2011$ vande$moortel,$a.,$and$e.$zahou,$the$bronze$age;iron ... · from early helladic ii to the...

2011 Van de Moortel, A., and E. Zahou, "The Bronze Age-‐Iron Age Transition at Mitrou, in East Lokris: Evidence for Continuity and Discontinuity," in A. Mazarakis Ainian (ed.), The "Dark Ages" Revisited. Acts of an International Symposium in Memory of William D.E. Coulson, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece, 14-17 June 2007 (Volos) 331-‐347.

The site of Mitrou is a small tidal islet lo-cated in East Lokris on the North Euboean Gulf (fig. 1). It is situated 20 km north of Or-chomenos and Gla, 50 km north of Thebes and 60 km northwest of Lefkandi. The University of Tennessee and the 14th Ephorate of the Greek Archaeological Service are carrying out a 5-year collaborative program of excavation and survey of the site under the direction of the authors.

We have now completed 4 seasons of excava-tion, from 2004 through 2007.

The islet of Mitrou has a surface area of 3.6 ha. It is quite flat, rising gently to the north to about 12 m above sea level (fig. 2). Archaeo-logical remains cover the entire islet and con-tinue below sea level for about 50 m to the east and west to a depth of 3 m. Thus sea level in an-tiquity must have been at least 3 m lower than at present and the site probably was not an islet but situated on a low rise close to the shore. Mi-trou had never been excavated before the cur-rent project. No articulated architecture is vis-ible on the present surface, but two geophysi-cal surveys, carried out by us in 2003 and 2005, showed buried walls and possibly roads cover-ing the entire islet (fig. 3: Tsokas et al. forth-coming). A pick-up survey conducted in 1988-1989 by Cornell University revealed that the is-let was strewn with pottery from the Neolithic through Late Roman periods, the large major-ity dating to the Late Bronze Age and Protogeo-metric period (Kramer-Hajos – O’Neill 2008). This suggested that it had been occupied for a long time. In addition, natural scarps created by the sea on the east and west sides of the is-let showed deep stratigraphic sequences with readily identifiable architectural features. In the summers of 2006 and 2007 we cleaned a 45-m stretch of the east scarp and found a succession of 25 occupational levels down to sea level (fig. 4). The pottery from those levels ranges in date from Early Helladic II to the Late Helladic III period.

Because of its seemingly uninterrupted oc-

Aleydis Van de Moortel, Eleni Zahou

THE BRONZE AGE - IRON AGE TRANSITION AT MITROU IN EAST LOKRIS: EVIDENCE FOR CONTINUITY AND DISCONTINUITY*

* This project would not have been possible without the strong support of Dr. Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika and Mrs. Maria Papakonstantinou, successive Directors of the Ephorate of Lamia, and Drs. Stephen Tracy and Jack Dav-is, successive Directors of the American School of Classi-cal Studies at Athens. Our project enjoys the financial sup-port of the University of Tennessee, the Institute of Aegean Prehistory, the National Endowment for the Humanities (Collaborative Research Grant No. RZ-50652-06), the Loeb Classical Library Foundation, the Greek Archaeo-logical Service, Colby College, and other institutional and private donors. Any views, findings, conclusions, or rec-ommendations expressed in this publication do not nec-essarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. We are grateful to College-Year-in-Athens (ΔΙΚΕΜΕΣ) and Cornell University for administering our field schools. The preliminary results presented here are the fruit of the hard work of the 2004-2007 Mitrou excava-tion teams, and in particular: Kerill O’Neill, Colby College (field director), Giuliana Bianco and Alexandra Costic (ar-chitects), Nick Herrmann, University of Tennessee (physi-cal anthropologist, G.I.S. specialist), Grigoris Tsokas and his team, University of Thessaloniki (geophysical prospec-tion), Caroline Belz, UCLA (surface survey), Jeremy B. Rutter, Dartmouth College, Patrick Thomas, University of Evansville, Salvatore Vitale, University of Pisa, Bartlomiej Lis, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Štěpán Rückl, Uni-versity of Prague (pottery analysts), Evi Goroyianni, Uni-versity of Cincinnati, Barbara Nielsen Wold, and Teresa Hancock (lab directors).

ALEYDIS VAN DE MOORTEL, ELENI ZAHOU288

cupation throughout the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, Mitrou is an ideal place to study cru-cial and poorly understood periods of Aegean prehistory, such as the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age--a subject to which Willy Coulson has devoted a considera-ble part of his scholarly life, and the topic of this symposium honoring his memory. Situated on the coast of the Euboean Gulf, which was a ma-jor passageway by land and sea between north-ern and southern Greece, Mitrou is an excellent site at which to study developments, as well as possible movements of people, goods, and ideas during this period of transition.

Our excavation focuses on two sectors in the northeast and northwest of the islet, chosen because of impressive architectural remains de-tected here by our geophysical surveys (Tsokas et al. forthcoming). Before discussing the Late Helladic IIIC and Protogeometric periods at Mitrou, it is necessary to present briefly the pre-ceding phases, because they are important for understanding the significance of the Late Hel-ladic IIIC occupation.

FORMATIVE PERIOD OF LATE BRONZE AGE PALATIAL SOCIETY AND BEGINNING OF PALATIAL PERIOD (Late Helladic I through Late Helladic IIIA:2 Early; ca. 1600 - early 14th century BC)

The earliest architectural remains we have exposed at Mitrou thus far date to the Late Hel-ladic I phase. From this phase until Late Hel-ladic IIIA:2 Early, Mitrou had an urban settle-ment with rectilinear buildings arranged along wide orthogonal streets. The most important structure of this period so far exposed is Build-ing D in the northeast excavation area (figs. 5-6). Even though it is not very large in area, only 13.5 × 8.25 m, Building D has a monumen-tal appearance for several reasons. Its wall so-cles measure 1.00 to 1.20 m in thickness and are much thicker than the walls of any other building at the site or--for that matter--of any

contemporary building on the Greek main-land (Darcque 2005). Moreover, they were con-structed with roughly cut limestone blocks that are larger than any others used at Mitrou. Thus it is clear that the building was intended to impress. For reasons still unknown, Building D and its adjacent structures were destroyed by fire early in the Late Helladic IIIA:2 phase, roughly at the beginning of the palatial period.

