Eirene A Poupaki
Dr. Eirene Poupaki is an archaeologist working in the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. She graduated from the University of Athens, Department of History and Archaeology, in 1993. In 1999, she obtained her MA in Classical Archaeology from the same university, by completing a thesis on stone vases and querns, dated from prehistoric times to early-Byzantine period, from the excavation in Ancient Halasarna (Kardamaina, Κos). In 2012 she obtained a doctoral degree from the same University, by completing a dissertation on ancient quarries and stone working on the island of Κos from early classical antiquity until the early-Byzantine period. She worked as archaeologist in Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities for 17 years and took part in the excavation of the University of Athens in Kardamaina of Kos and in rescue excavations of the Greek Archaeological Service in various sites in Attica and in Lesvos. As a member of a scientific team, directed by Professor Georgia Kokkorou-Alevras, that accomplished the “Corpus of Ancient Quarries of Greece”, she contributed to the publishing of a list of articles and two monographs on the ancient quarries of Greece. She has also published different articles on ancient quarries of Kos, stone vases - cinerary urns included - and artefacts, from Kos, Sparta, Chios, Athens, Karystos and Agathonisi.
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Papers by Eirene A Poupaki
the rescue excavation of the plot designated for the construction of the
Rural Medical Centre in the market of Methymna on the island of Lesvos.
These fragmented figurines, dating back to the Archaic and Hellenistic periods, came to light during the excavation of a post-Byzantine building constructed atop Hellenistic remains. The ancient coroplastic production of Methymna and its distinctive position within the entire coroplastic production of Lesvos were previously acknowledged by Lilian Acheilara, in her Doctoral Thesis (The Coroplastic Art of Lesvos, University of Thessaloniki, Mytilene 2000). In fact, the historical outline of ancient Methymna during Classical Antiquity and its constant interconnection to the Athenian Democracy can also be detected through the examination of the attic influences of the few terracotta figurines published so far, as S. Mollard-Besques had noted regarding those displayed in Louvre Catalogue raisonné des figurines et reliefs en terre cuite, I, Paris 1954). Additional knowledge on this matter will be provided by the recent findings of our study. The terracotta figurines we examined do not belong to previously
known types. Furthermore, the studied archaic material shows strong similarities to the Athenian great sculpture and the published terracotta figurines from the opposite Aeolic coast (Assos, Troia), suggesting a common origin for the products or of their matrices. The Hellenistic fragments studied share resemblances with the production of Myrina and Ionic workshops. The studied terracotta figurines consist an important factor for the study of the topography of ancient Methymna, especially when considered alongside the location of the excavated plot, which lies
in a short distance from the ancient settlement and cemetery in Dapia, as well as underneath the Acropolis (the site of the Medieval Castle). The future study of the pottery of that plot will further contribute to our understanding of the identity of the excavated remains.
quarry products in antiquity are quite few and fragmentary. The coastal quarries ensured the maritime transportation of the extracted
rocks, mainly marble, intended to be carried over long distances. However, the products of inland quarries were also transported via
overland routes and then shipped from the nearest harbour, which would provide berths for commercial vessels and stone‑carrying
boats.
Our study aims to present several aspects concerning the handling and shipping of quarry products from certain ports. The present paper
includes a historical presentation of the ports where the docking of vessels carrying the extracted material and carved artefacts of quarry
workshops took place, a short mention of the marine transportation of the quarried material from inland quarries, additional information
about the harbours associated with the maritime transfer of other geomaterials and minerals in antiquity, as well as of marble and
ores from modern quarries.
rock type, its use, its environment, its dating, the alterations undertaken after the end of quarrying activity, etc.). The second part summarizes the detected post-quarrying uses of these sites as sanctuaries, cemeteries and tombs, residences, fortifications, and roads, basing on the published
archaeological context. The third section is about the Medieval quarries and the integration of the ancient quarries in the Medieval town of Rhodes. The novelties of the Rhodians architects and masons, who managed to integrate the quarries into the urban plan of their polis and later -after the end of their use- in the naturalistic insular landscape explain better the resilience and changes of rhodian ‘quarryscapes’.
and 6th centuries AD, a time of intense building activity not only in the town of Kos, but also in the island’s seaside settlements (Kardamaina, Mastichari, Antimacheia, Kefalos, etc.). It remains, however, unclear if these vases were imported finished or semifinished from Prokonnesos, together with architectural members, aboard stone-carrying ships sailing across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
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Τhe archaeological investigation of the Hellenistic-Roman sanctuary of Apollo Pythaios/Pythaeus and of the Late-Roman / Early-Byzantine settlement at Halasarna (modern Kardamaina) on Kos Island (Dodecanese, Greece) has brought to light numerous finds related to the cults of the sanctuary (fragments of statues, inscriptions, etc.) as well as various others, mainly household utensils (coarse pottery and stone implements), property of the Late-Roman/Early-Byzantine residents. The stone vessels and numerous querns used for grinding cereals found in the excavation are extremely interesting. Most of these millstones are made of volcanic rocks, whose provenance has long been a matter of discuss. At any case the earliest handmills and tools, which were found, date from the prehistoric periods. The Classical and Hellenistic querns had been probably in use by the priests and the personnel of the sanctuary. The most important group of querns studied were the rotary handmills, which must be dated from the Early-Roman period to the abandonment of the early-Byzantine settlement.
