Gonia (Corinthia)
Gonia ( Greek Γωνιά ( f. Sg. ) = Corner ) is an archaeological site on the plateau of the same name in Corinthia in Greece . The prehistoric finds range from the Neolithic to the Mycenaean period . About 400 m to the west is the archaeological site of Yiriza and at the church of Agios Athanasios located about 130 m to the north-west, Mycenaean chamber tombs were found.
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Description of the site
The limestone plateau is 1 km north of Examilia and 4 km east of Archea Korinthos . It is roughly in the shape of an isosceles triangle - which is probably where the name can be traced back to. The approximately west-east extension is about 410 m. The distance from the north to the southern tip is 170 m. Gonia rises about 20 m above the plain and almost everywhere the terrain slopes steeply. There is only a flat ascent in the southwestern part. In the middle of the southeastern leg there is an incision through which one can comfortably reach the plateau. There is also a second, but narrower, incision opposite on the northern side. These cuts were either created by erosion or created by humans. They probably served as access to the settlement in ancient times. There may have been a third entrance in the southwest area.
exploration
From August 1 to August 18, 1916, the American archaeologist Carl Blegen carried out experimental excavations here. This involved making 21 excavation cuts of around 1.50 × 4–5 m. The results of the dig were only published in a preliminary report in the Metropolitan Museum Studies in 1930. In 2003 the Greek Archaeological Service carried out excavations.
Results
The oldest finds came from the Neolithic Age . Among them were also pottery shards that correspond to the first and second Thessalian phases. Among other things, there were also polychrome painted shards that imitated ceramics from Dimini . However, hardly any structural remains from the Neolithic age were discovered.
From the following Helladic period walls and even a house was found with three or four consecutive rooms. The buildings that were found were all simple apartment buildings. This also applies to the structural remains from the following epochs. However, Blegen pointed out that the area investigated was quite small and one might have missed a possibly existing palace. A number of Early Helladic Bothroi have also been discovered. They were plastered with clay. Two Bothroi were found close together in one house. Both contained charred residue. The clay plaster, however, was not burned. Five whole clay pots were also found in the larger Bothros. Presumably the Bothroi served as storage pits and were covered with wooden lids.
The walls of the houses from the Middle Helladic period were made of small, uncut stones laid in clay and were about 0.45 m thick and 0.6 m high. About 0.3 m of the wall was below the level of the floor and served as a foundation. Walls made of unfired clay bricks used to rise on the stone base . Many crumbled and a few intact mud bricks were found. Seven graves from the Middle Helladic period were uncovered in the courtyards and under the floors of the houses.
Grave I was a simple shaft 1.25 × 0.62 m with a north-south orientation. The dead man, an adult, was buried in a contracted position, lying on his left side, with his head facing south and facing west. The hands were in front of the face. Grauminy shards of pottery and a small jug were found as grave goods next to the head. Tomb II was only half a meter away and was 1.05 x 0.55 m. However, it had a west-east orientation. An adult was also buried here in a contracted position lying on his left side. The head was to the west and the view to the north. In grave III a child was buried in a semi-sitting position with its head facing south. Grave IV was 0.90 × 0.90 m in size. The south-east and south-west side of the tomb consisted of a corner wall of an early Helladic house. The opposite sides were made of unfired bricks 0.45 m long and 0.15 m thick. The ground was made of clay. An adult was placed in a semi-sitting position in the western part of the tomb. Since his hands covered the groin region , Blegen suspected that he may have been buried naked. Grave V was a small, poorly preserved children's grave. Grave VI was also poorly preserved. Grave VII was a well-preserved stone box with low side walls made of small stones with clay measuring 1.35 × 0.83 m and facing north-south. It had a clay floor and was probably roofed with roughly hewn stones and unfired adobe bricks. In the south it was covered by a large stone slab. Two skeletons were found lying side by side in the grave. They were both lying on their left side with their heads to the south, looking west, with only slightly drawn legs and their hands in front of their faces. It was assumed that the two were a married couple. The eastern, larger, was thought to be the man. Three bone hairpins were found next to the smaller one.
A larger house was uncovered from the late Helladic era . The floor was made of pebbles or shards of pottery and a layer of pounded clay on top.
literature
- Carl W. Blegen: Goniá in Metropolitan Museum Studies , Volume 3, Part 1, December 1930, pp. 55–80
- Saul S. Weinberg: Remains from Prehistoric Corinth in Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens , Volume 6, No. 4, 1937, pp. 487-524
- Jeremy Bentham Rutter: The late helladic IIIB and IIIC periods at Korakou and Gonia in the Corinthia Dissertation 1974
Web links
Coordinates: 37 ° 54 ′ 33 ″ N , 22 ° 55 ′ 58 ″ E