Trench II lies at the modern summit of the promontory. A dip in the
bedrock in the centre of the trench has ensured that up to 3 metres
of occupation evidence has accumulated, providing the richest
chronological sequence thus far excavated.
The earliest occupation here was in Early
Minoan IA, and provides a unique insight into a domestic unit. A
hearth revealed evidence for food consumption along with obsidian
knapping alongside the fire, making use of the light and suggesting
that this is an indoor space. Cooking, storage and table wears
provide a full package of domestic ceramics, and further
characterise this place. Depsite being a mere c.2 metres x 2 metres,
other finds include a quern with a mortar sitting on top of it, a
pot stand to hold a jug and a fragment of a copper alloy chisel /
axe. A rough wall to the north delimits the activity and was
surmounted by a mudbrick superstructure, the remains of which
covered the occupation layers. Perhaps the most unique feature in
this EM I unit was an abandonment deposit marking the end of
occupation of this structure, with purposefully destroyed ceramic
vessels in a discreet deposit.
Middle Minoan activity includes evidence of a
possible shrine of MM II date, and occupational sequences between
this date and Late Minoan IA are dense, representing several phases
of remodelling and re-use. In MM III and LM IA a substantial storage
facility was located at the summit of the building, and this was
destroyed by fire. A plan of the Bronze Age settlement is emerging
in this critical location of the site at the top of the promontory.
Several pits and the two-course remains of a
wall provide evidence for occupation at the site in the Iron Age,
with cooking, storage and table wares represented in the ceramic
repertoire. As a period when many settlements were in areas with
restricted access, this coastal location is of particular interest
in examining settlement patterns in the longue duree in the
Vrokastro region. All Bronze Age activity was removed during the
Iron Age remodelling of this part of the site, indicating a
substantial remodelling.
Archaic and Classical activity is represented
mainly by pits and one wall, and likewise Hellenistic activity is
represented in a more fragmentary state than the prehistoric.
Early Byzantine activity is very substantial
and includes a number of buildings of ecclesiastical character.
Finds include storage, cooking and table wares, and a number of
hearths indicate cooking activity. Despite the restricted
chronological span of the period, there are multiple phases of
remodelling including at least five phases of additions being made
to Structure 1. In Structure 2, a phase of abandonment was followed
by a further squatter occupation. The findings from here indicate,
tenuously, that a raid in the 8th or 9th
century took place which saw a level of disruption. Burial activity
took two forms in this area – burial in a grave and interment in an
ossuary. These were completely excavated and the remains are
awaiting further study.
Final abandonment took place in these
centuries, and a re-occupation in the 10th or 11th
century was similarly of an ecclesiastical character, though the
architecture appears to be beyond the southern limits of excavation.
Aghios Onouphrios jug during excavation with two ancient holes piercing the side
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Plaster base for supporting EM I round bottomed vessel
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Early Minoan domestic deposit
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Tripod cooking pot and schist knife associated with material from a shrine
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Early Byzantine wall overlying Early Byzantine and Late Geometric pits cut into a Late Minoan IA destruction horizon
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Middle Minoan III to LM IA storage room destroyed by fire
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Trench II from the south
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Revetment separating two phases of LM IA activity
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A complex site? Bronze Age wall below Byzantine Ossuary beside Byzantine wall overlying Hellenistic wall reusing Bronze Age wall partly cut by Classical pit.
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Middle Minoan Pithos lying in burnt Late Minoan IA deposit
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Late Geometric material overlying Late Minoan IA wall beneath Byzantine Ossuary
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Trench II from the air in 2009
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