Recent research shed light on the material provenance of querns discovered in ancient Halasarna. Ancient sources claim that Nisyros Island used to provide raw volcanic material for millstones crafting, which was confirmed by the archaeometric analyses undertaken. Lavas extracted from the subterranean quarry or the open-air one of Argos (Nisyros) were used for carving Olynthian mills. These artifacts are considered as the high-quality products of the Nisyrian workshop, during the period when the production reached its peak. During the Hellenistic period the Koan workshops manufactured Olynthian mills with local rhyolite extracted in Peleketa or Kastelli quarries of Kefalos Peninsula. In Nisyrian volcanic stone additional types of mills had been manufactured, such as the Delian type of mills. A nice example of such a mill had been discovered recently in Halasarna. The numerous fragments of rotary querns discovered in Halasarna, carved in local volcanic stones of Kefalos quarries, provide adequate evidence about the location of a workshop near to the Early-Byzantine settlement, which has not yet been found.
same plot. The vases studied do not belong to the usual neoattic types, such as craters, calices, canthari or scyphi; most of the fragmentary vases studied were bowls with handles (nos 8-33), comparable to those found in other excavations of Athenian marble workshops: the one in the neighboring excavated area in the same plot, that of South Stoa II of the Athenian Agora
and the one in the “Street of Marbleworkers”, between Pnyx and Areios Pagos. Fragments of bigger semi-carved vases were also identified, as holmi (nos 36-39), but also vases of rare types, such as a fragmented hydria-like urn (no. 13), a two-handled vase like the one found in Karystian quarry of Myloi (no. 41), and a spout probably derived from the equipment of a press-bed of an oil- or wine-press (no. 42). The above-mentioned artifacts preserve remarkable tools marks, which offer important evidence about the technical details of carving procedure.
The scientific specialization of young researchers in such a technical subject, as that of the present study, can be judged as the result of the intense efforts achieved by Professor Georgia KokkorouAlevras, to whom this paper is dedicated.
Stone Urns of Chios (4th-1st c. BC)
Recent archaeological research and rescue excavations in Chios town and its outskirts have brought to light important evidence about the ancient Chian cemeteries of the Protogeometric to the late Roman period. Among the burials unearthed were a significant number of stone
cinerary urns that were found and carried to Chios Archaeological Museum by Antonios Stefanou, Ephor of Antiquities of the previous century, and by Chian citizens. The custom of cremation is attested in Chios by the 7th c. BC. The earliest examples show that the deceased’s remnants were gathered in clay vessels, such as the two Protogeometric pithoi in the cemeteries of Letsaina and Capella areas and five pithoi-amphorae of the second half of the 7th c. BC found in the South cemeteries of the ancient city. During the 6th and 5th c. BC, inhumation dominates in the Chian necropolis that extends mostly to the western hills, to the north in Letsaina and Latomi areas, and to the south in Atsiki suburb and to the areas of Ayios Yannis o Prodromos, Rizari and Bella Vista. As far as we can tell from the available excavation reports, cremation reappears around 350 BC in a restricted scale, in comparison to the inhumation practices. The ashes and the burnt remains of the dead were put in clay or stone cinerary urns. In Roman times some leaden urns
are also recorded. A single example of stone urn is inscribed with a female name: ΚΛΕΩ. The stone urns were placed, individually or in groups, directly into the ground within simple pits, stone-lined thekai, or cist graves. The urns studied were discovered in the South cemeteries
of the town, e.g. Metropolis, Evaggelistria, Mezaria, Atsiki, Limni, Ayios Yannis o Prodromos, Stratones and Rizari. Only two cases were collected from the North cemetery of Livadia. Chian stone urns resemble in shape stone household vessels for crushing cereals, known as holmoi. Their slightly conical shape with simple handles, familiar since the Ptolemaic age, is usually adopted for cinerary urns in Paros, during the Classical period, in Laconia, during the Hellenistic period, or elsewhere. The numerous finds in Chios, approximately 60, enable us to classify the vases, on one hand, and their lids, on the other, in certain types, on the basis of their shape. Thus, eleven types of vases have been identified by their lugs and nine types of lids by their knob. The aforementioned urns are curved in local grey limestone with brown or white veins, whose quarries are located in various areas of the island: the most significant quarry fronts are these of Marmarotrapeza, on the foothill of Korakaris Mountain, nearby Chios town, and Kato Phana, to the south. The brown soft marly limestone was also quarried in the area of Thymiana. A small number of imports have been noted mostly from Cyclades.
