Ginani plateau
The plateau of Ginani ( Greek Οροπέδιο Γκίνανι ) is a plateau in the southeast of the island of Salamis . The plateau is named after the now abandoned village of Ginani. It is located about 150 m above sea level south of the Venista mountain (350 m), the highest point in the Maliza mountains, the ancient Akamas. Since 2004 the plateau has been officially an archaeological site.
description
In 1994, Professor Dimitrios I Pallas was the first to recognize the archaeological importance of the Ginani plateau. It was also discovered that grave robbers had looted some box graves here. From 1997 it was examined by archaeologists from the University of Ioannina . Two fortified structures from the end of the Late Helladic era were found here . The more southern citadel A is located on the 177 m high hill Kastro ( Greek Κάστρο = castle ) and is the more important. It is a triangular fastening of a maximum of 30 by 50 m. The paved area is around 750 m². However, due to the rocky terrain, only part of it can be used. The terrain slopes steeply to the west, south and east. For this reason, only the north wall with a thickness of up to 1.40 m is particularly solid. The entrance to the castle is in the west. An area of 20 m by 25 m with a low wall thickness is built onto the north wall, which is accessible through a western entrance directly below the north wall of the citadel. It is probably a pen for the cattle. Just north of the Pferches they found the foundations of an apsidal house. An anthropomorphic pebble figure from the Neolithic was found on Citadel A as an individual find .
West of the fortification, about halfway to the abandoned village Ginani they found numerous pottery shards from the Submykenischen (oldest SH IIIC1b) Protogeometric and Geometric period . Numerous ceramic fragments from this period were also found north of Citadel A. It is believed that these two places were densely populated. A section of an ancient road was found at the southern foot of the Venista. The so-called Citadel B was found about 800 m northeast on the 314 m high Aspri Rachi ( Greek Άσπρη Ράχη = white mountain ridge ) . It had an extension of 75 m by 25 m. Citadel B probably served as a vantage point, as only from here could the surrounding sea be seen. According to the findings, all sites are at the same time from around the end of the 12th / beginning of the 11th century BC. Until the end of the 8th century. However, people did not live in isolation, as imported ceramics show.
interpretation
The archaeologist Giannos G. Lolos saw a connection between the settlement on the Ginani plateau and the mythical tradition about Telamon , Aias and Teukros . This is how the settlement emerged after the Mycenaean Acropolis was abandoned by Kanakia . The residents either left the island or retired to the safe plateau. According to the myth, Teukros had to leave Salamis and founded the city of Salamis in Cyprus . In Cyprus, too, the city of Enkomi was abandoned in favor of the city of Salamis around this time .
literature
- Andreas, Demetriou: Island of Salamis - The Topography of Ginani in Archaeologia Cypria , Volume 5, 2007, pp. 71-77 ( online )
- Giannos G. Lolos, Dimitris N. Sakkas: ΚΕΡΑΜΕΩΝ, ΣΥΜΒΟΛΑ ΚΑΙ ΣΦΡΑΓΙΣΜΑΤΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΡΕΙΣ ΣΑΛΑΜΙΝΙΑΚΕΣ ΑΚΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΣ ( online )
Web links
Coordinates: 37 ° 53 '52.3 " N , 23 ° 27' 29.9" E