PALATIAL PERIOD: Late Helladic IIIA:2 Late through Late Helladic IIIB

Following this destruction there was a nearly total absence of building activity in the excavated areas at Mitrou in the Late Hellad-ic IIIA:2 Late and Late Helladic IIIB phases. It appears that Building D and its adjacent settle-ment areas were left as visible ruins for some 170 years. Evidence for human activity in this period is limited to a few informal surfac-es, pottery dumps, and some flimsy wall frag-ments (fig. 5). Pottery is still plentiful and of high quality, including Argive imports. Thus we know that Mitrou was not abandoned, but that its use had changed in a way as yet not under-stood.

POST-PALATIAL PERIOD: Late Helladic IIIC through Late Protogeometric

After the demise of the Mycenaean palaces, and possibly as early as Late Helladic IIIC Ear-ly, the excavated settlement area at Mitrou was rebuilt in its Prepalatial form--at least in the northeast excavation sector. On top of ruined Building D a new structure, Building B, was constructed, apparently as its successor (figs. 5-6). To judge from the partially preserved re-mains, Building B was rectangular and similar in size to Building D. The very southwest cor-ner of Building B is missing, so we do not know whether its west wall formed an angle with the south wall or continued to form a south porch.

THE BRONZE AGE-IRON AGE TRANSITION AT MITROU IN EAST LOKRIS 289

With a width of 70-80 cm, the rubble wall socles of Building B are less impressive than those of Building D, but more substantial than the walls of any other LH IIIC building at Mi-trou. This as well as its location on top of Build-ing D suggests that Building B was an impor-tant building in the Late Helladic IIIC settle-ment despite its apparently modest size and simple construction. Not much is known about its interior or its function. Two superimposed earthen floors (at c. +5.30 and c. +5.45) have been identified in its interior space north of wall 5, but neither had floor deposits. The in-terior space south of wall 5 has been much dis-turbed by the construction of apsidal Building A in the Protogeometric period. A construction date of Late Helladic IIIC Early for Building B is tentatively indicated by the latest pottery frag-ments found below a cobbled exterior surface just west of Building B, against which the west wall of the building had been set as a terrace wall (Rutter 2007, 289). Building B must have gone out of use by Late Helladic IIIC Late at the latest, because in that subphase a small struc-ture, Building C, was set on top of its northwest corner (Lis 2009, 209-210).

To the west of Building B, the gaps between large stones that had fallen on top of the peb-bled street were filled some time in LH IIIC, and rough gravel and cobbled road surfaces were laid at a higher elevation (ca. +5.30/5.70), forming a broad straight road about 3 m wide, a poor successor to the much better construct-ed pebbled Prepalatial street below. Elsewhere in the settlement, Late Helladic IIIC walls often were built on top of earlier, Prepalatial walls. This resumption of the Prepalatial settlement pattern after a gap of about 170 years is remark-able and it could be argued that a collective memory was maintained of property boundar-ies and settlement organisation (Van de Moor-tel 2009, 361-362). Unfortunately, none of these walls can be dated to a specific subphase of the Late Helladic IIIC period, and we have very few floor deposits. Until further study of the mate-rial we cannot say much more specific about

the history of the settlement in this period nor about the activities that took place there. The fact that we have two or three architectural phases in the Late Helladic IIIC settlement in-dicates that it was quite long-lived.

Some time during Late Helladic IIIC Late phase, before the very end of the Bronze Age, we see a marked change in the quality of the architecture and the layout of the settlement at Mitrou. Up to now we had sturdy rectilin-ear buildings fronting directly onto roads, with open-air activities presumably taking place in interior courtyards. In contrast, new structures built in Late Helladic IIIC Late and later are iso-lated buildings and often have non-rectilinear, flimsy walls. In a radical departure of previous practice they have exterior courtyards with util-itarian structures, and activities taking place in full view of passers-by. It is argued here that these changes represent a shift from urban to rural occupation. The new buildings as a rule also have sunken floors, which is a feature al-ready seen in Building B.

A typical new structure is Building G, con-structed south of abandoned Building B in the Late Helladic IIIC Late phase (figs. 5-8). Only its northernmost space lies within our excava-tion sector and has been excavated. Building G has irregular and very flimsy walls, only 40-50 cm thick. Little of a mudbrick superstructure or collapsed roofing was found, and thus this space appears to have been a low-walled court-yard visible from the road rather than an interi-or room. Its main features are two circular cob-ble platforms, 94 cm in diameter, the northern platform slightly overlapping the southern one. Both platforms had been covered by a thin lay-er of soil on top of which was a layer of clay. On top of the layer of soil, at the northern end of the upper platform, a large fragment of a pot-tery tray with 5 smaller vase fragments had been set upright to form a vertical edge. These pottery fragments likewise were covered with clay, and were resting against the north wall of Building G. The function of these platforms needs further investigation, but it is likely that


they were ovens or silos. They had been covered with a clay roof that had melted over the plat-forms and their immediate vicinity. The clay in-cluded many black streaks of burning, and the platforms show traces of burning as well, which makes their interpretation as ovens more like-ly (Blackwell 2007). The earthen surface of this courtyard is located at ca. +4.60-4.75, and is 70 cm lower than the contemporary road surface to its west, ca. 50 cm lower than the earthen surface to its north, and 10 cm to 15 cm lower than the earthen surface to its east.

To the west, on the other side of the broad cobble-and-dirt road, most of Building F was abandoned except for the southernmost ex-posed part of wall 31, which was rebuilt in a more flimsy way than before. A rough cobble courtyard was laid adjacent to the street, over walls 32 and 85 of the former staircase (fig. 5 right). Over the northern area of Building B, wall fragments 40 and 41 appear to be the re-mains of another flimsy, curvilinear building with a sunken floor, which was largely destroyed by subsequent activities (Building J). This new form of occupation with isolated, flimsy struc-tures and outside courtyards located next to the road no longer has an urban character but is ru-ral, and represents a marked departure from the layout of the earlier settlement. This rural char-acter continues into the Protogeometric peri-od with the construction of apsidal Building A in the Early Protogeometric phase, which like-wise had a sunken floor and an exterior court-yard to its north, and with Late Protogeomet-ric rectilinear Building E, which reused part of Building A as its exterior courtyard (see below). Similar changes in the character of settlements from urban to rural have been noted elsewhere in mainland Greece, including by Willy Coul-son himself at Nichoria, in the southwest Pelo-ponnese (McDonald – Coulson 1983; Whitley 2001, 77-80, 84-90; Desborough 1964). How-ever, at many sites this change is preceded by a hiatus in occupation. At Mitrou there is no evi-dence for such interruption, and thus it cannot readily be argued that the shift to a rural life-

style had been introduced by a new population. At present we do not know why the character of Mitrou’s settlement changed, but we will inves-tigate its possible reasons through careful study of all available categories of evidence.