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the rescue excavation of the plot designated for the construction of the
Rural Medical Centre in the market of Methymna on the island of Lesvos.
These fragmented figurines, dating back to the Archaic and Hellenistic periods, came to light during the excavation of a post-Byzantine building constructed atop Hellenistic remains. The ancient coroplastic production of Methymna and its distinctive position within the entire coroplastic production of Lesvos were previously acknowledged by Lilian Acheilara, in her Doctoral Thesis (The Coroplastic Art of Lesvos, University of Thessaloniki, Mytilene 2000). In fact, the historical outline of ancient Methymna during Classical Antiquity and its constant interconnection to the Athenian Democracy can also be detected through the examination of the attic influences of the few terracotta figurines published so far, as S. Mollard-Besques had noted regarding those displayed in Louvre Catalogue raisonné des figurines et reliefs en terre cuite, I, Paris 1954). Additional knowledge on this matter will be provided by the recent findings of our study. The terracotta figurines we examined do not belong to previously
known types. Furthermore, the studied archaic material shows strong similarities to the Athenian great sculpture and the published terracotta figurines from the opposite Aeolic coast (Assos, Troia), suggesting a common origin for the products or of their matrices. The Hellenistic fragments studied share resemblances with the production of Myrina and Ionic workshops. The studied terracotta figurines consist an important factor for the study of the topography of ancient Methymna, especially when considered alongside the location of the excavated plot, which lies
in a short distance from the ancient settlement and cemetery in Dapia, as well as underneath the Acropolis (the site of the Medieval Castle). The future study of the pottery of that plot will further contribute to our understanding of the identity of the excavated remains.
quarry products in antiquity are quite few and fragmentary. The coastal quarries ensured the maritime transportation of the extracted
rocks, mainly marble, intended to be carried over long distances. However, the products of inland quarries were also transported via
overland routes and then shipped from the nearest harbour, which would provide berths for commercial vessels and stone‑carrying
boats.
Our study aims to present several aspects concerning the handling and shipping of quarry products from certain ports. The present paper
includes a historical presentation of the ports where the docking of vessels carrying the extracted material and carved artefacts of quarry
workshops took place, a short mention of the marine transportation of the quarried material from inland quarries, additional information
about the harbours associated with the maritime transfer of other geomaterials and minerals in antiquity, as well as of marble and
ores from modern quarries.
rock type, its use, its environment, its dating, the alterations undertaken after the end of quarrying activity, etc.). The second part summarizes the detected post-quarrying uses of these sites as sanctuaries, cemeteries and tombs, residences, fortifications, and roads, basing on the published
archaeological context. The third section is about the Medieval quarries and the integration of the ancient quarries in the Medieval town of Rhodes. The novelties of the Rhodians architects and masons, who managed to integrate the quarries into the urban plan of their polis and later -after the end of their use- in the naturalistic insular landscape explain better the resilience and changes of rhodian ‘quarryscapes’.
and 6th centuries AD, a time of intense building activity not only in the town of Kos, but also in the island’s seaside settlements (Kardamaina, Mastichari, Antimacheia, Kefalos, etc.). It remains, however, unclear if these vases were imported finished or semifinished from Prokonnesos, together with architectural members, aboard stone-carrying ships sailing across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
https://pam-journal.pl/resources/html/article/details?id=616763
Τhe archaeological investigation of the Hellenistic-Roman sanctuary of Apollo Pythaios/Pythaeus and of the Late-Roman / Early-Byzantine settlement at Halasarna (modern Kardamaina) on Kos Island (Dodecanese, Greece) has brought to light numerous finds related to the cults of the sanctuary (fragments of statues, inscriptions, etc.) as well as various others, mainly household utensils (coarse pottery and stone implements), property of the Late-Roman/Early-Byzantine residents. The stone vessels and numerous querns used for grinding cereals found in the excavation are extremely interesting. Most of these millstones are made of volcanic rocks, whose provenance has long been a matter of discuss. At any case the earliest handmills and tools, which were found, date from the prehistoric periods. The Classical and Hellenistic querns had been probably in use by the priests and the personnel of the sanctuary. The most important group of querns studied were the rotary handmills, which must be dated from the Early-Roman period to the abandonment of the early-Byzantine settlement.
