Sparta Excavation 1924-1927 Season 1925
Excavation: Research excavation
At the Theatre, where the Director was in charge, aided by Messrs. Iliffe and Austin-and again excellently served as foreman by George Alexopoulos, from Mycenae-important progress was made with clearing the stage-area, uncovering the parodos-walls, and investigating the seating arrangements and outer walls of the cavea, despite the obstacles caused by the formidable depth of earth, the destruction and rebuilding in Byzantine times, and the laborious removal of countless heavy fallen blocks. Though exact indications of date are still lacking, it is now possible to distinguish remains of four different periods of building in the stage, of which the earliest may possibly be Hellenistic. Miss Hobling supervised the excavation of the greater part of the regions south and west of the area explored last year. No new building of Hellenic date came to light, but the deposit of votive debris thrown out on various occasions from the Chalkioikos Sanctuary proved to extend unexpectedly far and deep, and much of it was buried beneath the thick layer of clay-filling thrown in to support the upper seats of the theatre, though it has not yet been traced as far as the back wall of the cavea. Stratification of the deposit on such a slope was naturally without any chronological signi- ficance, and some of the objects from the lowest level, where a kind of rubbish- pit existed, at the base of which was a rough drainage-trench, proved to be of Hellenistic date, but were accompanied by finds going back to the Geometric period.
Active in 1925.
Woodward, Mr Arthur Maurice
De Jong, Mr Piet
Alexopoulos, Dr Georgios
[Journal] The Annual of the British School at Athens, no. 26 (1923/1924-1924/1925).