LEFKANDI-XEROPOLIS 2006 SEASON

Region II

Region II is located some 150 m to the west of Region I, and it is part of plots which have only been available for digging since the purchase of land in 2003. Two main areas were investigated: Area Q to the south-east, and Area R, to the north-east. Region II was one of the areas where a geophysical survey was carried out in 2005.

The 2006 excavation brought to light unexpected finds never encountered before on Xeropolis. This was especially the case in Region II, where a substantial ‘wall’ running NW/SE was discovered, dividing the area into two zones.

North of the ‘wall’, the soils slope down in a depression; it was there and mainly in Protogeometric soils that a number of clay figurines were found broken among stones: among them were two bulls, the model of a boat, and the head of a probable centaur.

Clay model of a boat

It would be premature to comment further on this remarkable discovery before the completion of the excavation in this area. Nevertheless, it is clear – because of its structure and size – that the ‘wall’ was not that of a building; it could have been a ‘terrace wall’ or a city wall. The discovery, however, of the high quality of broken figurines in a ‘depression’ to the north of the wall does not exclude the possibility that the area is associated with a nearby temenos.

In Region II, Area Q rooms of one or more houses separated by alleys and open areas are dated to the last stages of the Late Helladic IIIC and the Sub-Mycenaean periods. If the in situ study of the pottery is accurate this part of Xeropolis shows evidence of occupation during a stage not well represented elsewhere in the Aegean.

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