Kourtir

The archaeological site of Kourtir ( Greek Κουρτήρ ( n. Sg. )) On the East Aegean island of Lesbos is a Bronze Age settlement, which is already mentioned in Hittite texts of the 13th century. v. Was mentioned as Lazba and in the Homeric epics.

location

Kourtir is one of three well-known Bronze Age settlements on the southeast coast of the Gulf of Kalloni and the largest on the island of Lesbos . The site is about 3 km north of Lisvori, protected on a small promontory. The fortified settlement had a port, parts of the port facility are still visible today, but the settlement has been partially eroded by the sea.

research

The site of Kourtir was localized on the basis of archaeological surface inspections and smaller excavations. The size of the settlement of around four to five hectares, the naturally protected location and the expanded harbor suggest that Kourtir was the center of the island in the Late Bronze Age. According to previous knowledge, in contrast to the Thermi site in the east of the island, there was continuity of settlement over the entire Bronze Age. At the beginning of the Dark Centuries , Kourtir was abandoned. In Greek times there was no successor settlement, but there were some smaller settlements in the vicinity.

literature

Klaus Tausend, Sabine Tausend: Lesbos - Between Greece and Asia Minor . Antiquity and the Mediterranean: the ancient world on both sides of the Levant: Festschrift for Peter W. Haider on his 60th birthday. Ed .: Robert Rollinger, Brigitte Truschnegg. Franz Steiner, 2006, ISBN 3-515-08738-9 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
Ourania Kouka: Settlement organization in the North and East Aegean during the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) . In: International Archeology . tape 58 . Verlag Marie Leidorf , Rahden 2002, ISBN 3-89646-330-6 , p. 137 (Dissertation: University of Heidelberg, 1996).

Remarks

↑ In the literature, the stated area varies, five hectares near Ourania Kouka: Settlement organization in the North and East Aegean during the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC). P. 143; on the other hand, four hectares near Mariya Ivanova: fortified settlements in the Balkans, in the Aegean Sea and in Western Anatolia, approx. 5000–2000 BC. Chr. P. 217.

39.1272805 26.2094736Coordinates: 39 ° 7 ′ 38.2 " N , 26 ° 12 ′ 34.1" E

[1] In the literature, the stated area varies, five hectares near Ourania Kouka: Settlement organization in the North and East Aegean during the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC). P. 143; on the other hand, four hectares near Mariya Ivanova: fortified settlements in the Balkans, in the Aegean Sea and in Western Anatolia, approx. 5000–2000 BC. Chr. P. 217.