Priniatikos Pyrgos

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Priniatikos Pyrgos

Priniatikos Pyrgos ( Greek Πρινιάτικος Πύργος ) refers to an archaeological excavation site in the municipality of Agios Nikolaos on the north coast of the Greek island of Crete . It is located on the small peninsula of the same name Priniatikos Pyrgos on the Gulf of Mirabello near the settlement of Istro ( Ίστρο ) in the local community Kalo Chorio ( Καλό Χωριό ). The finds testify to settlement activity from the early Minoan to the second Byzantine period.

Location and history

The excavation site, which is distributed over several locations on the Priniatikos Pyrgos peninsula, is located about 6.5 kilometers south of Agios Nikolaos , the capital of the eastern Cretan regional district of Lasithi . The settlement of Istro is about 500 meters to the southeast, the place Kalo Chorio 1.4 kilometers to the southwest. The limestone peninsula, measuring only 120 × 120 meters in north-south and east-west directions, separates the two beaches of Agios Pandeleimon ( Παραλία Άγιος Παντελεήμων ) in the east and Karavostasi ( Παραλία Καραβοστάσι ) in the west. About 250 meters east of the peninsula, the river Kalos Potamos ( Καλός Ποταμός ) flows into the Mediterranean Sea , also called Istron or Istrona (s) , after the ancient city of Istron (Ἰστϱών) or Istros (Ἴστϱος) on the beach of Agios Pandeleimon .

Priniatikos Pyrgos between Karavostasi and Agios Pandeleimon

Following the excavations by Edith Hayward Hall on the 1.5 kilometers southeast of the mountain peak of Vrokastro by Edith Hayward Hall in 1910 and 1912, Hall turned to the foreshore around Priniatikos Pyrgos, where they suspected a Minoan port city. During the brief excavations at the beginning of the 20th century, ceramics from the early and late Minoan period (3rd and 2nd millennium BC) were found and the remains of a larger Roman settlement that had been built over part of the Bronze Age city were discovered. From 1986 Barbara J. Hayden and Jennifer A. Moody carried out surveys of the area around Vrokastro. The ground inspection and mapping of the Vrokastro Survey Project covered an area from the Gournia plain ( Γουρνιά ) in the east to the valley of the Kalos Potamos or Istron river in the west and to the valley of Meseleri ( Μεσελέροι ) in the south. As a result, the former harbor settlement on and around the Priniatikos Pyrgos peninsula was selected for closer investigation.

Agios Pandeleimon beach

In 2002, with the participation of Apostolos Sarris and Yannis Bassiakos, the Istron / Priniatikos Pyrgos Geoarchaeological Project started with geophysical prospecting (remote sensing) and a new field study of the geology, soils, topography and resources of the coastal zone. The excavations on the peninsula began in 2005, which promised to provide an insight into the cultural development of the region through stratified contexts and to bring together the results of the ground inspection. The Geoarchaeological Project, which continued until 2006, provided u. a. on the western slope of Priniatikos Pyrgos a heap of slag interspersed with iron , which indicates the presence of former metal smelting furnaces. The remote sensing and selective exploratory excavations in the area of Kambos ( Κάμπος ) at the local soccer field revealed that Priniatikos Pyrgos was part of an extensive harbor settlement in prehistoric and historical times that extended around the beach of Agios Pandeleλimon to the Pandeleimon peninsula ( Νοησίς )Παμεντενοτεντενοτενοτεντενοτενοτενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενενε .

During the excavations on Priniatikos Pyrgos , initially led by Metaxia Tsipopoulou and Barbara J. Hayden since 2005 , several kilns for both metals and ceramics were discovered. The ceramic finds range from the late Neolithic to the Roman-Byzantine period. So both were shards of Vassiliki style , as well as from Attica imported black glazed ware with red-figure decoration and strong glass shards from the late Roman period found. There were obsidian , glass, plaster and carbon, bones, stone tools, pieces of iron and bronze artifacts, a cover of green stone, a small painted Lehmboot, Querne , loom weights made of stone, tiles, pavers and olive pit. The granodiorite found in the area was used for the extraction of iron, for the production of tools and as an admixture in the manufacture of ceramics. From 2007, the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens, under the joint direction of Barbara J. Hayden and Barry Molloy, participated in the excavations. In addition to the handicraft activities on Priniatikos Pyrgos at different times, a church structure from the Byzantine period could also be established, which was probably built over a Minoan shrine.

