Εμφανίζονται 2 τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Αρχαιολογικοί χώροι στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΠΡΟΣΥΜΝΑ Αρχαιολογικός χώρος ΜΥΚΗΝΕΣ" .
ΠΡΟΣΥΜΝΑ (Αρχαιολογικός χώρος) ΜΥΚΗΝΕΣ
Berbati in the Argolid
In 1934 Axel W. Persson initiated his archaeological investigations
in the Berbati Valley east of Mycenae. In the ensuing years he worked in the valley
together with among others: Ake Akerstrom, Gosta Saflund and Erik J. Holmberg.
Each of them had his own excavation: Saflund the south slope of the Mastos Hill
and the Western Necropolis, Holmberg a chamber tomb to the east and Akerstrom
the Potter?s Quarter. Akerstrom continued working in that area after the War.
The investigations in the 1930?s were concentrated in the western
part of the valley, where Orestes from Mycenae, who had worked with Persson at
Dendra, had pointed out the most promising site: that on the eastern slope of
the Mastos Hill (i.e. the Potter?s Quarter). In 1935 Persson excavated the tholos
tomb, which contained one burial. The Palace style and other pottery associated
with it date the tomb to the LH II period or c. 1400 BC. Pottery of Late Geometric
(late 8th century BC) and Late Roman date attest the fact that the tholos tomb
was reused in later periods. The tholos tomb was published by Barbro Santillo
Frizell in Opuscula Atheniensia 15, 1984. The chamber tombs were published much
later by Saflund (1965) and Holmberg (1983).
The most interesting excavations were the ones on the Mastos Hill,
where Saflund and Akerstrom investigated each his settlement area: Saflund the
Early Helladic (c. 2600-2000 BC) one on the south slope and Akerstrom the Late
Helladic (c. 1600-1200 BC) on the east slope. Saflund published his results (together
with the chamber tombs in the Western Necropolis) in 1965 in the Stockholm University
Studies, while Akerstrom resumed work at the Mastos in 1953 and finished fieldwork
in 1959. He published the pictorial pottery in the institute series in 1987. The
large amounts of pottery that remain are now under study by Mats Johnson (Neolithic),
Jeannette Forsen (Early Helladic), Michael Lindblom (Middle Helladic), Ann-Louise
Schallin (Mycenaean) and Jenni Hjohlman (Medieval).
The most spectacular structure in the Potter?s Quarter is the kiln,
which Akerstrom dated stratigraphically to the transition LH II/LH IIIA1 or c.
1400 BC. He found a dump south of the kiln with pottery supporting the date. Production
continued at the site and dumped material east of the kiln testifies to hundreds
of years of pottery making. Akerstrom maintained that Berbati was the production
center of the spectacular pictorial vases found on Cyprus and in the Levant. Not
everybody has accepted his theory but most scholars now seem to agree that the
northeast Peloponnese was the origin of these prestigious vessels. Analyses of
the fabrics have shown that the clays are consistent with the clays in the general
Berbati/Mycenae area. Schallin?s research into the Berbati production aims at
studying the relationship of shape and decoration in the local Mycenaean repertoir
employing statistical methods.
In the late 1980?s Berit Wells initiated fieldwork on a large scale.
A surface survey of the valley and of the mountainous area to the east around
Limnes was carried out. The scope of the survey was to study the interaction of
man and environment through time, from the Middle Palaeolithic 50,000 years ago
until the 18th century AD. The publication, which appeared in 1996 in the institute
series, changed the hitherto accepted view of the Berbati valley as an archaeological
entity. The previous Bronze Age finds now could be put into a historical framework.
Before the survey we knew nothing, or next to nothing, about the Neolithic (5th-4th
mill. BC), the Early Hellenistic (3rd century BC) and the Late Roman (4-6th century
AD) periods in the valley. Now we know that it flourished during those times.
Regional and diachronic studies became almost the rule in Greece during the last
two decades of the last century, but The Berbati-Limnes Survey is one of the few
that has been completely published so far.
