Kenchreai Quarry Landscapes study season 2015
Assessment and Analysis: Study season
The second of two planned study seasons of field data and finds recovered in 2013. Other than one sherd from Complex B, all Prehistoric pottery was recovered from the area later occupied by Complex A. The material is rarely closely dateable, but suggests continuation of occupation from Early–Late Helladic into the Early Iron Age. A near complete hiatus follows until the Archaic–Classical transition, when activity resumed within widely separate areas. Early activity in Peripheral Area 6 rapidly expanded and spread also into Peripheral Area 5, in both areas continuing through Hellenistic into Roman times. The concentration of late-Archaic/Classical pottery in the centre of Quarry Complex A apparently did not continue into the Hellenistic and includes cookware and a pithos, possibly related to quarrying. The area of Complex A was used most extensively during the Hellenistic and especially the Roman period, with activity peaking during Early–Middle Roman times. The assemblage is broadly consistent with domestic activity, with shapes for cooking, serving, transport and dining all represented. Imported cooking vessels (e.g. Pompeiian Red Ware pan fragments) may indicate a change in dining practice within some areas of the site. By the Middle Roman (2nd–4th-century ad), the ceramic assemblages across Complexes A and B appear more closely aligned. Imported finewares are less prominent and jugs, cups and amphorae more common. Late Roman (4th–7th-century ad) pottery is found only in pockets within Complex A. There is a sharp rise in imported finewares and amphorae, as well as significant numbers of large cooking pots. The most common vessel type, found in clusters, was the Late Roman Amphora 2 in Southern Argolid fabric, local fabric and others of uncertain origin. The 9th to 11th centuries are barely visible in the ceramic record. Two body fragments of Günsenin 1 amphorae found at the north end of the quarried ridge demonstrate imports from the Constantinople area. Over 400 chipped stone artefacts were recovered during the 2013 field season. These are predominantly reddish and brown flint, whose local provenance was confirmed by systematic field observation of the region surrounding the quarries in June 2015. Higher quality grey and yellow flints represented among the chipped stone artefacts are not found locally and thus appear to be imports. All stages of the production chain are represented: unworked pebbles, cores, tools and working flakes, indicating local production.
Active from 2014 to 2015.