Nemesis: A Mycenaean settlement near the Menidi Tholos Tomb

1959 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 292-294
Author(s):  
R. Hope Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Ground Level ◽  
The West ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
Original Size ◽  
The Hill ◽  
East West ◽  
Ancient Remains

The site to be described lies on a low hill a little to the north of the small village or suburb of Nemesis, about 150 metres to the west of the main road from Patisia to Koukouvaounes, and 1 kilometre to east-south-east of the Mycenaean tholos tomb at Λυκὸτρυπα, which was excavated by the German Institute in 1879, and is usually called the Menidi Tomb. The site at Nemesis is visible from the tholos tomb, and is separated from it by a gentle valley through which run, in a southerly direction, two streams with steep banks. The eastern stream is the river Kephissos, whose name goes back at least as far as the classical period.The hill of Nemesis stands about 15 to 20 metres above the level of the surrounding land, and measures about 160 m. north-west to south-east × 120 m. north-east to south-west. The hill is an isolated outcrop of conglomerate rock, thinly covered with stony brown earth. It has been eroded over an area about 250 m. north-south × 50 m. east-west, so that its original size was considerably larger than at present, in all about 30,000 square metres. Mycenaean sherds were found over the whole of this area, though mainly in the eroded part, among the lumps of fallen earth and rock. Remains of rubble walling together with several Mycenaean sherds were found here, and also in the steep cliffs formed by the erosion on the west and south sides (this part of the hill has been undermined by recent excavation of the beds of grey clay, which here lie at between 2 and 3 metres below the original ground level). The ancient remains are particularly noticeable in the south-west angle of the cliffs (roughly in the centre of the part of the hill shown on Plate 71a), where there is a greater depth of earth above the rock than is visible elsewhere on the hill.

House I 10,8

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope M. Allison
Keyword(s):  
Ground Level ◽  
The West ◽  
Comparable Group ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
South Wall ◽  
Domestic Use ◽  
Small Shell ◽  
Lead Weights

The surviving plaster on the walls of this entranceway consisted of a high pink socle, delineated in red, with a white zone above. Ling observed that this overlay an earlier First-Style decoration on the east wall and that it had been patched in antiquity. Breaches are found in both the east and west walls. Outside the entrance, to either side, is a masonry bench (east bench: l.: 2.1 m, d.: 380 mm; west bench: l.: 2.4 m, d.: 460 mm), both much damaged. Finds within the entranceway consisted of bronze and iron studs, undoubtedly from the house door. Remains of plastered decoration survive on the south wall. Elia recorded a yellow dado, surmounted by a red band, with white plaster above. There is a breach in the north-west corner through to Unit no. 9, above a blocked doorway. At the centre of this front hall is a tufa impluvium (2.4 m × 2.1 m). In the north-west corner, 1 m above the pavement, were found: a small bronze ring; a bronze stud, similar to those in the entranceway and probably also from the front door; a fragment of a stone mortar or hand-mill; some glass beads; a small shell; and two bronze quadrantes, one of Nero dated ad 64. The fragmentary or loseable nature of these items suggests that they were disturbed from the ground level. Other small loseable items were found in the north-east corner: a small glass bottle, probably a toilet item; and possibly five more coins. One metre from the west side of the impluvium were found: another part of a hand-mill; two large stone weights; at least fifty-three lead weights, probably from a loom; and two other spherical stones, possibly also weights. The large number of lead weights is comparable with the quantity found under the stairway in room i of the Casa del Principe di Napoli. Another comparable group of forty loom weights was found together in a pit at Zugmantel. As Jongman noted, this amount would be equivalent to that required for one or perhaps two warp-weighted looms. It is therefore commensurate with the existence of such a loom, or looms, in this area, or of replacement loom weights, for domestic use.

