The Department of Antiquities, of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, announces the results of the last excavation period at the site of Agios Sozomenos- Tzirpoulos, and at the same time the end of the excavations of the "Survey and Excavations in the area of Ayios Sozomenos" (ASESP), under the direction of the former Superintendent of Antiquities Dr. Pileidou. The excavation period began on 10 May and lasted until 2 July 2021 and aimed to further reveal the architectural fabric of the settlement, which as the previous excavation periods have shown consisted of a complex of laboratory facilities. The investigation included in previous years the survey of the Agios Sozomenos area and the confirmation or identification of new Late Bronze Age sites. The forts at sites Barsak and Nikolides were then investigated in order to clarify both the relationship between them and the workshop settlement at site Tzirpoulos and the building on the hilltop of site Ampelia, where the production of agricultural products in the area seems to have been concentrated. With the end of this excavation period, the ASESP project has been completed.
This year the excavation in the area of the workshops was extended to the west, firstly to establish the extent of the settlement and secondly whether it was a single complex or separate units. Deep deposits were removed over the architectural remains representing the collapse of the roof of the buildings and masonry. As has already been established in previous excavation periods, there were two phases in the life of the complex and the latter appears to have been severely damaged. In this second phase some of the walls of the previous phase were reused, and the halls appear to have been extended, as was also found earlier on the SE side of the complex. It was also reconfirmed that the settlement extended to the south, where the riverbed of the Alykos River is now located. The building also extended to the NW and therefore covered a considerable area.
The architectural plan in both phases had a NW-SE direction. Two large rectangular halls, very similar to those on the east side, were excavated, with scattered materials indicating laboratory facilities. On the south side a large room enclosed by walls 403, 827, 804 and 402 with an entrance to the NE, perhaps towards the road, was uncovered. Inside, stone slabs were found arranged vertically and other fallen stones, probably belonging to a stone basin which had been destroyed. A similar basin was found on the east side in a very good state of preservation. Crude plaster slabs and stones were also found, apparently transported from elsewhere for use in the work carried out on the site. Clay coatings in various places suggest that there must have been hearths and a small slot in the ground with stones around it underlay a storage vessel. In its earlier phase this area was connected to the complex to the SE by a corridor, which was later converted into a road.
On the outer side of wall 804 was a stone basin which was probably placed on a terrace built along the wall (863). The basin, in a good state of preservation, is 1.20m long and 1m wide but when it was slid off the terrace its eastern side was detached. A hole in its western part indicates that it was probably used as a basin for water or other liquid. The lip is plastered with layers of hydraulic mortar and a small channel to the north, about 11cm deep, was probably related to a drainage system as was another stone channel found in 2019 and belonging to the earlier phase. To the SE of wall 804 was also found a stone cast and fragments of stone with parallel band decoration. Also found were sherds of White-glazed pottery II, sherds of unsmelted pottery, cooking utensils and some sherds of dark handmade and glazed pottery. A small hollow (13x63cm, 12cm deep) near wall 804 with fragments of cooking utensils, an olive pit, teeth of a large animal and other organic material collected for analysis, as well as rust confirm the nature of the work on the site. To the north of the wall was a large accumulation of stones, perhaps from some collapse.
Next to the large room mentioned above, there was a second room enclosed by walls 403, the extension of wall 827 and 851 with an entrance to the north, perhaps towards the road, which also contained similar types of material as well as evidence of destruction. In the earlier phase at this point there was a room enclosed by walls 867, 868, 884, 837 and 838, with an entrance from the south. Outside this room, very close to the riverbed, a shallow stone basin of elliptical shape, measuring 63x51 cm, was found in very good condition, but without a drainage hole. The floor in this room was plaster, unlike the others where the floor is made of earth mixed with plaster and resembles the floor of another room on the SE side of the complex.
Wall 845 was built over an older wall and belongs to the second phase. It is built of large irregular stones at the edges and filled with smaller stones on the inside, unlike the walls of the older phase which are carefully built of uniform small stones and are narrower. Two walls (895 and 802) seem to form another room but, because they do not join together, we probably have the same phenomenon here, that is, the use of an older wall for the construction of the newer phase.
In the corner of walls 851 and 873 there must have been a hearth if we judge from the ashes found, with a pile of plaster slabs lying on top, a fragment of a storage vessel with traces of burning, and fragments of Ring-shaped pottery. Unfired clays and pottery, mainly near wall 804 suggest that pottery may have been made in this part of the workshops. Charcoal samples were recovered from various places where hearths may have been present but have not been preserved, unlike the workshop facilities on the east side. A bronze pin, a small fragment of a bronze object as well as a pointed stone tool and a stone weight were recovered from beneath an overturned stone base. A small cavity in the floor probably supported the pitch. The complex extends to the north.
The pottery includes mainly unscented pottery, cooking utensils, stones with horizontal parallel bands, White-glazed II and IIA, Ringed pottery, Red and Black-glazed, Monochrome and a few sherds of handmade pottery. Also found were stone grinders, grinders, mortar, fragments of stone bowls, rust and a bronze pendant near wall 831. Also common finds include stone playthings in second use, as well as slingshots and stone weights.
In general it appears that the clusters of rooms with obvious workshop remains were accessible from a road on the north and perhaps the west side of the eastern cluster. It also appears that the architectural remains were not uniform but were separated into different laboratory spaces. In the earliest phase the walls were of different construction, but were used for the second phase without much variation in either the design or orientation of the settlement. Initially they were connected by a long external corridor to the north, which was replaced by a road in the next phase. It seems that the last phase was abandoned after a disaster, which was more severe in the western part of the settlement.
(NΓ/IK)
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