Works in 2009

Thanks to the generous financial support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation the joint Ephorate for Paleoanthropology-Speleology (hereafter EPSNE) and Southern Euboea Exploration Project (SEEP) archaeological team was able to conduct another field season of excavations in the Ay. Triadha Cave in the vicinity of Karystos, southern Euboea.

The 2009 season was of crucial significance for understanding and reconstructing the past use of the cave. During the previous 2008 season we encountered important Early Bronze Age (EBA) burials in one of the chambers inside the cave (East Chamber). Due to the nature of archaeological deposits that include human remains and with them associated artifacts and other evidence we were forced to proceed with the excavation using extreme caution.

The work in the field during the 2009 season lasted from Monday, June 29 until Friday, August 4. The excavation was carried out successively Monday through Friday while Saturdays were reserved for lab work only. The 2009 field team consisted of the following members: Fanis Mavridis, Zarko Tankosic (project directors), Daisuke Yamaguchi (field/IT director), Lilian Dogiama (lithics specialist/lab director), Giota Ghioni (conservator), Aca Djordjevic (illustrator), Georgia Kotzamani (microbotanist), Eleni-Anna Prevedorou (bioanthropologist), Areti Pendedeka (petrographic analysis), Katerina Triantalidou (zooarchaeology), Thodoris Chatzitheodorou (topographer), Irini Spyropoulou, Varvara Spyropoulou, Davor Cakanic, Renate Storli, Alexandra Edwards, Jonas Smidth Pedersen, and Christina Papoulia (archaeologists). Other specialists (e.g. geologist and speleologist) were present in the field when the situation required it. The team included archaeologists and other specialists from seven different countries from three continents.

During the 2009 excavation season we opened three new trenches (Trenches 9, 10, and 11) in two different areas of the Ay. Triadha cave system and we continued the excavation of one trench (Trench 4) that we began in 2008.

Together with the 2008 trenches we were able to excavate the EBA deposits in approximately 50% of the total extent of the East Chamber. We were able to acquire important data to help us reconstruct the EBA burial ritual, which is significant because very little is known about burial practices from this time period. We have uncovered more osteological material to help us complete the skeletons retrieved during 2008. This is important because it will allow us to say more on the population inhabiting the Karystia during the EBA period. Moreover, strontium isotope, ancient DNA, and other bioanthropological analyses that are in progress will help us determine the origin of people buried at Ay. Triadha and possibly even their social status as it is obvious that their burials differed from the ones reserved for the rest of population.
(Excerpts from the seasonal report submitted to the S. Niarchos Foundation)

Happy to finally get some fresh air...

The Days Spent Underground

The Faces of Ayia Triadha

More soon...

Cave sketches...

This year's excavation is nearing the end and the lovely international team we have been honored with is slowly dispersing... but not without some thoughts on the project and the work in the cave (get your dictionaries ready though):

... μ’ένα μάλλον στενό κίτρινο κράνος, γάντια και φακό γλίστρησα σ’ένα χαμηλό άνοιγμα, σχεδόν ξαπλωμένη, με τις πέτρες να πιέζουν και να σπρώχνουν κάτω από την πλάτη μου... βρέθικα στην Τομή 4, όπον υποθίτεται σύντομα θα φτάναμε στον φυσικό βράχο... Τα ευρήματα όμως, κάτω από την κρούστα, μας δισύψεβσαν... Ο Dylan και ο νεκρόδη τραγούδουσαν «κάτω από τον κόκκινο ουρανό» και εμείς ψηλαφούσαμε το παρελθόν μέσα στο χώμα. Τα πιο όμορφα πράγματα βρίσκονται στο βάθος, στη σιωπή και στο σκοτάδι.

Eirini and Varvara

日本語で短いブログのエントリーを、と頼まれましたのでとりあえず自己紹介と簡単な概要をば。

私、アテネ大学大学院生の山口大介と申します。ギリシア生活が長いですが生粋の日本人です。一応ギリシアで考古学やってます。ギリシアでは通常Megaと呼ばれてます。

ここ数年私はインディアナ大学の大学院生ジャルコ（セルビア人）、ギリシア考古局洞窟学・古人類学部門のギリシア人考古学者ファニスと一緒に組んで発掘調査をいくつか掛け持ちしているのですが、昨年からエヴィア島、カリストスにあるアギア・トリアダ洞窟での発掘も行っております。

エヴィア島では先史時代、とくに新石器時代の研究はあまり深まっておらず、昨年テストトレンチで検証できたケファラ文化期の層の存在は非常に意義のあるものとして注目されております。今回の調査ではおそらく初期ヘラディックと思われる層が検出され、人骨やさまざまな興味深い遺物が伴って出土しました。ほぼ現位置をとどめたままの人骨、その下にちりばめられた大量の土器片、そしてその下の焦土層では炭化した豆やフルーツ（おそらくイチジク）がトレンチ一面にちりばめられていました。こういった面白い状況をリアルタイムで経験できるのが発掘調査の醍醐味です。

今年度は終末期新石器時代の層にて遺構と思われる礫群を検出したところで調査が終わってしまったので、来年さらにその先の古い時代を探すのが本当に楽しみです。

インターナショナルな環境での調査とはいえ、フィールド・ダイレクターとしてアバウトな外国人たちをまとめつつ、データや写真、日誌の管理とチェック、図面の作成まで細かな仕事をすべて一手に引き受けているため、毎日がかなりハードです。たまにいい加減な記述を見つけては一人で怒ってます（笑）。海の近くで生活しながら、私ひとり泳ぎに行く時間もありません（泣）。仕事を伝ってくれる優秀な日本人の学生さんに来てほしいなあと思います。もし興味をお持ちの方がいらっしゃいましたら、大歓迎ですので、ぜひ来年度の調査にアプライしてみてください！

Daisuke

Grčka. Iskopavanje u hladu pećine. Stratigrafija od kasnog i finalnog neolitika, brončanog do klasičnog doba. Internacionalna ekipa. Kupanje u moru poslije rada. Večera u taverni. Zvuči idealno? Tako je i bilo...

