Late Roman and Byzantine use of the Theatre Space Project: Season 2008
Excavation: Research excavation
In collaboration with the Herakleion Euphoreia and the 5th EBA. The aim of this project is to investigate the extent and nature of Late Roman and Byzantine use of the theatre space. In 2008, activity focused on the western part of the middle and upper cavea in order to locate the south western edge of the Late Antique settlement on the acropolis, and to establish the northern limits of that on the west side of the orchestra. In addition, an extensive survey of the theatre produced a map of visible walls, a contour survey, a 3D model and two profiles through the theatre. Limited investigation of the construction of the lower retaining wall of the upper cavea was undertaken, but attention focused on Byzantine landscaping of the area between the main settlement areas. South of the lower retaining wall of the cavea, a substantial terrace wall was constructed in the Middle Byzantine period (probably in the twelfth century AD). This contains a quantity of architectural spolia from the theatre. In the easternmost of the upper cavea trenches, abutting the cavea retaining wall, a section of cobbled pathway over-lain by a thick deposit of mortar and containing Middle Byzantine pottery is likely to be part of one of the radial paths which linked the two settlement areas. In the westernmost of the upper trenches, an anomaly revealed in the 2007 resistivity survey was found to be a mass grave of the Middle Byzantine period. Inside, it was densely packed with the remains of c. 22 individuals deposited in four episodes. Considerable debris from the Late Roman and Byzantine settlement on the acropolis was encountered in all the upper trenches; later Roman pottery (3rd–6th centuries AD), tile and brick, Early Byzantine cookware (ca. 9th–early 10th centuries), and Middle Byzantine amphorae and tableware confirm the chronology of the main settlement phases. In addition to large quantities of Middle Byzantine pottery, all trenches produced pottery and votive material washed down from the sanctuary of Athena Chalkioikos on the acropolis.
Active in /08/2008.