Agios Kosmas (Attica)
Agios Kosmas ( Greek Άγιος Κοσμάς ) is a small peninsula near the Athens suburb of Alimos in Greece . Significant finds from the Bronze Age were made here. The peninsula is named after the small church of Agios Kosmas from the 19th century, which was consecrated to Saint Cosmas of Aitolia . Agios Kosmas is probably the ancient Cape Kolias.
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Cape Kolias
Cape Kolias was 20 stadia east of Phaleron . After the battle of Salamis in 480 BC. The remains of the destroyed Persian fleet are said to have been washed ashore by the west wind at Cape Kolias. The oracle of Lysistratos or the oracle of Delphi , according to which the women of Kolias will one day cook with oars, is said to have come true . The temple and the statue of Aphrodite Kolias probably stood at today's church of Agios Kosmas. There was also a sanctuary of Demeter Thesmophoros and Kore and statues of the goddesses Genetyllides.
exploration
The Greek archaeologist George E. Mylonas carried out excavations on the peninsula in the spring of 1930 and spring 1931. Here he discovered the prehistoric settlement and two cemeteries. The outbreak of the Second World War initially prevented further investigations. During the war, the German Wehrmacht set up an anti-aircraft position on Cape Agios Kosmas and partially destroyed the ancient remains. It was not until December 1952 that Mylonas carried out further investigations.
description
settlement
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The oldest settlement comes from the Early Helladic period (FH II, 2650–2200 BC). This is divided into two phases. The finds from the earliest phase are quite sparse. They consist of a few pottery shards and building remains that were built directly on the rock. However, five Bothroi , three round and two elliptical, were found from this period. Bones of goats, sheep and pigs and pottery shards were found in them, from which complete vessels could sometimes be assembled. What these were used for is not known. It may be storage troughs that were filled with waste after a building was abandoned.
From the following phase several houses and other building remains were discovered. The walls are up to a height of 1 m obtained have a thickness of 0.75 m and are mostly of small bricks with mortar in herringbone technology built. The upper end of the stone plinth, where it is still preserved, is a layer of flat stone slabs. The walls of dried mud bricks rested on this. The houses had a forecourt, which was often paved with stone slabs, and two or more rooms one behind the other. The entrances to the rooms were not in the middle, but offset to the sides, were about 0.95 m wide and tapered slightly upwards. As found door hinges show, the entrances were closed by doors. The well-preserved house E consisted of a forecourt and two rooms. It was 10.30 m long and 5.80 m wide. Inside the house, a pitho was found that was damaged in antiquity and patched with lead staples. The houses were arranged in apartment blocks. In between ran streets about 1.40 m wide, paved with broken glass and stone slabs. The floors were made of tamped clay and were given a new layer from time to time. In addition, some of the buildings were renovated. The second phase can be divided into several layers. Burned and charred residues were found in the top layer. Obsidian blades and shards were found in the entire area of the Early Helladic layers . The extent of the settlement could not be determined because in the south, west and north the terrain was changed by erosion and on the isthmus the early Helladic layer is below sea level.
As a layer of sand about 15 cm above the last phase of the Early Helladic shows, the place initially remained uninhabited. In the late Helladic period (SH II, around 1450 BC) Mycenaean settlers came, and the place reached its heyday in SH III C. At that time, the settlement covered the entire peninsula. Megaron M was built above house E from the early Helladic period. It was 4.50 m wide and about 8.20 m long and probably had a canopy supported by two columns. Two children's graves were found under the floor of Megaron M and two more in the adjacent area. In the southeast of the settlement, Megaron N was found, the roof of which was supported by a series of pillars. Many buildings are poorly preserved because the foundation walls are directly underground. Some even lie on top. Remains of Mycenaean buildings were also found on a rock in the southwest of the peninsula, which was still connected to the mainland in ancient times. In the later phase the settlement was surrounded by a Cyclopean fortification wall. Traces of fire were found in places from the time shortly before the settlement was abandoned.
graveyards
On the isthmus, Mylonas discovered two cemeteries from the Early Helladic period, in the northeast part with 32 graves and in the southeast part with seven graves. Two types of graves were used for burial. The probably older graves are stone boxes that are built from upright stone slabs and are also closed with stone slabs from above. They are trapezoidal and have an entrance and a short dromos in the direction of the settlement, which is closed with a stone slab. However, since the entrance is often only about 0.45 m wide and 0.40 m high, it is probably just a false door and the dead were placed in the graves from above. There were also smaller, rectangular graves that were used for the burial of children. The second, probably younger, grave type is semicircular or horseshoe-shaped. The side walls are made of small stones and inclined slightly inward. They also have an entrance and a dromos facing the settlement and closed with a stone slab. Only the entrance from grave 22 is not oriented towards the settlement. This difference is likely due to a lack of space. The second type of grave is also covered with stone slabs. However, they are arranged so that a small opening remains in the middle. To prevent them from falling into the grave, the stone slabs were weighted down with small piled stones. The hole in the middle was again covered with a stone slab.