The Excavation of an Iron Age Souterrain and Settlement at Carn Euny, Sancreed, Cornwall

1978 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 309-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia M. L. Christie ◽  
S. M. Elsdon ◽  
G. W. Dimbleby ◽  
A. Saville ◽  
S. Rees ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
The West ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
Dry Valley ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Hill ◽  
The Village

The ancient village of Carn Euny, formerly known as Chapel Euny, lies on a south-west slope just above the 500 foot contour in the parish of Sancreed in West Cornwall (fig. 1). The granite uplands of the region are rich in antiquities, as a glance at a recent survey shows (Russell 1971), not least those of the prehistoric period. The hill on which the site is situated is crowned by the circular Iron Age Fort of Caer Brane (pl. 27). Across the dry valley to the north-west rises the mass of Bartinny Down, with its barrows, while in the valley below the site near the hamlet of Brane is a small, well preserved entrance grave and other evidence of prehistoric activity. To the south-east about one mile away is the recently excavated village of Goldherring dating from the first few centuries of our era (Guthrie 1969). From later times, the holy well of St Uny and the former chapel which gave its name to the site, lie nearby to the west. The village contains a fine souterrain, locally known as a fogou, after a Cornish word meaning a cave (Thomas 1966, 79).Nothing appears to have been known of the settlement or Fogou before the first half of the 19th century when the existence of an unexplored fogou at Chapel Uny is first mentioned by the Reverend John Buller (1842), shortly followed by Edmonds (1849) who described to the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society an ‘Ancient Cave’ which had been discovered by miners prospecting for tin.

Excavation of a homestead of the Roman era at Halangy Down, St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly, 1950

1955 ◽  
Vol 35 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Ashbee
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Ordnance Survey ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
West Part ◽  
Neighbouring Island ◽  
The Hill ◽  
The Village

Halangy Down (fig. 1) is the lower precipitous slope of the decline from Telegraph Hill (Ordnance Survey B.M. 166. 3 ft.) to the sea at Halangy Porth and Point. Halangy Down and the earlier chambered tomb upon the crest are often referred to locally as ‘Bants Carn’. The true ‘Bants Carn’ is a considerable rock outcrop dominating Halangy Point. This escarpment faces Crow Sound, which separates the north-west part of St. Mary's from the neighbouring island of Tresco. The hill-side is sheltered by the mass of Telegraph Hill from inclement weather from the north-east and east, but is fully exposed to the south-west and west.The existence of an ancient village site here has long been known in the islands. At the close of the last century, the late Alexander Gibson cleared away the underbrush from one of the more prominent huts and made a photographic record of its construction. Shortly after, the late G. Bonsor, of Mairena del Alcor, near Seville, in addition to excavating the chambered tomb, noted a considerable midden together with traces, of prehistoric occupation exposed in the cliffs of Halangy Porth just below the village site. Dr. H. O'Neill Hencken noted Bonsor's description of the midden, and, as nothing was known at the time of the material culture of the ‘village’, he associated the two.

An Iron Age Hill-Fort at Grimthorpe, Yorkshire, England

1969 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 148-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. Stead ◽  
M. Jarman ◽  
Angela Fagg ◽  
E. S. Higgs ◽  
C. B. Denston
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Circular Area ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
White Horse ◽  
The Hill ◽  
Grave Goods

The Iron Age hill-fort at Grimthorpe (Grid reference SE.816535) in the parish of Millington, East Riding of Yorkshire, is on the western edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, with a commanding position over the Vale of York. There is an uninterrupted view to the White Horse on the Hambleton Hills, 25 miles to the north-west; beyond York, 13 miles to the west, to the Pennines; and to the south 25 miles to the chimneys of Keadby and Scunthorpe. To the west and south the land slopes away to the Vale of York, and to the north and east there is a sharper fall to Given Dale and Whitekeld Dale. The hill-fort defences follow the 520 feet contour, and enclose an approximately circular area of eight acres (fig. 1).A traditional reference may be preserved in the field-name—Bruffs—perhaps a variation of ‘Brough’, which ‘refers in all cases to ancient camps, usually Roman ones’. But all surface indications have now been obliterated by ploughing, and even a century ago there was little more to be seen. John Phillips in 1853 noticed ‘unmistakable traces of ancient but unascertainable occupation’, and in 1871 an excavation by J. R. Mortimer located ‘the filled up inner ditch of a supposed camp’. But Mortimer was not concerned with the settlement; his interest had been aroused by the discovery, in 1868, of a burial with rich grave-goods, including metalwork with La Tène ornament, in a chalk-pit within the south-west sector of the hill-fort.