The change from an urban to rural settle-ment is accompanied by a marked shift in buri-al practices with the reappearance of intramu-ral graves, which had not been seen at Mitrou since the Late Helladic I phase. These Postpa-latial graves are mostly cist tombs made in the ruins of abandoned earlier structures. From 2004 through 2007 we excavated 30 graves and burials dating from the Late Helladic IIIC Late phase to the Late Protogeometric phase. Nearly all are cist graves, and most belonged to chil-dren, but some contained adults (e.g. cists 6, 22, 28, 33). Grave goods were seldom present and limited primarily to a few clay vessels and occa-sionally one or two metal pins. A Late Helladic IIIC Late cist grave (no. 5) was found ca. 15 m northwest of Building C and belonged to an in-fant. Situated in the west scarp of trench LL786, this grave has been only partially excavated. It is dated by a linear cup (LL786-030-011) found inside it (Lis 2009, 210, fig. 9:1). Two or three contemporary cist graves (Nos. 32, 38, and pos-sibly 35) were placed in the rough cobble court-yard over Building F’s staircase. Several other graves cannot be dated more closely than LH IIIC/PG (cists 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 16, 17, 35, 46). Thus it is not possible to establish whether the trans-formation of living areas into burial grounds happened fairly rapidly or was a gradual pro-cess.

After Building B went out of use, a small rectangular structure labeled Building C was constructed over its northwest corner during the Late Helladic IIIC Late phase. Its architec-ture and contents have been discussed in detail elsewhere (Van de Moortel 2009, 362-363; Lis 2009, 209-210; Van de Moortel – Zahou 2003-2004, 44, fig. 6). Its small size and the presence of 22 to 26 miniature drinking and serving ves-sels as well as a cooking pot containing the care-fully stacked thighbones of piglets indicate that


Building C was a special structure. It may well have been used for group ritual, perhaps in rela-tion to nearby burials.

There is no evidence for a chronologi-cal hiatus between the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age at Mitrou. All pottery phases of this transitional period are represented, and we see continuity in burial practices and occupation. Building G went out of use before the end of the Late Helladic IIIC phase, and was covered by two layers of cobbles, one dating to Late Hel-ladic IIIC and one to the Early Protogeometric phase. An adult was buried on its floor proba-bly still in Late Helladic IIIC (grave no. 45), and had been disturbed in the Early Protogeomet-ric phase, although an Early Protogeometric date for the initial burial cannot be excluded. An Early Protogeometric amphora (LM782-015-011) was placed in a pit near the grave pre-sumably as a marker (fig. 8). Some 5 m to the northeast, in trench LO783a Submycenaean painted stirrup jar (LO783-007-014) was found in the plow zone over Building A; it presumably comes from a grave as well (Rutter 2007, 295, fig. 10). Several graves are datable to the Early Protogeometric phase. A particularly rich grave (no. 42) was found north of Building B, and contained a child buried with two bronze fibu-lae, a ceramic cup (LP785-080-012), a lekythos (LP785-080-013), and a small ceramic tripod (LP785-080-014). South of the grave, closest to the head of the child, an Early to Middle Pro-togeometric hydria (LP785-061-012) with a cup (LP785-061-011) as a lid had been placed into the edge of a large heap of stones, osten-sibly again as a grave marker (figs. 9, 10). Par-tially overlapping this grave to the west was an unusual cist grave constructed of mudbricks (no. 33) with the flexed skeleton of an adult but no grave goods (fig. 11). Grave 33 in turn was partially overlapped by a Late Protogeo-metric cist grave (no. 36), which contained an infant buried with the other of two necklaces: one was made of pierced seashells and green fa-ience disc beads and a larger central bead made of blue faience. The faience beads are identical

to beads found at Lefkandi (G. Nightingale per-sonal communication). With those were a cup (LP785-039-019), a juglet (LP785-039-018), a kalathos with impressed triangles (LP785-039-020), 3 pieces of an iron dress pin (LP785-039-011) and an indeterminate metal object (LP785-039-022).

Late Helladic IIIC and Protogeometric graves are clustered in groups, which often are located within the ruins of a former building. Through osteological analyses we hope to find out if people in those groups were related and whether or not a case can be made for continuity in land ownership between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. The spatial distribution of the graves is remarkable in that none have been dug inside Building B, and nearly all graves stay at least 3 m away from that particular building (fig. 5). This is shown most clearly by the layout of the row of cist graves 26, 27, 33, 36, and 42 lo-cated north of and parallel to Building B, and by the fact that graves were placed into the streets beyond Building B (fig. 9: e.g. cist graves 13, 44, 46). Thus it appears that the area of Building B was avoided for burial in this period.

A notable exception to this pattern is formed by four cist graves (nos. 29, 30, 39, 48) placed very close to Building B on its south side (figs. 5, 7, 8, 12). Three of the graves, two large (nos. 29 and 30) and 1 small (no. 39), had been constructed of conglomerate slabs, a material rarely used at Mitrou. These three graves date to the Early Protogeometric phase and predate Building A. The large graves had been thoroughly disturbed and robbed, but still held a few bones of adults. A tiny gold spacer bead with spiral engraving (LN782-174-011) was found in grave 29. The small conglomer-ate grave no. 39 held the body of a child with-out grave goods. The fourth grave, dug deep-ly into the wall of Prepalatial Building D, was constructed of limestone slabs and held anoth-er child buried with a Middle to Late Protogeo-metric clay cup (LO782-220-013). Even though the adult graves were found almost empty, the use of conglomerate and their position close to