Recent research shed light on the material provenance of querns discovered in ancient Halasarna. Ancient sources claim that Nisyros Island used to provide raw volcanic material for millstones crafting, which was confirmed by the archaeometric analyses undertaken. Lavas extracted from the subterranean quarry or the open-air one of Argos (Nisyros) were used for carving Olynthian mills. These artifacts are considered as the high-quality products of the Nisyrian workshop, during the period when the production reached its peak. During the Hellenistic period the Koan workshops manufactured Olynthian mills with local rhyolite extracted in Peleketa or Kastelli quarries of Kefalos Peninsula. In Nisyrian volcanic stone additional types of mills had been manufactured, such as the Delian type of mills. A nice example of such a mill had been discovered recently in Halasarna. The numerous fragments of rotary querns discovered in Halasarna, carved in local volcanic stones of Kefalos quarries, provide adequate evidence about the location of a workshop near to the Early-Byzantine settlement, which has not yet been found.
same plot. The vases studied do not belong to the usual neoattic types, such as craters, calices, canthari or scyphi; most of the fragmentary vases studied were bowls with handles (nos 8-33), comparable to those found in other excavations of Athenian marble workshops: the one in the neighboring excavated area in the same plot, that of South Stoa II of the Athenian Agora
and the one in the “Street of Marbleworkers”, between Pnyx and Areios Pagos. Fragments of bigger semi-carved vases were also identified, as holmi (nos 36-39), but also vases of rare types, such as a fragmented hydria-like urn (no. 13), a two-handled vase like the one found in Karystian quarry of Myloi (no. 41), and a spout probably derived from the equipment of a press-bed of an oil- or wine-press (no. 42). The above-mentioned artifacts preserve remarkable tools marks, which offer important evidence about the technical details of carving procedure.
The scientific specialization of young researchers in such a technical subject, as that of the present study, can be judged as the result of the intense efforts achieved by Professor Georgia KokkorouAlevras, to whom this paper is dedicated.
Stone Urns of Chios (4th-1st c. BC)
Recent archaeological research and rescue excavations in Chios town and its outskirts have brought to light important evidence about the ancient Chian cemeteries of the Protogeometric to the late Roman period. Among the burials unearthed were a significant number of stone
cinerary urns that were found and carried to Chios Archaeological Museum by Antonios Stefanou, Ephor of Antiquities of the previous century, and by Chian citizens. The custom of cremation is attested in Chios by the 7th c. BC. The earliest examples show that the deceased’s remnants were gathered in clay vessels, such as the two Protogeometric pithoi in the cemeteries of Letsaina and Capella areas and five pithoi-amphorae of the second half of the 7th c. BC found in the South cemeteries of the ancient city. During the 6th and 5th c. BC, inhumation dominates in the Chian necropolis that extends mostly to the western hills, to the north in Letsaina and Latomi areas, and to the south in Atsiki suburb and to the areas of Ayios Yannis o Prodromos, Rizari and Bella Vista. As far as we can tell from the available excavation reports, cremation reappears around 350 BC in a restricted scale, in comparison to the inhumation practices. The ashes and the burnt remains of the dead were put in clay or stone cinerary urns. In Roman times some leaden urns
are also recorded. A single example of stone urn is inscribed with a female name: ΚΛΕΩ. The stone urns were placed, individually or in groups, directly into the ground within simple pits, stone-lined thekai, or cist graves. The urns studied were discovered in the South cemeteries
of the town, e.g. Metropolis, Evaggelistria, Mezaria, Atsiki, Limni, Ayios Yannis o Prodromos, Stratones and Rizari. Only two cases were collected from the North cemetery of Livadia. Chian stone urns resemble in shape stone household vessels for crushing cereals, known as holmoi. Their slightly conical shape with simple handles, familiar since the Ptolemaic age, is usually adopted for cinerary urns in Paros, during the Classical period, in Laconia, during the Hellenistic period, or elsewhere. The numerous finds in Chios, approximately 60, enable us to classify the vases, on one hand, and their lids, on the other, in certain types, on the basis of their shape. Thus, eleven types of vases have been identified by their lugs and nine types of lids by their knob. The aforementioned urns are curved in local grey limestone with brown or white veins, whose quarries are located in various areas of the island: the most significant quarry fronts are these of Marmarotrapeza, on the foothill of Korakaris Mountain, nearby Chios town, and Kato Phana, to the south. The brown soft marly limestone was also quarried in the area of Thymiana. A small number of imports have been noted mostly from Cyclades.
