AGIA PARASKEVI OF ARACHAMITAI
Report
of work conducted in 2010
Early Cult Activity and Identity of the
Deity
In Room III we dug a deep profile trench. In it we encountered,
below the floor level of Room III, black-glazed pottery decorated with ribbing
and grooves that dates to the fourth and third centuries BC, representing layers
predating the building. A handful of other finds connected with earlier activity
at the site was also recovered, mixed into the Late Hellenistic layers inside
the building. The finest piece is the handle of a bronze mirror depicting a
Caryatid in Doric chiton, holding the skirt with her right hand and a small bird
in her left hand. It finds its best parallel among the Caryatid mirrors of the
Sikyon school that date to the 470s BC.
Already during the trial excavations conducted in 2007 to 2008 we
found a smaller amount of Corinthian roof tiles belonging to an earlier
building. More tiles of the same type were found during this field season, all
however mixed with the Late Hellenistic layers. Especially worth mentioning is
the painted piece of a sima belonging to the Corinthian roof. It can be dated to
the sixth century BC, thereby giving a clearer date of the earlier building (a
temple?) which existed prior to the Late Hellenistic building.
Apart from the couple of fragmentary female figurines that were
found inside Room II, another couple of female figurine fragments were found
outside the building itself, on its south side. Further indication of cult
activity at the site is given by the roof tile stamps. From the trial trenches
we had found stamps beginning with ΑΡΤΕΜ… and ΔΕΣΠ… This year we found further
examples of these two stamps – unfortunately still no complete one, but one
reading ΑΡΤΕΜΗ… and another …ΠΟΙΝΑ… These two new stamps seem to strengthen our
assumption that the roof tile stamps give the genitive form of Artemis and
Despoina, i.e., the names of the goddess(es) worshipped at the site. Such a cult
is well known elsewhere in this part of Arcadia.
The Late
Hellenistic Building
The Roman Courtyard Structure
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