Building B may signify that they belonged to prominent members of Mitrou’s society. Sim-ilar pairs of prominent graves, one belong-ing to a warrior buried with weapons, and the other presumably to his female consort buried with an unusually large amount of jewelry, and sometimes accompanied by a prominent child’s grave, have been found in the Late Protogeo-metric to Early Geometric cemetery at Ata-lante as well as in the Middle to Late Geomet-ric cemetery at Tragana, 3 km south of Mitrou, and perhaps in the Late Geometric cemetery at Anavra-Fournos in Epiknemidian Lokris (Da-koronia 1993, 119-120; Onasoglou 1981, 14-23; for more references, see Van de Moortel 2007, 251-252).The much richer Middle Pro-togeometric burials from the Lefkandi Heroon fit into the same pattern (Popham et al. 1993). A comparable phenomenon has been noted by Kilian-Dirlmeier and Deger-Jalkotzy in ceme-teries elsewhere in Greece dating from the Late Helladic IIIC Middle phase into the Early Iron Age, and has been interpreted by them as in-dicating the existence of a simple society with a small warlike aristocracy comparable to Ho-meric society (Kilian-Dirlmeier 1998; Deger-Jalkotzy 2006). The three Early Protogeometric conglomerate graves from Mitrou may be part of the same phenomenon, but are too much dis-turbed to allow a firm conclusion.

During an advanced stage of the Early Protogeometric phase, apsidal Building A was constructed inside the southern room of Late Helladic IIIC Building B (figs. 5, 6, 13: Van de Moortel 2009, 365). Only its apsidal part sur-vived, with a preserved length of about 4.5 m and a maximum width of 6.9 m. Its wall is 60 cm thick. Building A was much disturbed in the Late Protogeometric phase, presumably by ac-tivities associated with Building E (see below). However, at several locations evidence was pre-served for two superimposed clay floors (at ca. +5.10 and +5.15) representing two architectur-al phases. In the first phase, the building had a single wooden support, set on a rectangular stone base (sb1) in the center of the apse. In the

second architectural phase, dating to the Mid-dle Protogeometric phase, two rows of rectan-gular support bases were set across the apse for reasons as yet unknown. Building A went out of use in the early Late Protogeometric phase, leaving a substantial deposit of this date. Build-ing A is one of only a dozen apsidal structures known from the Early Iron Age Aegean and one of four with substantial associated depos-its (Van de Moortel – Zahou 2003-2004, 45-46). Thus it is expected to provide valuable new insights into the function of these build-ings in Early Iron Age society. Preliminary study of its architecture and artifacts suggests that its occupants enjoyed a high status. The pottery from Building A included pedestalled cups, deep bowls or skyphoi, jugs, kraters, and pithoi. Fragments of five large kraters – more than are needed for an ordinary household – suggest that feasting took place on a scale that surpassed that of the household (Rückl 2007). Part of a bovine skull together with a blue stone bead, stone tools, and a loomweight were found in the center of the apse. Other finds possi-bly associated with Building A include a large plain bronze finger ring presumably belonging to a male. In all these respects, Building A fits the criteria set forth by Mazarakis Ainian for the identification of an Early Iron Age leader’s dwelling (Mazarakis Ainian 1997, 271-276). It is too early to conclude, however, that Building A indeed held such prominent status. To the south, geophysical mapping by G. Tsokas has detected buried curved walls close to the sur-face (Tsokas et al. forthcoming). It remains to be seen whether these were contemporary with Building A and were of equal or lesser status. If Building A can indeed be shown to have been a leader’s dwelling, its location inside the south-ern room of Building B would provide a unique example of spatial and functional continuity between the final Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the Aegean.

In the Late Protogeometric phase, a sub-stantial rectangular building, labeled Building E, was constructed over the southeastern part


of Building A, destroying all but its apse (figs. 5-6). The walls of Building E are 0.60 m thick and made of large roughly cut stones that resem-ble those of Buildings A, B, and D, and may well have been reused from those structures. How-ever, whereas the large stones of those earlier buildings were laid flat, those of Building E had been set on their edge. The function of Building E is unknown because its floor was removed by later plowing, and no artifacts were found in its interior that can be associated with this build-ing. To the west of Building E, the occupants made the apsidal area of Building A into an ex-terior courtyard. A major activity that took place here was Murex dye manufacture. A rough stone platform set against the western wall of Building E contained many fragments of crushed Murex shells (Veropoulidou personal communication). Against its eastern edge a pi-shaped enclosure of unknown use had been set. In the northern part of the apse were three hearths--two placed on top of each other--that may have been used for boiling the shells. Many cooking pot fragments were found in this area as well. Two saddle querns (LN783-322-011 and LN783-322-012), found just south of hearths 2 and 3, may have been used for crushing Murex. A large pithos, at least 1 m high, had been partially sunk into the surface further to the west at this time or earlier to be used for storage or in relation to the purple dye operation (figs. 5 right, 13). Extracting pur-ple dye from Murex shells creates most unpleas-ant odours, and it is possible that a dense layer of more than a thousand fist-sized cobbles found in the apsidal area had been placed here delib-erately so that the area could be washed down occasionally without being reduced to a muddy pool (cf. Van de Moortel – Zahou 2003-2004, 45. A similar explanation for the cobble layer was first suggested by Mazarakis Ainian, personal communication). Building E went out of use in the Late Protogeometric phase, and this is also the date of the most recent graves at Mitrou, in-dicating that the site was largely abandoned in this phase. Pottery of later dates has been recov-ered in surface surveys, but is sporadic.

The findings presented here are prelimi-nary, and it remains to be seen what the chang-es in architecture, spatial use, and burial prac-tices at the transition from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age signify. During our future study of the material we will pay close attention to changes in behavioural patterns related to all aspects of life and death at Mitrou in hopes of being able to provide some answers to this question.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blackwell, N., 2007. Final 2007 Trench Summa-ry for LM782, LN782, LM783, LO782, Un-published report, Mitrou excavations.

Dakoronia, Ph., 1993. Homeric Towns in East Lokris. Problems of Identification, Hespe-ria 62, 115-127.

Darcque, P., 2005. L’habitat mycénien, Athens.Deger-Jalkotzy, S., 2006. Late Mycenaean War-

rior Tombs, in S. Deger-Jalkotzy & I.S. Lemos (eds.), Ancient Greece: from the My-cenaean Palaces to the Age of Homer, Edin-burgh, 151-179.

Desborough, V.R.d’A., 1964. The Last Mycenae-ans and Their Successors: An Archaeological Survey c. 1200-c. 1000 BC, Oxford.

