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- Ελληνικά
Responsible for excavation: Prof. Laerke Recht, University of Graz
The Department of Antiquities of the State Ministry of Culture announces the end of the excavation period 2024 at the site Erimi-Pitharka, which was carried out under the direction of Prof. Laerke Recht. Laerke Recht) in cooperation with Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw (co-director Dr Katarzyna Zeman-Wisniewska).
This year's research lasted from 29 April to 7 June 2024 and involved an international team of staff and students. The 2024 surveys were made possible thanks to a financial contribution from the University of Graz and a grant from the Rust Family Foundation. The excavation focused on blocks 1209 and 1210, in particular the eastern sections, which were originally started in 2022 (Sections 5 and 6) and four new 5 x 5 excavation blocks (Sections 9, 10, 11 and 12).
This year's investigations uncovered another part of the monumental building complex, which was originally identified during the rescue excavations of the Department of Antiquities in 2007-2012, and whose investigation has continued since 2022 thanks to this research programme. This part of the building consists of several rooms of various sizes and depths, open and semi-open spaces. As in other parts of the building, many rooms were constructed using a combination of techniques, namely carving in natural rock (kafcalla), construction of stone walls without binding material and a brick superstructure. All sections that were made of brick collapsed into the rooms, where they subsequently crumbled away, while many of the stone walls remain intact, as do the carvings in the natural rock.
The walls are 60-80 cm wide and were constructed using large stones on their outer sides and smaller ones as filler on the inside. In general, they show particular care in the way they were built and attempts to repair and further support them can be seen.
Some rooms show particular interest: room 110 is quite large and its walls are built with dressed stones. It was entered through a passage 1 metre wide, and there was a workbench in the south-west corner. In the room, in a section where the floor was partially preserved, there was a stone mill weight and a group of stone tools. A fragmented 'Canaanite' amphora was also found in it. To the south of this room, in area 113, an open and a semi-outdoor courtyard was identified, in which the floor was partially preserved. A stone base and a stone basin were found in it.
The finds consist mainly of pottery (pithoi and white unsmelted pottery, coarse pottery, cooking utensils and a few examples of fine and imported pottery), worked stone tools and other objects (rubbers, jigsaws, jerks, basins, stone toys).
On the basis of the finds, the site at Pitharka can be dated to the Late Bronze Age IIC - IIIA, confirming previous conclusions. This date is particularly suggested by the fine pottery, which includes examples of Fingertip Whiteware, Whitewritten Trochlea and rhythms of Aegean origin. Beneath the surface and first archaeological layer, the archaeological finds are fairly secure, with no particular disturbance from later periods. The stratigraphy, architecture and other features reveal several phases of use in the Pitharka area but all within the chronological framework of the Late Bronze Age IIC - IIIA. The pottery sherds, however, point to an earlier human presence in the area.
The site at Pytharka would have been abandoned peacefully as, although there is evidence of wall collapse, there is no evidence of damage from burning. The rooms and rooms had been emptied, leaving few objects, mostly ceramic sherds and less mobile objects such as jars and stone tools, indicating that the inhabitants would have had plenty of time to abandon the site.
(MS/NYAN)
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