Midea: The Megaron Complex and Shrine Area
Midea: The Megaron Complex and Shrine Area
Gisela Walberg
Julie Hruby
Anne Ingvarsson-Sundström
James Newhard
David S. Reese
Michael Baumann
Susan M. Fisher
Rodney Fitzsimmons
Karen L. Giering
Mats Johnson
Elizabeth Kosmetatou
Jeffrey L. Kramer
Michael Lindblom
Amy Ostenso
Jan Verstraete
Series: Prehistory Monographs
Volume: 20
Copyright Date: 2007
Published by: INSTAP Academic Press
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956
Pages: 550
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vj956
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Book Info
Midea: The Megaron Complex and Shrine Area
Book Description:

This volume presents the 1994-1997 excavation of the Lower Terraces of the Mycenaean citadel of Midea in the Argolid Plain of Greece. It compliments the author's previous volume on the Lower Terraces of Midea, which was published in 1998. A shrine and megaron were discovered on Terraces 9 and 10. The stratigraphy, architecture, pottery, lithics, small finds, and human and faunal remains dating from the Final Neolithic through Byzantine periods are discussed and catalogued. Additionally, the continuous sequence of LH IIIB-LH IIIC strata on the Lower Terraces revealed the ground plan and expansion of the megaron complex.

eISBN: 978-1-62303-045-2
Subjects: Archaeology, History
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-vi)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.1
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. vii-viii)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.2
  3. LIST OF TABLES IN THE TEXT
    LIST OF TABLES IN THE TEXT (pp. ix-x)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.3
  4. LIST OF FIGURES IN THE TEXT
    LIST OF FIGURES IN THE TEXT (pp. xi-xii)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.4
  5. PREFACE
    PREFACE (pp. xiii-xiv)
    Gisela Walberg
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.5
  6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (pp. xv-xvi)
    Gisela Walberg
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.6
  7. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
    LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS (pp. xvii-xx)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.7
  8. INTRODUCTION
    INTRODUCTION (pp. 1-4)
    Gisela Walberg
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.8

    Midea is one of the three Mycenaean citadels in the Argolid with preserved Cyclopean walls, gates, and bastions. The area enclosed by the fortification wall is larger than that of Mycenae and Tiryns (Pl. 1a). Midea is located in the eastern part of the plain (Figs. 1–2). The acropolis on which the citadel is built has a steep and rocky slope to the south and to the west.¹ The slope to the north and the east is more gentle and covered with terraces, the Lower Terraces, where the author and her students of the University of Cincinnati Classics Department...

  9. I. THE STRATIGRAPHY
    I. THE STRATIGRAPHY (pp. 5-60)
    Gisela Walberg
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.9

    The strata, which vary from very deep to extremely thin, represent recognizable differences in soil color and texture. The locations of finds, including complete and nearly complete vessels, were measured horizontally and vertically, except for the ceramic fragments which could not be identified individually before they had been cleaned from incrustation. The sherds were kept together in labeled bags before and after cleaning. The soil from Roman and earlier strata was dry–sieved, and soil samples were taken from every stratum and trench for froth flotation. As a rule, the material in a stratum below the Mycenaean or Roman floors...

  10. II. THE ARCHITECTURE
    II. THE ARCHITECTURE (pp. 61-90)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.10

    In the excavations of 1985–1991, two Mycenaean architectural phases were uncovered. One group of floors was associated with LH IIIB pottery and a second group with LH IIIC pottery. The excavations of 1994–1997 made it possible to refine the stratigraphy and to identify more architectural phases. Two successive LH IIIB architectural phases could be distinguished in many areas. The first LH IIIB architectural phase is shown as yellow on the color plan (Pl. A and Plan 4), and the second LH IIIB architectural phase is blue. In addition, the remains of an earlier, LH IIIA, architectural phase were...

  11. III. THE POTTERY
    III. THE POTTERY (pp. 91-168)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.11

    In 1931 Persson reported abundant surface finds of Early, Middle, and Late Helladic pottery on the acropolis, and the same kind of pottery on the northwestern part of the hill and on the low ridge toward Dendra, especially on the terraces below the spring.¹ Excavations in widely separated areas on the acropolis have since yielded Early Helladic (EH) material. In 1939 Persson found some EH pottery on a levelled plateau about 50 m east of the summit,² in trenches opened inside the eastern citadel wall (Shafts I–II), and on the Lower Terraces (Shafts III–VIII). It was noted, however,...