  • Archaeological site of Priniatikos Pyrgos

  • Eastern area A

  • Western area A

  • Northern area G

  • Southern area G

literature

  • Edith H. Hall : Excavations in Eastern Crete, Vrokastro . In: The Museum Anthropological Publications . tape III , no. 3 . University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 1914, p. 79–185 (English, digitized version [accessed December 19, 2018]).
  • Edith H. Hall: Excavations at Vrokastro, Crete, in 1912 . In: David Moore Robinson et al. (Ed.): Art and Archeology . tape 1 . Archaeological Institute of America, Baltimore, Washington 1915, p. 33–36 (English, digitized version [accessed December 19, 2018]).
  • Barbara J. Hayden, Jennifer A. Moody: The Vrokastro Survey Project . In: Expedition Magazine . tape 32 , no. 3 . Penn Museum , 1990, ISSN  0014-4738 , p. 42–53 (English, online [accessed December 19, 2018]).
  • Barbara J. Hayden: The Coastal Settlement of Priniatikos Pyrgos: Archaeological Evidence, Topography, and Environment . In: Philip P. Betancourt, Vassos Karageorghis, Robert Laffineur, Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier (eds.): Meletemata II (=  Aegaeum 20 ). University of Liège , Liège 1999, ISBN 978-1-935488-14-9 , pp. 352-355 (English).
  • Barbara J. Hayden: The Final Neolithic – Early Minoan I / IIA Settlement History of the Vrokastro Area, Mirabello, Eastern Crete . In: Mediterranean Archeology and Archaeometry . tape 3 , no. 1 . University of the Aegean, Department of Mediterranean Studies, 2003, ISSN  1108-9628 , pp. 31–44 (English, online [PDF; 1.8 MB ; accessed on December 19, 2018]).
  • Thanasis Kalpaxis, Constantin Athanassas, Yannis Bassiakos, Thomas Brennan, Barbara J. Hayden, Eleni Nodarou, Kosmas Pavlopoulos, Apostolos Sarris: Preliminary Results of the Istron, Mirabello, Geophysical and Geoarchaeological Project, 2002–2004 . In: John Bennet, Peter Liddel (Eds.): The Annual of the British School at Athens . tape 101 . British School at Athens, 2006, ISSN  0068-2454 , p. 135-181 , JSTOR : 30073258 (English).
  • Barbara J. Hayden, Yannis Bassiakos, Thanasis Kalpaxis, Apostolos Sarris, Metaxia Tsipopoulou: Priniatikos Pyrgos: A Primary Harbor Settlement and Emporium in Eastern Crete . In: Expedition Magazine . tape 48 , no. 3 . Penn Museum, 2006, ISSN  0014-4738 , p. 33–39 (English, online [accessed December 19, 2018]).
  • Barbara J. Hayden, Yannis Bassiakos, Thanasis Kalpaxis, Apostolos Sarris, Metaxia Tsipopoulou: A New Exploration of Priniatikos Pyrgos: Primary Harbor Settlement and Emporium of the Vrokastro Survey Region . In: Philip P. Betancourt, Michael C. Nelson, Hector Williams (eds.): Krinoi kai Limenes: Studies in Honor of Joseph and Maria Shaw (=  Prehistory Monographs 22 ). INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia 2007, ISBN 978-1-931534-22-2 , pp. 93–100 (English, online [PDF; accessed December 19, 2018]).
  • Barbara J. Hayden, Metaxia Tsipopoulou: The Priniatikos Pyrgos Project: Preliminary Report on the Rescue Excavation of 2005-2006 . In: Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens . tape 81 , no. 4 . American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2012, ISSN  0018-098X , p. 507-584 (English).
  • Apostolos Sarris, Nikos Papadopoulos, Pantelis Soupios: Contribution of Geophysical Approaches to the Study or Priniatikos Pyrgos . In: Barry PC Molloy, Chloë N. Duckworth (Eds.): A Cretan Landscape through Time: Priniatikos Pyrgos and Environs . Archaeopress, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-1-4073-1271-2 , pp. 61–69 (English, online ( PDF ) [accessed December 19, 2018]).
  • Iveta Navrátilová: Cretan Maritime Activities in the Hellenistic Period . Masaryk University, Brno 2016, Istron and Priniatikos Pyrgos, S. 26–28, 50–53 (English, digitized 1 digitized 2 ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ludwig Bürchner : Istron . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IX, 2, Stuttgart 1916, column 2267. ( digitized version )
  2. ↑ a b Priniatikos Pyrgos: Backround. Penn Museum (English).;
  3. ^ Priniatikos Pyrgos: Excavation. Penn Museum (English).;
  4. ^ The Priniatikos Pyrgos Project. Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens, September 20, 2013 (English).;

Web links

Commons : Priniatikos Pyrgos  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 35 ° 7 ′ 41.9 ″  N , 25 ° 43 ′ 53 ″  E