Kilian-Dirlmeier, I., 1998. Elitäres Verhalten vom Ende der Bronzezeit bis zum Beginn der Eisenzeit, in N. Dimoudis & A. Kyri-azoulis (eds.), The History of the Hellenic Language and Writing from the Second to the First Millennium B.C.: Break or Conti-nuity?, Altenburg, 305-330.

Kramer-Hajos, M. – O’Neill, K., 2008. The Bronze Age Site of Mitrou in East Lokris: Finds from the 1988-1989 Surface Survey, Hesperia 77, 163-250.

Lis, B., 2009. The Sequence of Late Bronze/Ear-ly Iron Age Pottery from Central Greek Settlements. A Fresh Look at Old and New Evidence, in S. Deger-Jalkotzy & A. Baech-le (eds.), LH III Chronology and Synchro-nisms II LH III C Middle. Proceedings of the


International Workshop held at the Austri-an Academy of Sciences at Vienna, October 29th and 30th, 2004, Vienna, 373-390.

Mazarakis Ainian, A., 1997. From Rulers’ Dwell-ings to Temples. Architecture, Religion and Society in Early Iron Age Greece (1100-700 B.C.), SIMA 121, Jonsered.

McDonald, W.A. – Coulson, W.D.E., 1983. The Dark Age at Nichoria: A Perspective, in W.A. McDonald – W.D.E. Coulson – J. Rosser (eds.), Excavations at Nichoria in Southwest Greece, Vol. III. Dark Age and Byzantine Occupation, Minneapolis, 316-329.

Onasoglou, A., 1981. Οι γεωμετρικοί τάφοι της Τραγάνας στην ανατολική Λοκρίδα, ΑΔ 36, 1-57.

Popham, M.R. – Calligas, P.G. – Sackett, L.H. (eds.), 1993. Lefkandi II. The Protogeomet-ric Building at Toumba, Part 2. The Exca-vation, Architecture and Finds, BSA Suppl. 23, London.

Rückl, Š., 2007. Preliminary Report on the Pro-togeometric Pottery from Building A at Mitrou (East Lokris) (Unpublished report, Mitrou excavations).

Rutter, J.B., 2007. How Different is LH IIIC Middle at Mitrou? An Initial Comparison with Kalapodi, Kynos, and Lefkandi, in S. Deger-Jalkotzy & M. Zavadil (eds.), LH III C Chronology and Synchronisms II. LH III C Middle. Proceedings of the International Workshop held at the Austrian Academy of

Sciences at Vienna, October 29th and 30th, 2004, Vienna, 287-300.

Tsokas, G.N. – Van de Moortel, A. – Tsourlos, P. – Stampolidis, A. – Vargemezis, G. – Za-chou, E. (forthcoming). Two- and Three-Dimensional Geophysical Surveys at the Archaeological Site of Mitrou. A Prelimi-nary Report, Hesperia.

Van de Moortel, A., 2007. The Site of Mitrou and the North Euboean Gulf in Homer-ic Times, in S. Morris & R. Laffineur (eds.), EPOS. Reconsidering Greek Epic and Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology. Proceed-ings of the 11th International Aegean Con-ference, organized by the University of Liège and UCLA, Los Angeles, April 21-23, 2006, Aegaeum 28, Liège, 243-254.

Van de Moortel, A., 2009. The Late Hellad-ic IIIC-Protogeometric Transition at Mi-trou, East Lokris, in S. Deger-Jalkotzy & A. Baechle (eds.), Late Helladic IIIC Late and the Transition to the Early Iron Age. Late Helladic IIIC Chronology and Syn-chronisms. Proceedings of the Internation-al Workshop held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences at Vienna, February 22-25, 2007, Vienna, 359-372.

Van de Moortel, A. – Zahou, E., 2003-2004. 2004 Excavations at Mitrou, East Lokris, Aegean Archaeology 7, 39-48.

Whitley, J., 2001. The Archaeology of Ancient Greece, Cambridge.


Fig. 2. Balloon image of the islet of Mitrou with the locations of the 2004-2007 excavation areas as well as the east and west sea scarps. The islet is oriented roughly north-south. August 2007 (K. Xenikakis).

Fig. 1. Map of central Greece with the location of Mitrou and other major prehistoric sites (B. Lis).


Fig. 3. Results of 2003 and 2005 geophysical mapping of the islet of Mitrou. The open part in the northeast third of the islet was surveyed with electrical resistivity, and the wooded remainder of the islet with magnetometry (G. Tsokas).


Fig.

4. D

eep

stra

tigra

phic

sequ

ence

at th

e ea

st se

a sc

arp

of th

e isl

et o

f Mitr

ou, r

ecor

ded

in 2

006

and

2007

(A. C

ostic

).


MH

MH

II

MH

III

LH I

LH I

I A

LH I

I B

LH I

II A

all

ph

ase

s

LH I

II A

1

LH I

II A

2 e

arly

LH I

II A

2 m

idd

le

LH I

II A

2 l

ate

LH I

II A

2 /

LH

III

B

LH I

II B

lat

e /

LH

III

C e

arly

LH I

II C

LH I

II C

lat

e

PG

EP

G

MP

G

LPG

sto

ne

bas

e

LH I

IB a

nd

LH

III

C

LH I

IIA

an

d L

H I

II C

mid

dle

to

lat

e

LH I

IB a

nd

LH

III

A2

mid

dle

MP

G /

LP

G

LH I

an

d L

H I

IB

LH I

IIC

/ P

G

LH I

an

d L

H I

IIA

2 m

idd

le

LH I

IB a

nd

LH

III

A2

lat

e

LH I

IB, L

H I

II A

2 m

idd

le,

and

LH

III

C e

arly

to

mid

dle

EP

G a

nd

MP

G

bu

ild

ing

n.

wal

l n

.