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Στην αρχαϊκή περίοδο εγκαινιάζεται η συστηματική εξόρυξη μαρμάρου και η χρήση του στην ανέγερση των κτηρίων παραγκωνίζει τα ευτελή υλικά: το ξύλο και τον πηλό. Σύμφωνα με την παράδοση ο Νάξιος μαρμαρογλύπτης Βύζης και ο γιός του Εύεργος αντικατέστησαν τα πήλινα κεραμίδια των κτηρίων με μαρμάρινα τον 7ο αι. π.Χ. Σε κάθε περιοχή χρησιμοποιούνταν διαφορετικοί λίθοι, ανάλογα με το ποιος βρισκόταν πιο κοντά στην περιοχή όπου θα έχτιζαν το κάθε κτήριο. Έτσι χρησιμοποιήθηκαν μαλακοί λίθοι, οι πωρόλιθοι, όπως ονομάζονται από τους αρχαιολόγους, ή οι κροκαλοπαγείς λίθοι, αλλά και σκληροί ασβεστόλιθοι, ηφαιστειακοί λίθοι και γρανιτοειδή πετρώματα, καθ’όλη την αρχαιότητα.
Τα σημαντικότερα λατομεία που έχουν διασωθεί και μελετηθεί είναι τα λατομεία μαρμάρου. Το μάρμαρο χρησιμοποιήθηκε ευρέως στην αρχιτεκτονική, την γλυπτική, αλλά και για ήσσονος σημασίας αντικείμενα (ενεπίγραφα μνημεία, αγγεία, κλπ.). Η Ελλάδα παρουσιάζει μεγάλη ποικιλία μαρμάρων, που κάθε ένα έχει ιδιαίτερα χαρακτηριστικά, που μερικές φορές είναι ορατά με γυμνό μάτι, αλλά για την ασφαλή ταύτισή τους είναι απαραίτητες φυσικοχημικές αναλύσεις. Το μάρμαρο της Νάξου, της Πάρου, του Υμηττού αλλά και της Πεντέλης χρησιμοποιούνται κυρίως στην γλυπτική. Το πεντελικό μάρμαρο αποτέλεσε το κατεξοχήν υλικό κατασκευής των μνημείων της κλασικής Αθήνας, ενώ τα μάρμαρα του Βέρμιου όρους και του Παγγαίου χρησίμευσαν για την ανέγερση πολλών μακεδονικών μνημείων. Μάρμαρο παρήγαν και πολλές περιοχές της Μ. Ασίας. Τα πιο γνωστά λατομεία ήταν αυτά της Προκοννήσου στη θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά, του Δοκιμίου στη Φρυγία, της Εφέσου και της Ηράκλειας στο Λάτμο, της Αφροδισιάδας κ.ά. Τα χρωματιστά μάρμαρα με ελάχιστες εξαιρέσεις ήταν ιδιαίτερα αγαπητά στους ρωμαϊκούς χρόνους: της Σκύρου (λευκό με γαλάζιες και ερυθρές φλέβες), της Χίου (ροδόχροο ως ερυθρό), της Τήνου (πράσινο), της Θεσσαλίας (πράσινο), της Μάνης (ερυθρό), των Κροκεών Λακωνίας (πράσινο), της Καρύστου (πράσινο) κλπ.
Για την εξόρυξη όγκων στα αρχαία λατομεία ακολουθήθηκαν κάποια βασικά στάδια, τα οποία δεν απέχουν και πολύ από τις πατροπαράδοτες μεθόδους εξόρυξης πέτρας που ακολουθήθηκαν έως την προβιομηχανική Ελλάδα. Η μελέτη των αρχαίων λατομείων μέσα από την κατανόηση των τεχνικών εξόρυξης μας επιτρέπει να διαγνώσουμε τα εργαλεία που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν και να χρονολογήσουμε τα αρχαία μέτωπα εξόρυξης. Η περίπλοκη αυτή διαδικασία μπορεί να αποτελέσει σημαντικό εργαλείο στην ταύτιση των υλικών δομής σπουδαίων αρχαίων μνημείων και να συμβάλει στην καλύτερη προσέγγιση πτυχών της αρχαίας ελληνικής οικονομίας.
Ο εντοπισμός ναυαγίων σε όλη τη Μεσόγειο στα οποία διασώθηκαν τα μεταφερόμενα προϊόντα από τα αρχαία λατομεία ανοίγει νέα πεδία έρευνας για την διακίνηση και εμπορία των εξορυσσόμενων λίθων. Με τον τρόπο αυτό, αποκαθίσταται ως έναν βαθμό η εικόνα μας για το μέγεθος της εξόρυξης κατά την αρχαιότητα στα διάφορα λατομεία, ακόμα και για αυτά των οποίων τα ίχνη έχουν χαθεί. Πράγματι, οι σύγχρονες καταστροφικές μέθοδοι εξόρυξης και η άναρχη οικοδόμηση της υπαίθρου τείνουν να εξαφανίσουν σπουδαίες θέσεις αρχαίων λατομείων.
