The B' Kouveleiki
Cave
is located in the western side of a small village and south of the region defined
between
Geraki and Alepohori.
It is 50 m. far from A' Kouveleiki cave.
The cave has been developed along the contact of the unterlying metamorphosed
volcanic rocks and the overlying dolomitic limestones. Its formation may be attributed
to the same erosional process as in the cave A. In addition, it must be pointed
out that in the front of the entrance an erosional surface exists. This implies
that the formation of the cave has been influenced by the ancient drainage system.
It consists of only one champer of 15X7X5 m. It becomes narrower and
lower in the interior part. At the entrance of the cave a thick archaeological
deposit and sparse surface sherds were confirmed. The carbon dating is still in
progress.
The excavation research has started since 1992 and is still in progress.
Because of the remarkable geological episodes the work was primarily focused at
the entrance of the cave. The findings consist of utility ware (not so fine as
in A' Kouveleiki), lithic tools of obsidian (mostly flakes), a burial in situ
of a phe-adolescent and a rich collection of archaeozzological materials; those
inditate a consistent use of the cave during the Late Neolithic period.
As in
A' Kouveleiki, B' Kouveleiki cave a) becomes of the units of the triptych
A'-B' Kouveleiki late-prehistoric open site, to test the model of the differentiating
use of sites in the Neolithic period in S. Peloponnese, and b) B' kouveleiki exhibits
specific geological phenomena and sedimentological composition which raise certain
archaeological implications. It has not been touristically developed; before 1992
it was used as a stable.