sb

A

1

LH I

II B

Leg

end

LH I

, LH

III

A a

ll p

has

es,

LH

III

C e

arly

to

mid

dle

, LH

III

C m

idd

leto

lat

e, a

nd

PG

LH I

II C

ear

ly t

o m

idd

le

LH I

II C

mid

dle

to

lat

e

un

dat

ed

13

road

1

L

HII

IC

ea

rly

to

m

idd

le

LH

IIB

LHII

B a

nd

LH

IIIA

2 LH

IIB

mid

dle

LH

IIIC

e

arl

y t

o

mid

dle

LH

IIIC

m

idd

le

to l

ate

LH

IIIC

m

idd

le

to l

ate

LH

IIIC

m

idd

le

to

la

te

LHI

LHI

LHI

and

LH

IIIA

2 m

idd

le

LHI

LHI

and

LH

IIB

LHII

B

LHII

B

LHII

IB

LHII

B a

nd

LH

IIIA

2 m

idd

le

LHI

LH

IIIC

m

idd

le t

o l

ate

LHI

and

LH

IIB

LH

IIIC

LH

IIIC

e

arl

y t

o

mid

dle

LH

IIIC

e t

o m

LHII

B,

LHII

IA2

m,

LH

IIIC

e

arl

y t

o

mid

dle

MH

LHII

B

sb9

be

nch

?

bu

rial

52

gra

ve 2

1

bu

ild

ing

blo

cks

sb

on

road

pe

bb

led

an

d c

ob

ble

d

12

16

15

10

11

8

9

13

56

57

30

14

5

17

3

37

36

3

3

4

10

6

28

31

31

18

17

19

20

18

23

22

63

11

1

11

1

83

34

3

3

84

42

11

3

21

2

6

10

4

58

38

39

39

11

0

32

85

61

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

Bu

ild

ing

F F

Bu

ild

ing

B

uild

ing

D

B grid north

n

ort

h-

eas

t ar

ea

- p

eri

od

pla

n

MH

to

LH

III

C m

idd

le t

o l

ate

MIT

RO

U -

20

07

1

2

3

4

5 m

. 0

0

.5

aley

dis

van

de

mo

ort

el -

giu

lian

a b

ian

co 2

010

- au

g 3

13

60

5.6

7 X

-1

2 6

85

.05

Y

13

62

4.6

7x

-12

66

5.0

5y

13

60

0.6

7 X

-1

2 6

60

.05

Y

LN7

87

LN7

86

LO

78

6

LL7

86

LM

78

6

LN7

85

LO

78

5

LL7

85

LM

78

5

LO7

84

LP

78

4

LN7

84

LM7

83

LP7

83

LN7

82

LO7

82

LM7

84

LP7

85

LQ

78

5

LP7

82

LM7

82

LN7

83

LO7

83

1

slab

po

ssib

le

blo

ckin

g

road

1 c

ob

ble

d

LH

IIIC

la

te

LII

IC/P

G

MP

G

PG

P

G

LH

IIIC

/ P

G

LH

IIIC

/ P

G

LH

IIIC

/ P

G

PG

L

PG

LP

G

EP

G

LII

IC/P

G

MP

G/L

PG

EP

G

LPG

LP

G

EP

G

an

d M

PG

EP

G, M

PG

EP

G

EP

G

LH

IIIC

LH

IIIC

la

te

EP

G

MP

G

LH

IIIC

/

PG

LP

G

LH

IIIC

la

te

EP

G

late

LH

IIIC

la

te

LH

IIIC

la

te

MP

G

LH

IIIC

late

LH

IIIC

mid

dle

to

la

te a

nd

PG

cist

5

cist

2

cist

1

MP

G

cist

14

cist

11

cist

17

cist

3

cist

6

cist

9

cist

7

cist

8

cist

16

cist

33

cist

36

cist

26

ci

st 2

7

cist

42

cist

46

cist

48

cist

39

pla

tfo

rm

sb 1

sb4

sb2

he

arth

2

sb 5

he

arth

1

sb 6

sb3

sb10

and

3

cist

30

gra

ve 4

5

sto

ne

p

latf

orm

s

rou

gh

co

bb

le

surf

ace

cist

13

cist

44

cist

35

cist

32

cist

38

cist

29

cist

4

1

1

10

5

44

87

86

45

4

3

51

52

6

60

40

4

1

2

24

2

7

31

G

G

G

G

C

C

C

J

Bu

ild

ing

E

E

E

E B

uil

din

g E

G

A

A

A

Bu

ild

ing

A

Bu

ild

ing

J

Bu

ild

ing

C

grid north

n

ort

h-

eas

t ar

ea

- p

eri

od

pla

nLH

III

C l

ate

to

LP

G

MIT

RO

U -

20

07

1

2

3

4

5 m

. 0

0

.5

aley

dis

van

de

mo

ort

el -

giu

lian

a b

ian

co 2

010

- au

g 3

13

60

5.6

7 X

-1

2 6

85

.05

Y

13

62

4.6

7x

-12

66

5.0

5y

13

60

0.6

7 X

-1

2 6

60

.05

Y

LN7

87

LN7

86

LO

78

6

LL7

86

LM

78

6

LN7

85

LO

78

5

LL7

85

LM

78

5

LO7

84

LP

78

4

LN7

84

LM7

83

LP7

83

LN7

82

LO7

82

LM7

84

LP7

85

LQ

78

5

LP7

82

LM7

82

LN7

83

LO7

83

Fig.

5. P

erio

d pl

ans o

f the

nor

thea

st e

xcav

atio

n se

ctor

in 2

007;

left:

MH

to L

H II

IC M

iddl

e to

Lat

e; ri

ght:

LH II

IC L

ate

thro

ugh

LPG

(A. V

an d

e M

oort

el a

nd G

. Bia

nco)

.


Fig. 6. Balloon photo of northeast excavation sector in 2007, oriented north-south (K. Xenikakis).

Fig. 7. Balloon photo of courtyard of Building G in 2007, after most of its earthen floor had been removed. Immediately to its north are conglomerate cist tombs Nos. 29 and 30. Small conglomerate cist tomb No. 39 was dug through the north wall of Building G. Cist tomb 48, located to its east, and was dug through the south wall of Building D (K. Xenikakis).


Fig.

8. S

tate

pla

n of

Bui

ldin

g G

and

gra

ves.

Insid

e Bu

ildin

g G

is g

rave

No.

45

of L

ate

Hel

ladi

c III

C o

r Ear

ly P

roto

geom

etric

dat

e w

ith E

arly

Pro

toge

omet

ric a

mph

ora

LM78

2-01

5-01

3 as

a m

arke

r (G

. Bia

nco)

.

1.0

0

2

.00

m.