  12. IV. THE SMALL FINDS
    IV. THE SMALL FINDS (pp. 169-188)
    G. Walberg
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.12

    A door block of white marble with a posthole, A71, was found in Stratum 3, the LH IIIC stratum of the megaron. It was notin situ, but its find context outside and north of the megaron makes it likely that it was part of the building. The block has a roughly rectangular shape, and both the upper and the lower sides are irregular.

    A72 is a column base found with its lower part dug down into an early Mycenaean stratum underneath the floor. It is made of very hard gray, reddish, and white limestone and has a squarish lower...

  13. V. THE POST–BRONZE AGE PERIOD
    V. THE POST–BRONZE AGE PERIOD (pp. 189-194)
    Elizabeth Kosmetatou
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.13

    Excavations conducted on the Lower Terraces of the Acropolis of Midea from 1985 to 1991 yielded a significant amount of Post–Bronze Age, mainly ceramic, material (Figs. 186–195; Pls. 25, 28, 32–33).¹ A few fragments of Archaic pottery provided some indication of human presence on the citadel after the abandonment of the site in LH IIIC, but to date, no Archaic settlement has been attested there.² A chronological gap of several centuries ensued, and this ended around the late 4th–early 5th centuries A.D., when the Lower Terraces of the acropolis were reoccupied for the next hundred years...

  14. VI. SUMMARY THE LOWER TERRACES FROM THE 13th, 12th, AND 11th CENTURIES B.C. TO THE ROMAN AND BYZANTINE PERIOD
    VI. SUMMARY THE LOWER TERRACES FROM THE 13th, 12th, AND 11th CENTURIES B.C. TO THE ROMAN AND BYZANTINE PERIOD (pp. 195-200)
    Gisela Walberg
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.14

    The Midea megaron is the only one that has 13th as well as 12th century building phases, and the Lower Terraces at Midea are also so far the only site where continuous sequences of LH IIIB and LH IIIC strata have been identified. The 1994–1997 excavations on the Lower Terraces not only led to the discovery of a megaron–complex and an elaborate early Mycenaean water management system with six ducts and two cisterns, but they also revealed a long stratigraphic sequence in a number of different areas. In combination with the stratigraphy found during the 1990–1991 excavations...

  15. VII. CATALOG
    VII. CATALOG (pp. 201-338)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.15

    A Midea number identifies each pottery sherd and always appears bold in the catalog and text (e.g., 1027). Sherds are organized in numerical order by their Midea number and are generally grouped by the assigned relative date (MH, LH IIIB, etc.). Within the relative date groups the material is organized by shape. The catalog numbers in this volume follow Walberg,MideaI. For example, the last piece of pottery inMideaI is number 1026, and the first in this volume is therefore number 1027. The numbers of the small finds also follow those inMideaI.

    Small finds have...

  16. VIII. POTTERY STATISTICS
    VIII. POTTERY STATISTICS (pp. 339-388)
    Gisela Walberg
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.16

    Initial letters in the headlines of this section refer to trenches (for example, Mc, Ne, Vb, etc.). Arabic numbers indicate strata and Roman numbers refer to rooms. Mc3 is stratum 3 of Trench Mc, while Mq6XI is Trench Mq, Stratum 6, Room XI. W followed by an Arabic number refers to a wall. Mq4XIW24 is thus Trench Mq, Stratum 4, Room XI, and Wall 24. N, S, E, and W (not followed by an Arabic number) indicate quadrants in a trench (North, South, East, and West). C indicates the center of the trench.

    The ceramic statistics of Rooms I–IV...

  17. BIBLIOGRAPHY
    BIBLIOGRAPHY (pp. 389-396)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.17
  18. APPENDIX A. THE FAUNAL REMAINS
    APPENDIX A. THE FAUNAL REMAINS (pp. 397-468)
    David S. Reese
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.18
  19. APPENDIX B. THE HUMAN REMAINS
    APPENDIX B. THE HUMAN REMAINS (pp. 469-480)
    Anne Ingvarsson-Sundström
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.19
  20. APPENDIX C. THE FINGERPRINTS ON POTTERY
    APPENDIX C. THE FINGERPRINTS ON POTTERY (pp. 481-482)
    Julie Hruby
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.20
  21. APPENDIX D. THE CHIPPED STONE
    APPENDIX D. THE CHIPPED STONE (pp. 483-508)
    James Newhard
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.21
  22. INDEX
    INDEX (pp. 509-524)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vj956.22