Hellinikon pyramid

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hellinikon pyramid
Entrance of the pyramid of Hellinikon

The so-called pyramid of Hellinikon ( Greek Πυραμίδα του Ελληνικού ) or pyramid of Kenchreai or pyramid of Kephalaria is located west of the Argolida plain in Greece. In the classical period it was probably a tower-like military outpost or an agricultural building . Some pseudoscientific books claim it is a true pyramid from prehistory . About 32 km east of Lygourio is the " Pyramid of Ligourio " and in Laconia the " Pyramid of Viglaphia ".

Geographical classification

In the southwest of the Argolis plain near the waterfalls of the Erasinos river, the modern Kefalari , about ten kilometers southwest of Argos , is the "Pyramid of Hellenikon". It is located on a small hill at the foot of the eastern foothills of the Ktenias Mountains. The mostly dried out Cheimarrhos runs about 80 m to the west. About 200 m south on the other side of the stream, the foundation walls of an older tower with a base area of ​​10 m by 10 m were found.

The building was named after the nearby town of Hellenikon , the modern Elliniko , which was once thought to be the ancient town of Kenchreai . Nearby are the remains of the Argive castle of Hysiai , which was on the ancient road from Lerna to Tegea .

Historical sources

Northwest wall with drainage opening and holes above to accommodate the beams.

Written sources are rare. Pausanias mentioned a building near Kenchreai in the 2nd century AD that he called a "polyandrium" (grave for many, mass grave ) (and not a pyramid). The warriors from Argos are said to have been buried here, who died in the battle between Pheidon of Argos and the Lacedaemonians in 669/68 BC. Were killed.

Pausanias describes a pyramid a little later on the way between Argos and Epidauros . This is often associated with the Pyramid of Hellinikon, although it was located east and not west of Argos. It was assumed that this could mean the pyramid of Ligourio. Pausanias wrote: "[...] on the way from Argos to Epidaurus there is a pyramid structure on the right, decorated with shields in the Argolic style [...]". The pyramid was built after a fight between the twin brothers Proitos and Akrisios , in a war in which their father Abas died. It was built in honor of the many fallen.

exploration

Between 1753 and 1755, James Stuart and Nicholas Revett visited the Pyramid of Hellinikon. They assumed that it was a watchtower and signal tower (phryctorion); Charles Robert Cockerell made a drawing. On March 13, 1806, William Martin Leake came to Helliniko and took a sketch. Leake thought it was a polyandrium, but not the one described by Pausanias. During the French military operation Morea Expedition from 1828 to 1833, the "Pyramid of Hellinikon" was also described in a scientific work.

The first detailed description of the building was written by the archaeologist Ludwig Ross , who traveled to Greece in 1833 and 1834. He also thought it was a tomb and realized that for static reasons it could never have been pyramidal. Between 1838 and 1840 Ernst Curtius examined the "Pyramid of Hellinikon". Curtius deduced from the position of the door bolt that it was not a grave, as the door was locked from the inside. The English researcher William George Clark refused to identify it as a watchtower because of the sloping outer wall that an attacker could climb and because the interior had no window and the guards could not see what was going on outside. Even Wilhelm Vischer-Bilfinger , who visited the site on 17 April 1853 was this view and suggested that the grave is very old. Christos Tsountas and J. Irving Manatt thought the pyramid was a watchtower built by the Dorians from Argos.

In 1896 Theodor Wiegand examined the pyramid of Helleniko. In 1901 he carried out the first excavations together with Carl Watzinger and measured the building. The building researcher Hubert Knackfuß created a floor plan from this. From August 7 to 10, 1937, archaeologists Robert Ehrich and Ann Hoskin Ehrich carried out excavations under the direction of Louis E. Lord. Lord concluded from the findings that the pyramid was neither a tomb nor a tower, but a shelter for soldiers who patrolled the streets and collected taxes. In 1982-3 William Kendrick Pritchett and Helena M. Fracchia examined the area around the pyramid. They suspected that it was an agricultural building. In 1992 Perikles Theokaris and Georgios Veis carried out measurements to determine age. Christos Piteros suspected after his investigations in 1995 that the pyramid had at least one and possibly a second floor made of mud bricks and wood.

Dating

Stylistically, the Hellinikon pyramid is dated to the 4th century BC. Direct dating using ceramics is not possible, as previous excavations destroyed the layers deposited without prior investigation and documentation. Ceramic shards from the late Early Helladic Era (end of the 3rd millennium BC) were found below the foundation of the pyramid . The building can only have been erected after this time. The oldest later pottery that was found nearby and only occurs very rarely can be dated back to the 5th century BC at the most. To be dated. The most common ceramics are dated to the end of the Classical Period (350–325 BC). The pyramid of Ligourio, which resembles the pyramid of Hellinikon, was accordingly built in the second half of the 4th century BC. Dated.