From 1994 onwards several sites documented during the survey were
investigated or underwent further documentation. These sites were included in
a larger research project (the Berbati Valley Project) to investigate the agrarian
economy of the valley. In 1994 the Late Geometric/Archaic cult place defined in
the survey and associated with the tholos tomb was excavated. Gunnel Ekroth is
studying the assemblage and published a preliminary report on the material in
the Opuscula Atheniensia 21 for 1996. The same season a study of the Late Roman
bath was carried out, also reported on in the same Opuscula. Kai Holmgren did
a CAD model of the extant structure within the framework of a project designed
jointly by the departments of Archaeology at Lund University: Swedish Prehistory,
Medieval Archaeology and Classical Archaeology and the Swedish Institute at Athens.
From 1995 onwards the project focused entirely on the agrarian economy
of the valley. Although several targets had been chosen for excavation, only one
at Pyrgouthi or the Hellenistic Tower could be realized. It turned out to represent
a spectrum of chronological phases contrary to what the survey had shown: from
the early Iron Age to the 6th century AD.
Penttinen (diss. 2001) redefines the Berbati Valley as a typical border
region, which sometimes is dominated by Corinth, sometimes by Argos. Most of the
material comes from disturbed contexts, which, however, reflects migrant animal
husbandry rather than sedentary agriculture thus defining a border zone. The most
spectacular finds at Pyrgouthi date from the 6th century AD (Hjohlman diss. 2002).
A farmstead with its press-house was destroyed in a conflagration. Whatever was
in the press-house at the time was buried under the debris, presenting a frozen
moment in the history of the site. Large storage jars, which could be mended,
wine presses and agricultural tools were found.
Kilns datable to the 5th century BC were found also at Pyrgouthi.
At present we have a substantial amount of evidence of ceramic production in the
valley with all in all four production sites: the previously well-known Early
Mycenaean kiln from the Mastos Hill, the 5th century Pyrgouthi kilns, a Late Roman
kiln found by our Greek colleagues west of the Roman bath, and the waste from
a kiln built for the production of roof tiles after the German destruction of
the village of Berbati in 1943. Obviously the manufacture of ceramics was a by-product
of the agrarian economy during several periods of the history of the valley. Berit
Wells together with Ian Whitbread and Matthew Ponting of the Fitch Laboratory
at the British School at Athens are doing a comprehensive study of the Berbati
clay beds and ceramics through time. Undoubtedly ceramic production was an added
asset for people living in the valley.
See Arto Penttinen, Berbati between Argos and Corinth (diss. University
of Stockholm, Department of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History), 2001 and
Jenni Hjohlman, Farming the land in Late Antiquity. The case of Berbati in the
northeastern Peloponnese (diss. Stockholm University, Department of Classical
Archaeology and Ancient History), 2002.
These dissertations together with a number of specialist reports on
botanical and faunal remains etc will be published in the institute series in
early 2005.
The Berbati Valley Project was brought to conclusion in 1999 with
an intensive survey of the Mastos Hill, which had been excluded from our permit
for the 1988-1990 survey. The aim of the 1999 survey was to test new methods of
field sampling and digital processing of data. Terrace by terrace all artifacts
were collected and analyzed in the field. Small samples were collected for further
study in the laboratory. The artifact database was related to a digitized model
of the hill creating distribution maps to illustrate artifact density on each
terrace and thus activity on each terrace period by period. In this way we have
gathered new information on the history of the hill. So far our knowledge of the
medieval period was very scant. It is now obvious from the distribution map below
that a small medieval habitation must be sought on the top of the Mastos Hill.
The investigations in the Berbati Valley during the 1980?s and 1990?s
have not produced artifacts comparable to the old excavations at Asine and Dendra.
The objectives have been different. The importance of the investigations for Swedish
Classical Archaeology lies in the fact that new methods have been tested and young
scholars have been entrusted with the publication of material, sometimes for their
dissertations, which has ensured quick publication. Therefore Berbati also became
a training ground for a whole new generation of archaeologists. In this respect
it can be compared only to Asine in the 1920?s and Acquarossa in Italy in the
1960?s and 1970?s.
Arto Penttinen, ed.
