The site of Ayios Vasileios in Laconia from the prehistoric to the early modern period. Results of the pedestrian field survey (original) (raw)
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The excavation project is carried out under the auspices of the Archaeological Society at Athens and the general direction of Mrs. Adamantia Vasilogamvrou, Director Emerita of the Laconia Ephorate. The following abbreviations are used below: Early Helladic (EH), Middle Helladic (MH), Late Helladic (LH), Total Collection (TC), Diagnostic Sample (DS). 2 See for an extensive discussion of the aims, questions and methods Voutsaki et al. 2019. 3 Corien Wiersma is responsible for the pedestrian survey. 4 The magnetometry surveys were conducted by Wieke de Neef. See also De Neef et al. 2022. 5 Sofia Voutsaki is responsible for the ethnographic survey.
Middle and Late Helladic Laconia: Competing Principalities, 2022
The Ayios Vasileios Survey Project is a five-year project carried out at the site of Ayios Vasileios, where remains of a Mycenaean palatial complex have been uncovered. The project aims to reconstruct the extent and spatial development of the settlement through time, by means of pedestrian field survey, geophysical survey and ethnographic interviews. Our preliminary results, based on the surveys, indicate that the settlement may not have been continuously inhabited during the Bronze Age and was of limited extent. Furthermore, the presence of fortifications is uncertain. Compared to other (possible) palatial sites on the Greek Mainland, this developmental trajectory of Ayios Vasileios is somewhat unusual, but not entirely unique. We therefore argue, building upon earlier discussions, that the current palatial model of political organization in Late Bronze Age Greece is in need of reassessment. In the case of Ayios Vasileios, we may consider the possibility that its sudden rise to (a small) palatial site should be sought in its relations and integration with surrounding settlements. Indeed, we raise the possibility that power may have been shared among various groups within and among settlements in the area, which may explain the sudden fall of Ayios Vasileios.
Throwing some light on the early history of the Mycenaean palace at Ayios Vasileios, Laconia
Middle and Late Helladic Laconia, https://www.sidestone.com/books/middle-and-late-helladic-laconia. Paper co-authored with Dora Kondyli, 2022
Extensive excavations at Ayios Vasileios, Xirokambi, in Laconia, under the auspices of the Archaeological Society at Athens and the direction of Adamantia Vasilogamvrou, brought into light an important Mycenaean palatial centre. The Mycenaean Building Alpha, where also twenty-one bronze swords were found, was excavated systematically from 2010 to 2016. In the present contribution, three intentional depositions of material found underneath Building Alpha are investigated. The well-stratified material enables the study of patterns of pottery production and consumption, relating to the beginning of the LBA (i.e. the early Mycenaean period), the layers of which have rarely been reached so far at the site. The deposits, whose extent reaches the building’s core, include vessels of different wares and styles, which are further compared to those known from other centres, mainly in Laconia, in order to reveal interaction spheres within this part of the Peloponnese.
In: Wiersma, C. and M.P. Tsouli (eds.) MIDDLE AND LATE HELLADIC LACONIA COMPETING PRINCIPALITIES?, 2022
The North Cemetery at Ayios Vasileios was excavated between 2010 and 2016 as part of the Ayios Vasileios excavations under the auspices of the Archaeological Society and the general direction of Mrs Adamantia Vasilogamvrou. The North Cemetery provides us with important insights into the significant changes taking place in the early Mycenaean era. This period witnesses changes in the mortuary practices: the introduction of extramural formal cemeteries, the adoption of larger, more labour consuming tombs, the adoption of multiple burials and secondary treatment, the inclusion of richer and more diverse offerings with the dead. These new customs adumbrate the social changes taking place in this period of increased differentiation, competition and connectivity: the growing divisions among age and gender groups, the emergence of status as an important criterion of social categorisation, but also the renewed significance of kin relations. To what extent was the community burying their dead in the North Cemetery affected by these changes? To what extent did they follow the new norms and customs, and how did they adapt them to their local traditions or their own social needs? This paper has three aims: a) to offer a contextual analysis of subtle differentiation along age, gender, status and kin divisions in the North Cemetery; b) to discuss the austerity and restraint which characterizes this burial ground in a period of burgeoning mortuary display and ostentation, and c) to contribute to the discussion about the rise of Ayios Vasileios and the emergence of the Mycenaean palatial system.
The Pylos Regional Archaeological Project Part I: Overview and The Archaeological Survey
Hesperia, 1997
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The absolute chronology of the North Cemetery at Ayios Vasileios, Laconia
In mortuary archaeology, it can be particularly difficult to establish a spatiotemporal framework for specific contexts such as commingled or unfurnished burials. This is the case for the Ayios Vasileios North Cemetery, a 2 nd millennium BCE site in Greece. Here, the uneven stratigraphic information, the use of tombs for multiple burials, the manipulation of human remains, and the scarcity of ceramic offerings has hampered chronological analysis. In this study, we analysed 56 radiocarbon dates on human remains where we sought to establish an absolute chronology for this Early Mycenaean cemetery. We used Kernel Density Estimation to assess the length of use of the cemetery and compared the results to different ceramic typology-based chronologies of Bronze Age Greece. Our analysis placed many of the burial contexts in different cultural phases when different ceramic chronologies (High or Low Chronology) were used, highlighting the necessity for a higher resolution Aegean chronology. Regardless of the preferred system, the current data indicate that activity at the cemetery extended from at least Middle Helladic III to Late Helladic IIB.
The Eurotas Valley, Laconia, in the 2nd Millennium B.C.: The Area of Vapheio-Palaiopyrgi in Context
Middle and Late Helladic Laconia: Competing Principalities? , 2022
Palaiopyrgi is the most prominent hill in the chain of hills marking the centre of the Eurotas valley, rising to a height of 214 m, about 7 km south of Sparta; its summit offers an unhindered view to all directions, towards the Menelaion to the north, Ayios Vasileios to the south-west and Vouno Panayias to the east. About 350 m to the north lies the famous Mycenaean tholos tomb of Vapheio, one of the very few tholos tombs known and the only one thoroughly excavated so far in Laconia, with which the hill has been associated. Midway between the Vapheio tholos tomb and Palaiopyrgi lies a quarry of conglomerate, consisting of a semi-worked column base, curved cuttings and separation channels. Based on the stone quarried, the extraction technique, the size of the column base, part of the pottery found in association with it and its proximity to the tomb and the hill of Palaiopyrgi, the quarry was dated in the Mycenaean times, leading to the conclusion that material extracted from this and other conglomerate shelves exposed in the wider area, may have been used for extensive building activities on the hill itself in that period. In 2016‑2017, an intensive survey was carried in the area between the tholos tomb and Palaiopyrgi, having the quarry at its centre. The article discusses existing archaeological evidence from the area of Vapheio-Palaiopyrgi and its implications for social and political change in the Eurotas valley, with special reference to its central location in the valley and to the transition to the Mycenaean era, taking into consideration recent developments of research in the area.