0

0.5

0

MIT

RO

U

Bu

ild

ing

G, g

rave

45

, cis

ts 2

9, 3

0,3

9

giu

lian

a b

ian

co -

20

10

au

g 1

LN7

82

A

4.3

4

3.9

1

3.9

6

cup

4.50

4.81

4.70

4.71

4.79

4.77

4.81

4.79

cist

39

4.75

4.73 4.77

bu

rial

41

4.6

1

4.5

6

4.5

7

4.5

7

fem

ur

iliu

m

lon

g b

on

e

cist

29

b

uri

al 3

3

shaf

t

lon

g b

on

e

frag

me

nts

cist

30

b

uri

al 3

5 4.7

6

rem

ove

d s

b4

cem

en

t su

rfac

e

4.3

4

4.3

2

4.4

1

4.4

1

5.4

2

5.4

8

5.3

2 5

.31

5

.41

5.4

6

5.3

9

5.2

7

5.2

7 bas

e 1

0

5.3

8

5.3

8

5.2

9

5.4

6

5.3

7

5.2

5

5.4

2

5.3

4

5.4

4

5.2

2

5.3

7

5.2

5

5.4

2

5.3

4

5.3

4

P3

04

e

l. 5

.45

6

12

.42

X

-67

9.6

75

Y

5.1

4

4.9

0

4.7

9

4.5

0

4.6

9

4.5

0

4.5

1

4.7

8 4.9

2

4.5

1

4.3

8

4.4

2

4.3

4

4.6

2

4.4

5

4.5

7 4

.30

4.5

6

4.7

0

4.2

6

4.2

7

4.1

9

4.2

7

4.1

7

4.4

9

4.3

5

4.5

1

4.3

2

rob

be

r’s

tre

nch

pe

bb

le

surf

ace

sto

ne

ort

ho

stat

e

frag

me

nts

3.9

5

3.9

8

3.8

9

4.1

5

4.2

2

4.2

8

4.0

0

3.9

5

3.8

2

3.7

9

ort

ho

stat

e

3.9

2

3.8

3

3.9

5

3.7

6

4.0

0

3.9

9

3.7

8

3.7

9

4.0

6

4.1

1

5.2

5-5

.32

5

.01

-5.1

2

5.0

0

5.1

6

5.1

0

5.0

9

5.0

2

4.8

8

4.8

9

4.8

4

4.7

7

5.0

9

4.9

8

4.9

3

5.3

9

4.8

4

4.8

5

4.9

2

4.9

4

4.9

5

4.8

3

4.7

7

4.7

6

5.3

4

5.3

6

5.1

9

5.2

6

5.2

9

4.5

6

5.2

0

5.0

2

5.04

4.4

4

4.6

6

4.4

8

4.3

0

4.5

8

4.8

5

4.7

1

4.9

0

4.9

8

5.1

0

bu

ild

ing

D

po

ssib

le

corn

er

sto

ne

4.7

3

4.7

1

4.8

5

4.7

6

5.3

7

4.9

4

4.9

8

4.6

6

4.9

2

4.8

8

4.8

3

4.8

4

4.8

7

4.5

9

4.4

2

4.5

1

4.3

7

4.7

2

4.6

0

4.2

7

4.3

7

4.5

0

4.4

0

4.5

0

4.7

2

4.4

3

4.4

8

4.7

2

4.9

0

4.7

8

4.8

9

4.9

3

4.9

2

4.8

1

5.0

7

4.9

2

4.9

6

4.9

9 4

.73

4.7

1

4.7

7

4.9

4

5.0

7 5.3

0

5.1

2

5.0

4

4.9

8

5.1

2

4.5

4

5.1

0

4.8

6

5.0

0 5

.18

5.2

1

5.1

9

5.0

5

4.9

1 5.1

2

5.0

1

4.9

9

5.0

6

5.0

6

5.0

1

5.0

3

4.9

6

4.7

1

4.9

2

4.9

3

4.8

5

4.9

4

4.9

1

4.5

3

5.0

2

4.5

2

4.9

7

4.9

9

5.0

5

4.6

4

4.4

9

4.7

8

5.0

2

5.0

1

5.4

4

4.5

4

4.6

8

4.8

3 4

.81

4.6

8

4.6

9

pe

bb

le

surf

ace

5.4

9

4.3

4

4.5

8

surf

ace

4.2

8

bro

ken

b

lock

4.2

7

LN7

82

5.3

9

5.1

8

5.2

1

5.1

5

5.0

1

5.3

8

pe

bb

le

surf

ace

4.9

3

4.8

5

4.9

1

4.6

6

4.7

1

4.7

2

4.6

3

4.7

1

4.6

3

4.9

6

4.8

6

4.9

6

5.2

1

5.0

9

5.0

4

4.8

8

4.7

7

5.0

6

4.8

0

4.6

4

pla

ste

r su

rfac

e

3.8

0

EP

G a

mp

ho

ra

LM7

82

-01

5-0

11

gra

ve 4

5

bu

rial

46

sku

ll

rib

s

l. h

um

eru

s l.

uln

a ra

diu

s

r. h

um

eru

s r. h

and

tib

ia

foo

t

fall

en

b

lock

s o

f D

cist

48

b

uri

al 5

1

Bu

ild

ing

G

16

1

16

5

17

0

10

4

44

45

86

87

orthostate


Fig.

9. S

tate

pla

n of

are

a ju

st n

orth

of B

uild

ings

D a

nd B

with

row

of P

roto

geom

etric

cist

gra

ves.

From

righ

t to

left:

EPG

gra

ve N

o. 4

2 w

ith M

PG h

ydria

LP7

85-0

61-0

12 a

s a

mar

ker;

mud

bric

k ci

st g

rave

No.

33;

LPG

gra

ves N

os. 3

6, 2

7, a

nd 2

6. T

o th

e fa

r rig

ht is

LH

IIIC

/PG

cist

gra

ve N

o. 4

6 (G

. Bia

nco)

.

hyd

ria

LP7

85

- 0

61

- 0

12

cu

p 0

11

5.7

1

5.6

7

5.5

9

5.7

2

5.6

9

5.6

8

5.6

8

15

16

teet

h

lon

g

bo

ne

fr

agm

ents

fib

ula

e

trip

od

cup

leky

tho

s

jug

cup

kala

tho

s fa

ien

ce

rib

s

5.30

5.