This text is cited Jun 2005 from The Swedish Institute at Athens URL below
Report on the investigations carried out at the Mastos, Berbati, in 1999
The 1999 investigations at the Mastos hill in the western part of
the Berbati Valley (Prosimni) had two objectives: a) to carry out a surface survey
of the entire hill in order to learn how it was utilized in different periods
and b) to create a computerized 3D map which would visualize human activity in
relation to the landscape and such modern human activity as harrowing and grazing.
All artifacts lying on the surface were classified in the field and entered into
the computer together with information on landscape type and land use A small
sample of material was brought to the museum, where it will be studied in detail
in the summer of the year 2000.
The excavations on the southern and eastern slopes of the Mastos in
the 1930s and 1950s showed that habitation on the hill goes back to Middle Neolithic
times and that there is continued activity until the Late Helladic IIIB period.
Coins found in 1953 assert activities in the historical period as late as the
12th century AD but the excavators correctly saw Mastos primarily as a prehistoric
site. Although this year's investigations corroborate this general picture we
now have a more complete grasp of human utilization of the slopes through the
period and can further modify the picture for the historical periods.
In the Neolithic period activity was almost exclusively documented on the southern and eastern slopes, although it should be noted that the top terrace of the hill yielded a number of sherds. Whether these originated there or were brought there through manuring or similar activities cannot be ascertained at this point.
From the old excavations we know that there was an important Early
Helladic settlement with preserved architecture in the south and that this continued
towards the east into the southwestern part of the Potter's Quarter. Our survey
now has registered a considerable density of EH material not only on all the terraces
in the south but also on the terraces in the east and southeast.
In the Middle Helladic period, if we are to judge by the numbers of
sherds studied, activity at the Mastos increases. Although we see particularly
dense concentrations on some of the terraces in the south and southeast, it is
obvious that all slopes were utilized. Much of the transitional MH/LH pottery
is notoriously difficult to define and this is especially true of survey material.
Therefore some caution should be applied when studying the distribution maps of
MH and LH I-II.
Even with great caution applied it is quite evident from the map that
Late Helladic I-II was a major phase at the Mastos. Now, this is of course may
come as no surprise considering the production connected with the LH I-II kiln
excavated in the 1930s. However, activity is not restricted to the kiln area but
is very much in evidence in the west, a fact that heralds a major extension of
habitation or other activities in LH III.
Studying every single sherd on the surface at the Mastos is, as everybody understands who has walked the area, very time consuming. For this reason we did not manage to survey all the fields neither in the south nor in the east. The carpet of material stretches some 20-30 meters south of the lowest terrace of the hill and in the east the fields below the road all the way to the rema would yield masses of material, predominately Late Mycenaean to judge from walking over the fields.
Late Helladic III by far yielded the most sherds. Now, sherd counts
can be vastly misleading, as Mycenaean pottery easily breaks into tiny fragments
during cultivation or even walking over the surface. EH and MH pottery is preserved
in large fragments on the same surface. However, in the case of the Mastos we
can still safely conclude that activity in LH III superceded that in any other
period as the numbers are overwhelming, which can be observed on the distribution
map.
In the Archaic to Hellenistic and Roman periods there is scattered
evidence of human activity. For the earlier periods most of the artifacts are
tiles and there is evidence that especially Corinthian tiles were reused in later
walls. Thus they could well have been brought from a wider area around the Mastos.
There is clearly a Late Roman presence but the nature of it is, as is the case
also with the Archaic to Hellenistic, impossible to discern.
The distribution of Medieval sherds (see design inside URL below)
shows an interesting pattern. The main concentrations are on the top terrace of
the Mastos and on the rather steep slopes immediately below. We interpret this
as activity mainly on the top terrace and from there material has spilled over
on the slopes. On the northern side this terrace still preserves a substantial
fortification wall, clearly built in Byzantine times but utilizing a prehistoric
wall as its foundation. Here lay a fort which ties in very nicely with the finds
of Late Byzantine coins referred to at the beginning of this report.
Arto Penttinen, ed.
This text is cited Jun 2005 from The Swedish Institute at Athens URL below
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