Η καταγραφή πληροφοριών σχετικά με τα αρχαία λατομεία του Ελλαδικού χώρου αποτέλεσε ένα σημαντικό πεδίο έρευνας στο Ε.Κ.Π.Α. Το 2002 συστάθηκε στον Τομέα Αρχαιολογίας και Ιστορίας της Τέχνης του Πανεπιστημίου της Αθήνας από την Ομότιμη -σήμερα- Καθηγήτρια Κλασικής Αρχαιολογίας Γεωργία Κοκκορού – Αλευρά ερευνητική ομάδα για την εκπόνηση ενός συστηματικού καταλόγου, Corpus, των αρχαίων ελληνικών λατομείων. Η ευτυχής κατάληξη αυτής της επίπονης και εξαιρετικά περίπλοκης προσπάθειας για τη συγκέντρωση όλων των στοιχείων για το κάθε αρχαίο ελληνικό λατομείο χωριστά ήταν η έκδοση της μονογραφίας CORPUS ΑΡΧΑΙΩΝ ΛΑΤΟΜΕΙΩΝ. Λατομεία του ελλαδικού χώρου από τους προϊστορικούς έως τους μεσαιωνικούς χρόνους. Πλέον η έκδοση αυτή με αναρτημένες επιπλέον τις φωτογραφίες της έρευνας της ομάδας μας, που δεν έχουν περιληφθεί στην τυπωμένη έκδοση είναι προσβάσιμη στην ιστοσελίδα του Τμήματος Ιστορίας-Αρχαιολογίας. Επίσης, το Πολιτιστικό Ίδρυμα της Τραπέζης Πειραιώς ανέλαβε την κατά κοινή ομολογία πολύ επιτυχή έκδοση του εγχειριδίου μας με τίτλο Αρχαία Ελληνικά Λατομεία που κυκλοφόρησε το 2010. Στην ανακοίνωση αυτή θα παρουσιαστούν περιληπτικά θέματα που περιέχονται σε αυτή την έκδοση με επικαιροποιημένα στοιχεία από την πρόσφατη έρευνα της ομάδας.
Our recent archaeological research during surveys conducted in Dodecanese as employees in the Greek Archaeological Service, added important information to the catalogue of the dodecanesian quarries, whereas the archaeometric methods enabled us to determine the origin of the material of several archaeological findings. In this paper, there will be a short presentation of the recently discovered quarries: of “poros” (sedimentary rock) at Asklepieion of Kos, at Ialysos and Lardos of Rhodes, in volcanic rocks at Argos of Nisyros, at Pacheia and Pergoussa (islets close to Nisyros) and grey hard limestone at Levitha (islet west of Leros), as well as a connection of the extracted stone with known archaeological findings, basing on the recent archaeometric research, visual observation, and literary sources.
Many scholars recently focused on the harbors infrastructure for handling goods and explored the storage facilities at most important harbor-sites, like Ephesos and Ostia . However, there is an abundance of evidence of strong interconnections between quarries and harbors of regional areas in Greek mainland and the islands, provided by:
1. The underwater discovery of quarry-products in ancient harbors at the vicinity of ancient quarries (e.g. the harbor at Kako Lagadi, Kara Tepe, which was involved with the transfer of the products of Moria quarry, Lesvos island).
2. The harbor installations located in major quarrying sites (e.g. Aliki quarry, Thasos island).
3. The simple slipways at coastal quarries of lesser quality rocks (e.g. Feloti quarry of sandstone, Kythera island).
4. The adequate documentation about the interconnection between certain quarries and harbors (e.g. the products of the Chasambali quarry of Τhessalian green stone were probably transported via the port of ancient Demetrias, close to Volos, Magnesia).
5. The occurrence of quarried artifacts on the seashore near to secondary quarries usually of marble insinuate their marine transportation and the probable existence of simple installations, as floating docks for the supply of the stone-carrying boats (e.g. monolithic columns lying at the coastal part of Tarti quarry of grey marble, Lesvos Island).
The aforementioned information will be collected, in order to draw safe conclusions about the economic importance of specific quarries associated with ports, whose role as trading centers remained until recently vague.