24

cist

36

b

uri

al 3

8

and

sh

ell

bea

ds

wh

ite

jug

s

cup

cup

jug

4.9

0

rib

s

MIT

RO

Uar

ea n

orth

of b

uild

ings

B, C

, Dci

sts

26, 2

7, 3

3, 3

6, 4

2, 4

6

grid north

1.0

0

2

.00

m.

0

0.5

0

giu

lian

a b

ian

co -

20

10

au

g 1

LO7

85

LP7

84

LP7

85

4.7

1

4.9

4

4.9

8

4.7

3

4.7

1

lim

e

pla

ste

r

pla

ste

r su

rfac

e

5.4

2

5.3

6

5.3

0

5.3

2

5.3

1

5.3

8

5.3

0

5.3

0

5.2

7

5.3

2

lim

e

pla

ste

r

5.4

3

bla

ck p

eb

ble

su

rfac

e

pe

bb

le a

nd

lim

e

su

rfac

e

lim

e +

ear

th

surf

ace

5.2

7

5.1

0

5.1

8

5.1

6

5.1

3

5.1

7

5.5

3 5.7

8

5.5

5

5.5

1

5.6

6

5.5

3

5.5

7

5.5

8

5.7

8

5.5

9

5.4

2

5.5

4

5.3

1

5.2

7

5.6

2

5.4

1

5.3

9

5

.55

5.0

1

5.3

5

5.0

5

5.0

9

5.3

2

5.3

3

5.0

2

4.9

6

5.0

0 5.0

5

4.9

8

5.0

0

5.3

4

5.2

8

5.1

0

4.9

3

5.0

5

4.9

8

pe

bb

le

surf

ace

soil

sam

ple

2

00

6

5.0

3

4.9

6

4.9

5

4.9

1

5.6

6

5.5

0

5.1

0

5.4

1

5.4

6

5.5

2

5.2

7

5.2

3

4.9

8

5.0

1

4.8

5

4.9

3

5.0

8

5.5

1 5.4

1

5.4

6

5.3

2

5.4

5

5.5

9

5.2

1

5.3

8 5.4

7

5.2

5

5.4

9

5.3

6

5.3

0

5.3

0

5.3

4

5.4

2

4.8

4

4.8

2

4.9

6

4.9

6

4.9

2

5.1

4

5.2

9

4.8

8

4.9

9

5.2

5

13

62

0.6

7x

-12

66

5.0

5y

6.3

1

6.2

0

5.2

9

5.4

4

5.5

1

5.1

5

5.1

6

5.1

8

5.4

5

5.4

9 5.0

8

5.4

9

5.4

9

5.54

5.57

5.49

5.28

5.

53

5.52

5.51

5.55

5.4

7

6.1

9

13

62

4.6

7x

-12

66

5.0

5y

4.9

6

5.0

5 5.0

0

smal

l peb

ble

su

rfac

e

lar

ge

+ s

mal

l p

eb

ble

su

rfac

e

larg

e p

eb

ble

s +

sh

erd

s su

rfac

e

larg

e p

eb

ble

su

rfac

e ru

bb

le

mu

d b

rick

rub

ble

?

po

ssib

le p

it

ou

tlin

e

rub

ble

?

wh

ite

ear

th

pla

tfo

rm?

wh

ite

e

arth

dar

ker

ear

th

dar

ker

ear

th

5.0

0

5.0

0

5.1

0

5.0

5

5.0

6

5.0

5

6.0

4

5.0

5

5.0

4

5.4

3

5.1

0

4.9

9

5.1

5

5.1

8

4.9

8

5.1

9

5.2

1

5.2

2

5.2

0

5.0

2

5.2

0

5.0

0

5.1

5

5.0

5

5.0

7

6.3

7

5.0

2

5.6

9-5

.52

5.2

6-5

.36

5.1

3

5.4

8

5.4

5

5.2

7

6.3

2

5.1

5

4.9

5

5.4

5

4.9

4

4.9

2

5.2

0

5.2

8

5.1

5

4.9

5

5.5

3

5.5

6

4.9

3

4.9

6

4.6

6

4.9

5

4.9

5

6.3

7

5.2

1

5.4

4

5.0

7

5.4

6

5.1

2

5.2

8

5.1

7

5.6

7

4.9

5

5.1

2

5.2

2

4.9

0

5.5

5.5

1

5.5

4

5.55

4.7

1

4.4

6

soil

sam

ple

2

00

9 -

MT

09

5.2

0

5.2

7

rem

ove

d

4.8

1

4.7

8

4.8

8

4.8

7

4.9

1

4.9

8

wal

l bas

e

lim

e p

last

er

5.1

3

5.1

8

4.9

8

5.3

5

4.9

4

4.6

6

5.52

5.1

9

5.2

8 4.9

7

4.9

9 4

.97

4.5

0

4.7

4

4.8

8

4.9

9

4.7

8

4.8

2

5.1

0

4.7

9

4.8

6

5.0

8

larg

e p

eb

ble

su

rfac

e

5.1

3

5.1

5

5.0

9

4.9

4

5.1

7

4

.87

5

.22

5.0

6 5

.02

5

.05

5.0

9

yell

ow

ear

th

cist

46

b

uri

al 5

0

cist

42

cl

ay c

ist

33

rem

ove

d w

all

cist

26

b

uri

al 3

1

bu

rial

49

bu

rial

34

ci

st 2

7

Ro

ad 2

Bu

ild

ing

D

16

6

38

11

1

11

2

10

8

10

9

10

7

pe

bb

les


Fig. 11. Mudbrick cist grave No. 33 of PG date with an adult burial but no grave goods.

Fig. 10. Rich child’s cist grave No. 42 of EPG date, with MPG hydria LP785-061-012 as a marker; the mouth of the hydria had been closed with a cup (LP785-061-011).


Fig. 13. Balloon image of Building A with sunken pithos, hearths, and grinding slab of the LPG purple dye manufacturing installation (cf. fig. 5 right).

Fig. 12. Group of Early Protogeometric elite graves between Buildings A and G; for their locations, see figs. 5, 7, and 8.

2011$ vande$moortel,$a.,$and$e.$zahou,$the$bronze$age;iron ... · from early helladic ii to the...

Documents