On September 2, 1995, the Academy of Athens published the results of dating various stone samples taken from the Hellenikon pyramid. The samples were evaluated in Athens and Edinburgh using optically stimulated luminescence . According to the investigations of PS Theocaris and G. Veis, the building is dated to 3240 ± 640 BC. And the pyramid of Ligourio to 2520 ± 680 BC. To date. However, the method used was designed to date samples made from quartz and feldspar . Since the pyramid was built of limestone, this dating is controversial and not certain. If these investigations were correct, it would be the oldest pyramid discovered on earth to date. The archaeologist Adamantios Sampson wrote in the Archaelogia kai Technes magazine of December 1995 that so far no structures that require similar expertise have been found in this area around this time; if the dates of the Academy of Athens were correct, this structure would be unique. In 1997 PS Theocaris, I. Liritzis and RB Galloway published the results of their investigations into the dating of the pyramids of Hellenikon and Ligourio. To this end, they had especially adapted the thermoluminescence method for dating limestone walls. With a somewhat more conservative assessment, the Hellenikon pyramid was now built at a construction time of 2730 ± 720 BC. And for those in Ligourio to 2260 ± 710 BC. This dating is rejected by leading archaeologists. It was carried out using an unqualified method and ignored all previous examinations and research. Remnants of mortar that were found in places on the pyramid of Hellinikon are dated to Roman times and are attributed to later repairs to the building.

Building description

View, sectional drawing and floor plan of the pyramid from Hellinikon to Cockerell

The masonry is made of gray limestone in trapezoidal and partly polygonal stones and is reminiscent of other buildings from the classical period. Assuming that this building is really a pyramid, it should have had a height of about 7 - 8 m. However, it is very difficult to span the large interior with a stone ceiling. Therefore, many scientists assume that it is not a pyramid, but a watchtower with a sloping base.

The building has a rectangular floor plan of around 14.70 m by 12.60 m. The walls, which are still 3 meters high today, have a slope of about 55 ° on the outside. At the southeast corner there is a rectangular recess in the embankment - this is the entrance to the interior. The entrance, which is entered from the east, has a triangular door arch. It is about 1.10 m wide and you can see two holes that were used to fasten a door. There are also holes on both sides below the door arch to accommodate the door lintel. To the east of the building, Wiegand found the smashed doorstep. First you get into a narrow corridor; At the end of this there is an opening on the right through which a square room measuring approximately 7.10 m by 7.10 m is reached. The recesses in the door sill and the side walls show that there was also a door that opened inwards. A larger rectangular recess was used to accommodate a crossbeam with which the door could be locked from the inside. This finding shows that the structure is not a grave. The floor of the interior consisted of pounded clay, which was covered with a layer of small stones.

In the interior, the remains of a small cistern were found in the north , but this has now been filled in again. Above that there is an overflow in the north wall that leads to the outside. The construction of this overflow shows that it was created when the structure was built. Lord suspected that this overflow was initially only used to drain the floor and that a cistern was later built into the floor. A foundation carved into the rock facing west and east was found on the ground, dividing the room almost exactly into two equal parts. A second foundation in north-south direction divided the southern part again. At a height of about 3 m in the north wall there are four rectangular recesses with a size of 0.20 m by 0.21 m. As the sectional drawings of the Morea expedition show, seven rectangular recesses were still preserved in the 19th century. These probably served to accommodate the wooden beams that supported the floor of the first floor. The stones were partly put together with mortar . The upper floor had walls about 90 cm thick and 50 cm high. Lord did not consider this height sufficient for a parapet , which is why he refused to see a watchtower in the pyramid of Hellinikon. He also believed that there were no other constructions made of adobe and wood and that it was just a truncated pyramid .

Wiegand discovered a broken millstone made of breccia inside . A hollow 90 cm long and 52 cm wide was found on the east wall. This was partly built over by the west-east wall and the east outer wall. Ceramic shards from the late Early Helladic era were also found under the walls . Due to previous destruction, very little pottery was found during the excavation in 1937, which still had its original position. It was mostly early Helladic pottery that appeared directly on the rock. A few fragments of classic utensils and late Roman oil lamps were still found.

Numerous potsherds from the 4th century BC were discovered 150 m from the pyramid. In a pit 20 m from the entrance potsherds from roof tiles and coarse ceramics and stone chips were found. In another pit 50 m to the east, further fragments of roof tiles and mosaic stones in mortar were found. A little further away, ancient stone blocks and black-glazed shards from the 4th century BC were found. Chr.

literature

  • Edda and Michael Neumann-Adrian: ADAC travel guide Peloponnese . ADAC-Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-87003-699-0 .
  • Susanne Grunauer from Hoerschelmann: Hysiai (Arkadia) . In: Siegfried Lauffer (Ed.): Greece. Lexicon of Historic Places . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-8289-4144-3 , p. 274-275 .
  • Richard Speicher: Peloponnese . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-17-010031-9 .