Rainsborough, Northants, England: Excavations 1961–5

1968 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 207-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Avery ◽  
J. E. G. Sutton ◽  
J. W. Banks ◽  
M. S. Tite ◽  
J. G. Evans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tree Roots ◽  
The West ◽  
Outer Slope ◽  
North West ◽  
Gentle Slope ◽  
The Core ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
Visible Part

Rainsborough is 1 mile South of Charlton village, in the parish of Newbottle, S. Northants, 20 miles North of Oxford, (SP 526348). The camp lies atc. 480′ OD, and the area enclosed isc. 6·25 acres.It lies on the edge of a plateau: the approaches to it are flat on the north-east, east, south and south-west, but a gentle slope to the north, north-west and west gives it a wide view across the Cherwell valley, towards Madmarston and Tadmarton (see map, fig. 1 and also pl. XXV). The defences are bivallate: the inner bank stands to 10 feet above the interior, and there is a drop of about 15 feet from the crest into the inner ditch; the second bank is very much lowered by ploughing, but still reaches a height of about 4 feet on the south side, where a hedge line has protected it; the outer ditch is nowhere visible on the surface, except on the west, when it carries a higher growth of weeds. The defences are covered with turf: the inner bank has also trees, bushes and the stumps of large beeches felledc. 1950. The bank is riddled with tree roots, and the sandy character of the core has attracted rabbits: recent attempts to dig and smoke out the warrens have slightly damaged the profile of the bank. A small dry stone wall is visible part way up the outer slope of the inner bank in several places.

Hadd Hajar, a clausura in the Tripolitanian Gebel Garian south of Asabaa

1980 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 45-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olwen Brogan
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
East Side ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
Narrow Valley ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
The Hill

In the Gebel Garian, about 20 kilometres south of Asabaa, the map-makers of 1964 indicated an ancient wall (Fig. 1) called Hadd Hajar (i.e. wall of stone) running south-west for six kilometres from Ras al Tays al Abyad (858 m; the Hill of the White Goat) on which stood a watch tower, to Ras al Said (764 m). The country crossed by Hadd Hajar is about 690-730 m above sea-level with a gently-undulating surface constituting a fairly open and level valley. The hills are covered with esparto-grass. On the west the Wadi Wamis winds among closely-set hills while, in the north-east, the wall is carried for a further three quarters of a kilometre across a narrow valley from Ras al Tays al Abyad to another hill Ras al Saqifah. An old track comes southwards down this valley flanked on the east side by a barrier of hills over 800 m high. Where the track crosses the wall there is a Roman building (Gasr al Saqifah) with traces of an archway for people and flocks to pass through. Two kilometres to the south is an old cistern (Majin Saqifah) presumably Roman. Beyond, the track continues about 25 kilometres to a large well, Bir al Shaqaykah (Sceghega), after which it is another 28 kilometres south-eastwards to Mizdah on the Wadi Sofeggin.

scholarly journals The Igneous Complex of Y Foel Fras, Caernarvonshire

1922 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 134-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman L. Silvester
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Geological Survey ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Igneous Complex ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
South West

The area under consideration is a portion of the mountain massif bounded on the east by the Conway River, on the north by the narrow coastal plain between Conway and Bangor, and on the west and south by the popular tourist route through Nant.-Francon pass by Llyn Ogwen and down the Afon Llugwy to Bettws y coed. The investigation includes the horseshoe-shaped ring of mountains, of which the highest is Y Foel Frâs (3,091 feet), surrounding the upper course of the Aber River (Cwm yr Afon Goch). To the north-west this igneous complex is bounded by the precipitatious crags over which the above stream descends by leaps and bounds, forming the well-known Aber Falls. Upon Sheet 78, south-east of the old Geological Survey map the area is coloured as “Massive intrusive felspathic rocks”, surrounding two oval patches indicated as “Greenstones”, whilst a further elongated patch of the latter forms the south-west boundary. The north-east boundary is limited by the Aber-Llanbedr fault. Besides the hog-backed summit of Y Foel Frâs, the area includes the similarly outlined summits of Y Drosgl West (2,483 feet), Yr Arryg (2,875 feet), Llwydmor Bâch (2,256 feet), and the more rugged summits of Bera Mawr (2,587 feet), Bera Bâch and Llwydmor (2,749 feet).