As far as the graves were big enough, the dead were laid flat on their backs in the grave. Most of the graves were too short, however, so that the dead were often buried lying on their left or right side with their legs bent to a greater or lesser extent. One hand was in front of the mouth, the other on the chest or right next to the body. As in Cycladic burials, the head rested on stones that served as pillows. These graves are family graves. This means that they were used for other burials over a long period of time. The old burial was put aside to make room for the new burial in the middle. On the basis of the bone arrangement of the dead put to one side, it was possible to show that this happened even before the previously buried body had completely disintegrated. The three graves 4, 8 and 14 obviously served as ossuaries . The dead were buried next to these, and when they were completely disintegrated, the bones were collected in the graves. At grave 11 a round hole was found, which was interpreted as a sacrificial botro.
Hardly any grave goods were found in the graves. These were deposited in a separate area outside the grave. Only one metal object was found in the two cemeteries: bronze tweezers. The pottery was roughly the same as that found in the early Helladic settlement. The excavators suspected, however, that ancient clay pots were often used as grave goods that were no longer in use in the settlement. Early Helladic and early Cycladic ceramics were found in the graves. These included three Cycladic handle scales and a Cycladic pyxis decorated with an incised pattern, which was filled with obsidian blades and shards. Ceramic artifacts that resemble elephants were also found. They probably served as supports for barbecue skewers. Some ceramic vessels were badly fired and were probably produced as grave goods. Grave 3 stands out from all graves. It has a round shape and the side walls were built partly from small stones and partly from stone slabs. Like the semicircular graves, it was covered and, in addition to early Helladic grave goods, the composition of the burials corresponded to that of burials in the Cyclades. A broken Cycladic idol was found in grave 4 . It appears that the idol was intentionally broken for ritual reasons, as was also practiced in the Cyclades.
The late Helladic cemetery has not yet been discovered.
interpretation
The settlement on Agios Kosmas was founded at FH II by settlers from the Cyclades . However, this must have been at an advanced time, as no vessels with herringbones or spiral decorations were found in the tombs. Even in the oldest settlement, only a pottery shard with fully developed spiral decoration was discovered. The settlement probably also had inhabitants from the mainland, as the predominant Early Helladic pottery shows. One lived mainly from the obsidian trade. The construction of the houses corresponds to the later SH II period. The tombs correspond to those of the early Cycladic culture, which, however, knows neither ossuaries nor multiple burials. Around 2000 BC At the end of FH III or beginning of MH I, the settlement was burned down and abandoned.
Around 1450 BC BC (LH II) the place was repopulated by Mycenaean settlers. Now people lived mainly from the extraction of the dye purple from the purple snail . The settlement had its greatest prosperity around 1200 BC. Around this time there was another fire disaster and a short time later (LH III C) the place was finally abandoned.
The site is now largely filled in or destroyed. Only a small part with the early Helladic buildings E, F, H and the Megaron M is still free on the site of the Akrotiri DC Club Restaurant southwest of the parking lot. The finds are on display in the Prehistoric Collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Web links
literature
- George E. Mylonas: Excavations at Haghios Kosmas in American Journal of Archeology , Volume 38, Part 2, Apr. - Jun. 1934, pp. 258-279 ( online )
- George E. Mylonas: Ανασκαφή Αγίου Κοσμά 1951 in Αρχαιολογική εφημερίς , Volume 91, 1952, pp. 117-134 ( online )
- George E. Mylonas: Aghios Kosmas. An Early Bronze Age settlement and cemertery in Attica. , Princeton 1959
- John Travlos : Bildlexikon zur Topografie des antique Attika , Tübingen 1988, Isbn 3803010365, pp. 6-13
- Siegfried Lauffer : Hag. Kosmas in Greece. Lexicon of historical sites from the beginning to the present. , Weltbild, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-8289-4144-3 , p. 250
- L. Russell Muirhead: Athens and Environs , London 1962, pp. 129-130
Individual evidence
- ^ Pausanias , Journeys in Greece , 1, 1, 5
- ↑ Herodotus : Historien , 8, 96
- ↑ Strabo : Geographica , 9, 1, 21 (p. 398)
- ^ Plutarch : Solon , 8, 4
- ^ Pausanias , Journeys in Greece , 1, 1, 5
Coordinates: 37 ° 53 ′ 39.2 " N , 23 ° 42 ′ 57.2" E