. the
interior of the room, was covered by a 10 - 20 cm thick roof tile layer mixed with
a burned mass of red clay, possibly the remains of sun-dried bricks once forming
the upper part of the walls. Very few finds were recorded in the layer below the
collapsed roof – only some iron nails and a handful of non-diagnostic sherds
mixed with charcoal and ash.
Because of the few finds in Trenches E and F, the question concerning the date
and function of the courtyard structure is still uncertain. However, many of the
roof tiles found in Trench F were decorated with finger strokes in a way typical
of Middle to Late Roman tiles and thus give a rough indication of the date of
the building. This date is further supported by a C-14 sample taken below the
collapsed roof, which dates to the third or fourth century AD.
The
third trench excavated was an enlargement of Trench A dug in 2007. This year it
was enlarged by an additional 15 m2, mostly towards the west and
south in order to find the borders of the shallow pit filled with dark soil,
large quantities of pottery and other small finds. Throughout most of the trench
there was a 30 - 50 cm thick dark layer mixed with fragments of roof tiles, large
amounts of pottery (including miniature vessels), fragmentary terracotta
figurines, various small finds, charcoal and ash. The layer is thicker and also
occurs slightly deeper in the north towards the stoa-like structure. Below this
dark layer follows sterile soil except in a smaller area in the north of the
trench, where more dark soil mixed with large quantities of pottery, various
small finds and ash continues at least to a depth of 170 cm below surface. Here
the dark soil, which most likely belongs to a pit, differs from the previous
dark layer in that, instead of fragmentary roof tiles, it contains some large
stones.
The
earliest finds were made in the south part of the trench. These include e.g.
parts of a local red-figure vase dating to the mid-fifth century and
black-glazed pottery of the fourth to third century BC. The finds mostly date to
the third and second centuries BC, and they include Megarian bowls and bronze
coins. Several coins were found in the pit and one of them, recovered at a depth
of 155 cm, is minted by Kassandros. The composition of the finds was thus rather
similar to the one found in Trench A already in 2007, although we now have more
evidence for the early phases of cult activity as well as a better picture of
the stratigraphy of the dark soil layer.
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