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ATHENS, Greece - Archaeologists excavating a sprawling prehistoric fortress in southern Greece have discovered a secret underground passage thought to have supplied the site with water in times of danger.
Dating to the mid-13th century B.C., the stone passage passed under the massive walls of the Mycenaean citadel of Midea and probably led to a nearby water source, authorities said Friday.
The passage would allow the people of Midea, about 93 miles south of Athens, safe access to drinkable water even in times of enemy attack.
"It is a very important discovery, which gave us great joy," excavation director Katie Demakopoulou said.
Only three such networks — major engineering feats requiring intensive labor — from Mycenaean times have been found so far.
Excavations in late June and July at Midea revealed cut rock steps leading to the triangular passage, whose entrance was covered with a large stone lintel. At the entrance to the 5-foot-high passage, archaeologists found quantities of broken clay water jars and cups.
The 6-acre site was girdled with a wall of huge stone blocks, built around 1250 B.C. Excavations have also uncovered several buildings — some decorated with painted plaster walls — pottery, a clay figure of a goddess, seal-stones and an amethyst vase shaped like a triton shell.
Dating to the mid-13th century B.C., the stone passage passed under the massive walls of the Mycenaean citadel of Midea and probably led to a nearby water source, authorities said Friday.
The passage would allow the people of Midea, about 93 miles south of Athens, safe access to drinkable water even in times of enemy attack.
"It is a very important discovery, which gave us great joy," excavation director Katie Demakopoulou said.
Only three such networks — major engineering feats requiring intensive labor — from Mycenaean times have been found so far.
Excavations in late June and July at Midea revealed cut rock steps leading to the triangular passage, whose entrance was covered with a large stone lintel. At the entrance to the 5-foot-high passage, archaeologists found quantities of broken clay water jars and cups.
The 6-acre site was girdled with a wall of huge stone blocks, built around 1250 B.C. Excavations have also uncovered several buildings — some decorated with painted plaster walls — pottery, a clay figure of a goddess, seal-stones and an amethyst vase shaped like a triton shell.
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<a href="http://www.trincoll.edu/~greger/AD22.htm" target="_blank">http://www.trincoll.edu/~greger/AD22.htm</a>
Our other great site of the day was the sanctuary dedicated to Hera and controlled, in Classical and later times, by the town of Argos. There's a lot of debate now in the scholarship about when Argos came to control the sanctuary; before, some think, it was under Mycenae. Be that as it may, the view from the terraces, backed up against a mountain, are wonderful -- the Argive plain lies before you like a living map, the sea glimmering in the distance. The colors are wonderful here, the distances you can see amazing -- and sound carries too; from the terrace that bears the temple I could hear (though not quite understand) the conversation of folks harvesting olives a good kilometer away.
Dendra is a Mycenaean cemetery with one amazing feature -- the burial of two horses! They are not interred with a person (though a person was buried close by) but separately, by themselves. No one seems to know whether they were killed (sacrificed?) or died natural deaths (not likely I'll wager) nor much more, in part because although the excavation occurred decades ago, the excavator never got around to publishing the work -- and then she died. (This is all too common in Greek archaeology -- not the dying [okay, yes] but the failure to publish. Some folks really like to dig stuff up but don't seem to get very excited about sitting in the library and writing up the results. As a consequence, there are an awful lots of big holes in Greece about which one can say almost nothing.)
Our other great site of the day was the sanctuary dedicated to Hera and controlled, in Classical and later times, by the town of Argos. There's a lot of debate now in the scholarship about when Argos came to control the sanctuary; before, some think, it was under Mycenae. Be that as it may, the view from the terraces, backed up against a mountain, are wonderful -- the Argive plain lies before you like a living map, the sea glimmering in the distance. The colors are wonderful here, the distances you can see amazing -- and sound carries too; from the terrace that bears the temple I could hear (though not quite understand) the conversation of folks harvesting olives a good kilometer away.
Dendra is a Mycenaean cemetery with one amazing feature -- the burial of two horses! They are not interred with a person (though a person was buried close by) but separately, by themselves. No one seems to know whether they were killed (sacrificed?) or died natural deaths (not likely I'll wager) nor much more, in part because although the excavation occurred decades ago, the excavator never got around to publishing the work -- and then she died. (This is all too common in Greek archaeology -- not the dying [okay, yes] but the failure to publish. Some folks really like to dig stuff up but don't seem to get very excited about sitting in the library and writing up the results. As a consequence, there are an awful lots of big holes in Greece about which one can say almost nothing.)