Web links

Commons : Pyramid von Hellinikon  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Erich von Däniken : In the name of Zeus. Greeks - Riddles - Argonauts. Munich 2001, p. 83-86 . ;
    Urs Eugster: The pyramids of Greece. Online publication 2008 ( [1] [accessed January 29, 2017]).
  2. ↑ Theodor Wiegand: The pyramid of Kenchreai . In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department . tape 26 , 1901, pp. 242 ( archive.org [accessed January 29, 2017]).
  3. ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece , 2, 24, 7.
  4. ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece , 2, 25, 7.
  5. ↑ James Stuart, Nicholas Revett: The Antiquities of Athens and Other Places of Greece, Sicily etc. Supplementary to the Antiquities of Athens by James Stuart, FRSFSA and Nicholas Revett. 1830 . London 1830, p. 23 ( [2] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  6. ↑ James Stuart, Nicholas Revett: The Antiquities of Athens and Other Places of Greece, Sicily etc. Supplementary to the Antiquities of Athens by James Stuart, FRSFSA and Nicholas Revett. 1830 . London 1830, p. Table 2 ( [3] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  7. ^ William Martin Leake: Travels in the Morea. tape 2 . London 1830, p. 339, 343-344 ( [4] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  8. ^ William Martin Leake: Peloponnesiaca. A Supplement to Travels in the Moréa. London 1846, p. 251-252 ( [5] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  9. ^ Abel Blouet: Expédition scientifique de Morée, ordonnée par le gouvernement français. Architecture, sculptures, inscriptions et vues du Péloponèse, des Cyclades et de l'Attique. tape 2 . Paris 1833, p. 92 + plate 55 ( [6] [accessed January 27, 2017]). ;
    Emil le Puillou de Boblaye: Recherches geographiques     sur les ruins de la Morée. Paris 1836, p. 46 ( [7] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  10. ↑ Ludwig Ross: Travel and travel routes through Greece . tape 1 . Berlin 1841, p. 141–145 ( [8] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  11. ^ Ernst Curtius: Peloponnesos: a historical-geographical description of the peninsula. tape 3 . Gotha 1851, p. 365-366 ( [9] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  12. ^ William George Clark: Peloponnesus: notes of study and travel. London 1858, p. 98–100 ( [10] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  13. ^ Wilhelm Vischer: Memories and impressions from Greece. Basel 1857, p. 325–328 ( [11] [accessed January 29, 2017]).
  14. ↑ Christos Tsountas, J. Irving Manatt: The Mycenaean age; a study of the monuments and culture of pre-Homeric Greece. Boston and New York 1897, p. 38–39 ( [12] [accessed January 27, 2017]).
  15. ↑ Theodor Wiegand: The pyramid of Kenchreai . In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department . tape 26 , 1901, pp. 241-246 .
  16. ↑ Louis E. Lord: The Pyramids of Argolis . In: Hesperia . tape 7 , no. 4 , 1938, pp. 481–527 ( [13] [PDF; accessed January 29, 2017]).
  17. ↑ Louis E. Lord: Watchtowers and Fortresses in Argolis . In: American Journal of Archeology . tape 43 , no. 1 , 1939, p. 78-84 .
  18. ↑ Helena M. Fracchia: The Peloponnesian Pyramids Reconsidered . In: American Journal of Archeology . tape 89 , no. 4 , 1985, pp. 683-689 .
  19. ^ Garrett G. Fagan: Archaeological Fantasies: How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public. 2006, p. 193-194 .
  20. ↑ Helena M. Fracchia: The Peloponnesian Pyramids Reconsidered . In: American Journal of Archeology . tape 89 , no. 4 , 1985, pp. 683-689 .
  21. ↑ Perikles Theocaris, Georgios Veis: Οι πυραμίδες της Αργολίδας in Πρακτικά της Ακαδημίας Αθηνών , Volume 70, pp. 209-241
  22. ↑ Urs Eugster: The pyramids of Greece. Online publication 2008 ( [14] [accessed January 29, 2017]).
  23. ↑ PS Theo Caris, I. Liritzis, RB Galloway: Dating of Two Hellenic Pyramids by a Novel Application of Thermoluminiscence . In: Journal of Archaeological Science . tape 24 , 1997, pp. 399-405 ( academia.edu ).
  24. ^ Garrett G. Fagan: Archaeological Fantasies: How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public. 2006, p. 194-202 .
  25. ↑ Louis E. Lord: The Pyramids of Argolis . In: Hesperia . tape 7 , no. 4 , 1938, pp. 481-527 .
  26. ↑ Louis E. Lord: The Pyramids of Argolis . In: Hesperia . tape 7 , no. 4 , 1938, pp. 481-527 .
  27. ↑ Theodor Wiegand: The pyramid of Kenchreai . In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athenian Department . tape 26 , 1901, pp. 245 .
  28. ^ Robert L. Scranton: The Pottery from the Pyramids . In: Hesperia . tape 7 , no. 4 , 1938, pp. 528-538 ( [15] [PDF; accessed January 29, 2017]).
  29. ↑ Helena M. Fracchia: The Peloponnesian Pyramids Reconsidered . In: American Journal of Archeology . tape 89 , no. 4 , 1985, pp. 683-689 .

See also

Coordinates: 37 ° 35 ′ 14 ″  N , 22 ° 40 ′ 16 ″  E