Bez ikakvog pretjerivanja, mogu reći da sam uživao od početka do kraja. Budući da nikad nisam radio na ovakvom tipu terena (i nisam znao što točno očekivati) mislim da mi je ovo iskustvo veoma koristilo za daljnji rad. Također veoma korisno iskustvo bilo je raditi na sortiranju i općoj analizi iskopane keramike, za što se zahvaljujem gospodi šefovima Žarku i Fanisu.

Naravno, ugodnom iskustvu je veoma pridonijela i vesela te uvijek dobro raspoložena ekipa. Sve u tonu dobre glazbe (uvijek ćemo imati Billy Elliota..) i šale.

Na kraju tri veoma brzo protekla tjedna, ostaju ugodna sjećanja, sklopljena prijateljstva, nova iskustva i okus slastne Kyriakosove hrane na nepcu.. i iščekivanje nadolazeće sezone – Žarko, fala ti k'o bratu! (slobodno editiraj, ali morao sam i ovo staviti).

Davor

"Som senere ankomne i Aiya Triadha Cave udgravningen er vi blevet

moedt af et velfungerende team, som har udvist interesse for os som

studerende, og som har vist sig villige til at laere fra sig. Det har

vaeret spaendende og laererigt at foelge processerne omkring

udgravningen i den smukke og imponerende drypstensgrotte, og ligeledes

har moedet med flere forskellige nationaliteter og kulturer vaeret et

positivt pust."

Rie Larsen & Mia Toftdal

Међународне екипе су најбоље, поготово ако иду уз овако лепо море и добру храну... Спој различитих култура, вредности, погледа на свет у оваквом амбијенту може да произведе само позитивне ефекте на послу и ван њега.

ZТ

After three weeks of work...

More than three weeks have passed since we began our excavation project at the Ay. Traidha cave. Since then we have opened the total of 8 test trenches in the cave, most of which in the main entrance corridor. The most important find from the corridor are successive in situ floors found in Trench 3, which support our belief that the cave was consistently used in the prehistoric times and intentionally altered to accommodate that usage. In the area of the cave consisting of the long entrance corridor we have excavated cultural layers preliminarily dated to three chronological periods known to us from the 2007 season: Early Bronze Age (EBA), Final Neolithic (Attica-Kephala type), and Late Neolithic. We consider the Late Neolithic remains in this part particularly significant as they are the earliest known material found to this date in southern Euboea and they point to strong Aegean connection of the area in this period.

Our decision to begin excavating in two connecting chambers south of the main entrance proved to be a good one. Currently we have two trenches opened in that area (Trench 4 and 8) but the current finds warrant our detailed exploration of the rest of that part of the cave. We have so far found at least two burials in the chamber farther from the entrance. The burials can be tentatively dated to the Early Bronze Age II period. Moreover, our brief preliminary study of the pottery shows that the EBA finds from the area include several Cycladic imports, which testify to the close connections between the two areas during the period in question. In fact, the quality and types of pottery found in this area of the cave have not been recorded at other sites of the same date in the area, which makes our finds unique in southern Euboean context.

Our main claim to uniqueness, however, does not stop at pottery. In a burnt layer exactly below the possible EBA burials (and, we believe, in relation to them) we have recovered through careful excavation a large amount of carbonized whole fruits, legumes, and grains. Some of those carbonized foods may still be in their original containers. This type of find, although perhaps not unique, is extremely rare in Greek (or elsewhere) prehistoric contexts and especially in such large quantities. If related to the burials, it will provide us not only with valuable insights into the burial practices of the period but also into the diet of the local population during the Early Bronze Age. Not to mention that these types of rare finds are ideal for precise radiocarbon dating of the layers that contained them.

Trenches 4 and 8 are still under excavation and are producing plentiful material related to the preceding FN phase of the so-called Attica-Kephala culture. The pottery from these layers is undergoing preliminary but careful analysis in the hours after the work in the field has ended and it will be properly studied and the results prepared for publication in the months to come. Besides pottery, in all of the excavated trenches and especially in the ones in the southern chamber we have found and are still finding significant amounts of chipped stone tools made of obsidian. It is our belief that the Karystia was an important center for production and redistribution of obsidian in the Final Neolithic and the Early Bronze periods.

The last week of works in 2008 will be dedicated to the continued excavation of the two trenches in the southern chamber, collecting samples for geological and pedological analyses, and we also plan to open a small test trench in an adjacent entrance to the cave to check the viability of next year’s detailed research.

End of the second week of excavation in 2008

At the end of the second week we have opened and are excavating two test trenches--the second one (Trench 4) in a small chamber roughly south of the main entrance corridor. As in Trench 3, the finds consist mainly of pottery (most of it tentatively dated to the EBA, although we are expecting a Neolithic layer underneath the EBA one), human and animal bones, and some obsidian. Unlike in Trench 3 no visible floor levels have been spotted; however, the excavation of Trench 4 is still practically at its beginning. During the previous week we have also conducted a topographical survey of the cave and the trenches opened so far, both from this and last year. By doing this we are now able to have precise contours of the cave and the position of our trenches within it and, consequently, of finds and features that have been or will be excavated.

Unexpectedly, we also had to deal with restricting of access to the cave to sightseers, which tend to visit the cave en masse during the local Ay. Triadha panegyri. Therefore, we have posted a proper sign warning the potential visitors of the danger of falling in in one of the open excavation trenches and we did our best to secure the entrance to the cave.