Pyramid of Ligourio

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Pyramid of Ligourio
Inclined northern wall

The so-called Pyramid of Ligourio ( Greek Πυραμίδα του Λυγουριού ) is located 200 m northwest of the place Lygourio in the Argolis in Greece. This structure is probably a tower-like military outpost or an agricultural building from the classical period . In the pseudoscientific literature , the building is described as a real pyramid from prehistory . A similar structure was found about 32 km to the west near Kefalari , the pyramid of Hellinikon and in Laconia the pyramid of Viglaphia .

description

The state of preservation of the Pyramid of Ligourio is much worse than that of the Pyramid of Hellinikon. Only a maximum of two stone layers have been preserved from the walls. The building is rectangular. The northern side has a length of about 14 m, the western about 12.50 m, the southern about 12 m and the eastern about 12.75 m. On the eastern side is the entrance with a width of 1.15 m. The wall that adjoins the entrance to the north juts out 1.72 m. For this reason the northern side is about 2 m wider than the southern one. The outer walls were built from larger blocks of limestone . the slope of the wall can still be partially recognized.

The entrance was not closed by a door and initially led to a corridor 1 m wide and 2.63 m long, bent to the right. A kind of wash basin was later installed at the end of it. To the left of this there was an entrance that was closed by a single-leaf door that opened inward and was 0.85 m wide. The door threshold is still there. The interior of the building was divided into four areas by two low transverse walls, one running from north to south and the second from west to east. These walls were built from smaller irregular stones. Later it was raised by a layer of hewn blocks. On the outside wall there was a surrounding stone bench on all sides. The outside walls were clad inside with a brick layer of about 0.15 m in Augustan times .

To the south of the entrance there was a deep basin that was fed by a pipe. It was emptied to the southwest onto the cement floor , which sloped to a shallow trough to the west. From here it was directed outside through the south wall. In the eastern area south of the entrance there was a well shaft. The lower parts of Pithoi were found in the western area . Apart from a very young grave in which a modern horseshoe was found, no other graves were found.

Dating and interpretation

The archaeologist Robert Lorentz Scranton carried out excavations here on December 18 and 19, 1936 and from August 1 to 9, 1937. The oldest pottery shards he found were from the end of the 5th or beginning of the 4th century BC. From this he concluded that the building was built in the 4th century BC. Was built. The pithoi were installed at the same time or a little later. A more recent layer contained sherds dating from around 350 to 325 BC. And a coin from Epidaurus , which showed hardly any signs of wear, from the time from 323 to 300 BC. BC. This indicates that the building was rebuilt at the end of the 4th century BC. Chr. In the Augustan period at the end of the 1st century BC Another renovation took place after a fire. The final destruction occurred in the 4th or 5th century.

The building has been associated with the pyramid construction described by Pausanias . He reported that there was a pyramid-shaped tomb to the right of the road from Argos to Epidaurus. Here would be buried the fallen in the war between Proitus , the king of Tiryns and Akrisios , the king of Argos. If you go a little further and turn to the right you would get to Tiryns. After describing the city of Tiryns, he returned to the road and came to Midea and then to Lessa . The identification of the pyramid of Ligourio with the pyramid described by Pausanias is rejected today. It is not near Tiryns, but near Ligourio, the ancient Lessa - about 20 km further east. The building was not in the shape of a pyramid, but rather vertical walls rose on the sloping foundation walls and it is not a tomb from the Mycenaean period .

See also

Web links

Commons : Pyramid of Ligourio  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  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. ↑ Louis E. Lord: The Pyramids of Argolis . In: Hesperia . tape 7 , no. 4 , 1938, pp. 481–527 ( [2] [PDF; accessed August 9, 2018]).
  3. ^ Robert L. Scranton: The Pottery from the Pyramids . In: Hesperia . tape 7 , no. 4 , 1938, pp. 528-538 ( [3] [PDF; accessed August 25, 2018]).
  4. ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece , 2, 25, 7
  5. ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece , 2, 25, 9
  6. ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece , 2, 25, 10
  7. ^ Garrett G. Fagan: Archaeological Fantasies: How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public. 2006, p. 188-206 .

Coordinates: 37 ° 37 ′ 0.9 ″  N , 23 ° 1 ′ 50.9 ″  E