Kalamianos
Kalamianos ( Greek Καλαμιανός ) is the name of an archaeological site in the east of the Greek Peloponnese peninsula , where an important Mycenaean settlement was discovered during excavations in 2007-2009 . The port settlement was on a small peninsula near Cape Trelli on the Saronic Gulf , about two kilometers east of the village of Korfos in the modern municipality of Corinth .
exploration
The settlement was discovered in 2001 during the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey (EKAS) near the modern town of Kalamianos. In 2006 the Saronic Harbors Archaeological Research Project (SHARP) was founded. Within this project, the site and its surroundings, a total of 7 km², were examined from 2007 to 2009. A further settlement was found on the Stiri elevation about 1.5 km to the northeast.
history
The coast off Kalamianos has seen five subsidence since the middle of the Holocene . The small island, which is about 200 m away from the coast today, was connected to the mainland via a land bridge when it was first settled. The first settlement had two docks to the west and north of this land bridge. In the Mycenaean times, the island was around 500 m² in size and is only around half as large today.
A first settlement was established at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. Founded at the end of the Final Neolithic or the beginning of the Early Helladic (FH I). It grew over the centuries and reached its prime at FH II. The settlement on the Stiri was built at the same time. End of FH II, around 2200 BC Both settlements were abandoned. In the following period the area was probably only very sparsely populated, as hardly any finds from FH III and the Middle Helladic were discovered. In the late Helladic for SH III B1, a little before or around 1300 BC BC, Kalamianos was re-founded by settlers from the Argolis , probably from Mycenae . A new place was also created on the Stiri. After about 100 to 125 years, around 1200 BC. Around the time of the destruction of the Mycenaean palaces , the settlements were finally abandoned.
description
Hardly any building remains have survived from the first settlement phase. The only badly preserved building from this time is now in the surf area west of the former land bridge. Based on the numerous obsidian finds in all processing states, this building is called an obsidian workshop. The size of the settlement at the time is unknown, as it has largely sunk into the sea today. The numerous early Helladic ceramics found, which include all vessel classes, show, however, that there was a settlement. Most of the vessels were made from local red clay to which black andesite powder was added. The andesite was imported from the island of Aegina , 23 km away , while the obsidian came from Milos .
The simultaneous settlement on the Stiri was larger than the port. Foundations from the early Helladic period were found here together with obsidian blades and ceramic shards. On the Pharonisi, west of Kalamianos and north and west of Stiri, a total of 25 stone mounds and 20 stone walls from the Early Ladic period were found. The two largest cairns are each connected to a stone wall. It is therefore assumed that these two stone mounds were originally towers of a fortification. The smaller cairns were originally small domes that vaulted an interior. Presumably these are graves. Since they are all in an exposed position, it is assumed that they also served the ancestor cult . The stone walls are also in an exposed position. They are round or oval, have a size of 12 × 15 m to 25 × 30 m and enclose an area between 125 and 700 m². Their function is unknown. They may be fortifications, storage locations for crops or enclosures for farm animals.
In the 13th century BC Kalamianos was an important center of the Mycenaean culture and possibly Mycenae’s most important port on the Saronic Gulf. It enabled connections to Salamis , Kolonna on Aegina, Athens , Methana and the Mycenaean settlement of Megali Magoula opposite the island of Poros . A road led across the Arachneo Mountains via Angelokastro , Limnes and Berbati to Mycenae, about 45 km away. The city walls and the floor plans of more than 60 houses can be explored, according to the excavators in one go and laid out according to a comprehensive plan. It was 1.4 hectares in size. The walls of the buildings were built from large stones and the spaces between them were filled with small rubble stones. The size of the settlement on the Stiri was less than a fifth of the port settlement, but the walls are more monumental. A fortified area was found on the saddle between the two settlements. Possibly this is an estate belonging to a high-ranking family. There are numerous terrace walls in the area, which presumably served to use the steep slopes for agriculture. They probably grew wheat and olives, and raised sheep and goats.
Using gradiometry , it was possible to locate accumulations of volcanic ballast stones in the sea , which were used to stabilize the ships. It could be shown that the western harbor basin was preferred.
literature
- Thomas F. Tartaron, Daniel J. Pullen, Richard K. Dunn, Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory, Amy Dill, Joseph I. Boyce: The Saronic Harbors Archaeological Research Project (SHARP). Investigations at Mycenaean Kalamianos, 2007–2009, in: Hesperia. The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 80, 2011, pp. 559-634
- Daniel Pullen: The Life and Death of a Mycenaean Port Town: Kalamianos on the Saronic Gulf. In: Journal of Maritime Archeology 12, 2013, pp. 245-262.
- Thomas F. Tartaron: Maritime Networks in the Mycenaean World , Cambridge 2017, pp. 243-271, ISBN 978-1-108-43136-1
- Konstantinos Kissas: Ancient Corinthia. Athens 2013, ISBN 978-960-6849-37-4 , p. 87
- Daniel J. Pullen: If You Build It, Will They Come? Will They Stay? The Mycenaean Port Town of Kalamianos. In: Attila Gyucha (Ed.): Coming Together. Approaches to Population Aggregation and Early Urbanization. IEMA Proceedings Vol. 8, State University of New York Press, Albany 2019, pp. 215-238.
Web links
- Presentation of the research project on the website of the University of Pennsylvania
- Saronic Harbors Archaeological Research Project (SHARP) 2007 Season Report
Coordinates: 37 ° 45 ′ 30 ″ N , 23 ° 9 ′ 7 ″ E