προκοννήσιο μάρμαρο. Πρόκειται για ανοιχτά τετράωτα ή τρίωτα αγγεία με προχοή, που έφεραν τεταρτοσφαιρικές λαβές με εγχάρακτη διακόσμηση, τύπος αρκετά γνωστός από πολλές θέσεις πρώιμων βυζαντινών χρόνων. Τα προκοννήσια αυτά αγγεία αποτελούν την πλειονότητα των πρώιμων βυζαντινών μαρμάρινων αγγείων
που εντοπίστηκαν στην πανεπιστημιακή ανασκαφή, αν και υπάρχουν και λιγοστά κωακά αγγεία του ίδιου τύπου, που ήταν λαξευμένα σε κωακούς λίθους (μάρμαρο, τραβερτίνη και ασβεστόλιθο), στοιχείο που υποδηλώνει ότι τα εργαστήρια λιθοξοϊκής του νησιού λειτουργούσαν κατά τη πρώιμη βυζαντινή εποχή. Η διαπίστωση της χρήσης του προκοννήσιου μαρμάρου όχι μόνο για αρχιτεκτονικά
μέλη, αλλά και για ήσσονος σημασίας τέχνεργα κατά τον 5ο και 6ο αι. μ.Χ. μας επιτρέπει να εικάσουμε ότι στην Κω εισάγονταν παράλληλα με τα αρχιτεκτονικά μέλη και αγγεία από τα εργαστήρια μαρμαρογλυπτικής της Βασιλεύουσας στην Προκόννησο. Τα σκεύη αυτά θα μεταφέρονταν ίσως και ημίεργα σε φορτηγά πλοία στη Μεσόγειο και στη Μαύρη Θάλασσα μαζί με τα αρχιτεκτονικά μέλη για την ανέγερση κοσμικών και θρησκευτικών κτηρίων της Βασιλεύουσας, όπως μαρτυρούν τα εντοπισθέντα ευρήματα σε πολλά ναυάγια της Μεσογείου. Οι εισαγωγές προκοννήσιων προϊόντων στην Κω θα συστηματοποιήθηκαν από τον ύστερο 4ο αι. μ.Χ. και εξής, και ειδικότερα μετά το σεισμό του 469 μ.Χ., εποχή έντονης οικοδομικής
δραστηριότητας σε πολλούς οικισμούς της Κω (Μαστιχάρι, Κέφαλος κλπ.).
Νέα στοιχεία για την κοροπλαστική της Αρχαίας Μήθυμνας.
Τα πήλινα ειδώλια που θα παρουσιαστούν στην συγκεκριμένη ανακοίνωση προέρχονται από την σωστική ανασκαφή στο οικόπεδο Αγροτικού Ιατρείου στην Αγορά της Μήθυμνας Λέσβου και είναι αδημοσίευτα. Πρόκειται για αποσπασματικά ειδώλια των αρχαϊκών, κλασικών και ελληνιστικών χρόνων, που βρέθηκαν κατά την ανασκαφή του οικοπέδου, στο οποίο αποκαλύφθηκε τμήμα μεταβυζαντινού κτηρίου, θεμελιωμένου σε ελληνιστικά κατάλοιπα. Η κοροπλαστική της αρχαίας Μήθυμνας καθώς και η ιδιαίτερη φυσιογνωμία της στην κοροπλαστική παραγωγή της αρχαίας Λέσβου αναγνωρίσθηκε από την Αχειλαρά, που την περιέλαβε στη διδακτορική της διατριβή (Λ. Αχειλαρά, Η Κοροπλαστική της Λέσβου, Α.Π.Θ., Μυτιλήνη 2000). Εξάλλου, η ιδιαίτερη ιστορική πορεία της αρχαίας Μήθυμνας σε όλη την κλασική αρχαιότητα και η στενή της σχέση με την Αθήνα ανακλάται και στις αττικές επιδράσεις των λιγοστών ειδωλίων της, όπως είχε παρατηρήσει η Mollard - Besques, στα παραδείγματα που μελέτησε από το Μουσείο του Λούβρου (S. Mollard-Besques, Catalogue raisonné des figurines et reliefs en terre cuite, I, Paris 1954). Με την παρούσα εργασία επιχειρείται να προστεθούν νέα στοιχεία από τα ευρήματα που θα παρουσιαστούν, τα οποία και χρονολογούνται από τον 6ο αι. π.Χ. και εξής και περιλαμβάνουν τύπους που έως σήμερα δεν είχαν εντοπιστεί. Η πλειονότητα των ειδωλίων απεικονίζουν γυναικείες μορφές, στοιχείο που ίσως παραπέμπει στην ύπαρξη ενός ιερού γυναικείας θεότητας στην θέση του εν λόγω ακινήτου ή τουλάχιστον σε κοντινή απόσταση από αυτό. Πραγματικά, η θέση του ανεσκαμμένου ακινήτου πλησίον της Ντάπιας, όπου έχουν ανασκαφεί σημαντικά οικιστικά κατάλοιπα και τάφοι της αρχαίας πόλης, αλλά και στη σκιά του Μεσαιωνικού Κάστρου, όπου τοποθετείται η Αρχαία Ακρόπολη, ίσως συνηγορεί σε αυτή την υπόθεση.
Terracotta figurines from the plot of the Rural Medical Centre in Methymna of Lesvos: New data about the coroplastic art of ancient Methymna.
This paper discusses the yet unpublished terracotta figurines found during the rescue excavation of the plot designated for the construction of the Rural Medical Centre in the market of Methymna of Lesvos. These fragmented figurines, dated in Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, came to light during the excavation of a post-byzantine building erected on top of Hellenistic remains. The ancient coroplastic production of Methymna and its special position within the entire coroplastic production of Lesvos had already been recognized by Lilian Acheilara, in her Doctoral Thesis (The Coroplastic Art of Lesvos, University of Thessaloniki, Mytilene 2000). In fact, the historic outline of ancient Methymna in the whole Classical Antiquity and its constant interconnection to the Athenian Democracy can also be detected through the examination of the attic influences of the few terracotta figurines published so far, as S. Mollard-Besques had noted about the ones exhibited in Louvre (Catalogue raisonné des figurines et reliefs en terre cuite, I, Paris 1954). Additional knowledge on this matter will be provided by the recent findings of our study. The terracotta figurines studied do not belong to already known types. Furthermore, most of them are female which may indicate the existence of a sanctuary of a female deity on site or in the neighboring area. Topographical evidence such as the short distance between the excavated plot and the area of Dapia, where the ruins of the ancient settlement and cemetery have been explored, as well as its location underneath the Medieval Castle, where the Ancient Acropolis lied, support this hypothesis.
the west, to Kos-Meropis, at the eastern promontory, emerged the planning and the reconstruction of a new capital following the Hippodamean rule, as well as the formation of its harbor. The thorough examination of the rock-types used for koan buildings dated immediately after the Synoecism brought to light important evidence about the affinities of the architectural trend of the middle of the 4th cent. B.C. between Kos, Rhodes and Karia, which can be detected on the choice of building materials and construction techniques. It is remarkable, that the best-preserved monument of that period, the city wall of Kos, along with the earlier buildings of the town was built in imported material from the opposite coast. The building tradition of the opposite Karian coast probably influenced Koan builders not only in quarrying and carving techniques, but also in stones’ special combinations, to achieve resistance in earthquakes, waterproofing features and the better visual result.
Certain scholars had suggested that the Hecatomnid rulers, especially Mausolus, had manipulated the Synoecism and the transfer of the capital of the island. As a matter of fact, possible movement towards Kos of the builders from the opposite Karian coast, who preferred the well-known building stones of their Motherland, cannot be excluded.
The above-mentioned influences on Koan architecture helped Koan quarrymen and stone-carvers / sculptors to improve their skills, to organize as early as in the 3rd cent. B.C. a marble workshop at the slopes of Mount Dikaios and to seek for local rocks in the western part of the island (Kefalos peninsula), aiming mainly to avoid the imports of stone material from the territory of the other Doric cities of the opposite coast or the neighboring islands.
The custom of cremation is attested in Chios by the 7th cent. B.C. The earliest examples show that the deceased’s remnants were gathered in clay vessels, such as the two Protogeometric pithoi in the cemeteries of Letsaina and Capella areas and five pithoi-amphorae of the second half of the 7th cent. B.C. found in the south cemeteries of ancient city. During the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., inhumation dominates in the Chian necropolis that extends mostly to the western hills, to the north in Letsaina and Latomi areas, and to the south in Atsiki suburb and to the areas of Ayios Yannis o Prodromos, Rizari and Bella Vista. As far as we can tell from the available excavation reports, cremation reappears around 350 B.C. in a restricted scale, in comparison to the inhumation practices. The ashes and the burnt remains of the dead were put in clay or stone cinerary urns. In Roman times some leaden urns are also recorded. The stone urns were placed, individually or in groups, directly into the ground within simple pits, stone-lined thekai, or cist graves. The urns studied were discovered in the south cemeteries of the town e.g. Metropolis, Evaggelistria, Mezaria, Atsiki, Limni (=lake), Ayios Yannis o Prodromos, Stratones (=military camps) and Rizari. Only two cases were collected from the north cemetery of Livadia (= meadows). However, the most important -closely dated- archaeological context with stone cinerary urns, comes from few salvage excavations in Livadia, Rizari, Evaggelistria and in Atsiki suburb.
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Department of History and Archaeology
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