Excavations at Fishbourne, 1963. Third Interim Report

1964 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Keyword(s):  
Interim Report ◽  
The West ◽  
Civic Society ◽  
North West ◽  
The Third ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The Future ◽  
Set Up

Early in 1963 much of the land occupied by the Roman building at Fishbourne was purchased by Mr. I. D. Margary, M.A., F.S.A., and was given to the Sussex Archaeological Trust. The Fishbourne Committee of the trust was set up to administer the future of the site. The third season's excavation, carried out at the desire of this committee, was again organized by the Chichester Civic Society.1 About fifty volunteers a day were employed from 24th July to 3rd September. Excavation concentrated upon three main areas; the orchard south of the east wing excavated in 1962, the west end of the north wing, and the west wing. In addition, trial trenches were dug at the north-east and north-west extremities of the building and in the area to the north of the north wing. The work of supervision was carried out by Miss F. Pierce, M.A., Mr. B. Morley, Mr. A. B. Norton, B.A., and Mr. J. P. Wild, B.A. Photography was organized by Mr. D. B. Baker and Mrs. F. A. Cunliffe took charge of the pottery and finds.

An Iron Age A site on the Chilterns

1951 ◽  
Vol 31 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 132-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Richardson ◽  
Alison Young
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The West ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Roman Villa ◽  
Adjoining Area ◽  
Cursory Examination ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Hill

In 1946 a visit to the barrow, which lies on the edge of the western scarp of Chinnor Common, and a cursory examination of the adjoining area, cultivated during the war, resulted in finds of pottery and other objects indicating Iron Age occupation. The site lies on the saddleback of a Chiltern headland, at a height of about 800 ft. O.D. Two hollow ways traverse the western scarp, giving access to the area from the Upper Icknield Way, which contours the foot of the hill, then drops to cross the valley, passing some 600 yards to the north of the Iron Age site of Lodge Hill, Bledlow, and rising again continues northwards under Pulpit Hill camp and the Ellesborough Iron Age pits below Coombe Hill. The outlook across the Oxford plain to the west is extensive, embracing the hill-fort of Sinodun, clearly visible some fourteen miles distant on the farther bank of the Thames. The hollow way at the north-west end of the site leads down to a group of ‘rises’ hard by the remains of a Roman villa, and these springs are, at the present day, the nearest water-supply to the site.

Part VI. The Cyclopean Terrace Building and the Deposit of Pottery beneath It

1954 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 267-291
Author(s):  
Elizabeth B. Wace
Keyword(s):  
Contour Line ◽  
The South ◽  
Main Road ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
South West

The Cyclopean Terrace Building lies to the north-west of the Lion Gate on the northern end of the Panagia Ridge and faces almost due west across the valley of the Kephissos and modern main road from Corinth to Argos. It lies just below the 200 m. contour line, and one terrace below the houses excavated in 1950–51 by Dr. Papadimitriou and Mr. Petsas to the east at the same end of the ridge. The area contains a complex of buildings, both successive and contemporary, and in view of the discovery of structures both to the south-west and, by the Greek Archaeological Service, to the north-east it is likely that this whole slope was covered by a portion of the outer town of Mycenae. This report will deal only with the structure to which the name Cyclopean Terrace Building was originally given, the so-called ‘North Megaron’, supported by the heavy main terrace wall.The excavation of this structure was begun in 1923. The main terrace wall was cleared and two L.H. IIIC burials discovered in the top of the fill in the south room. In 1950 it was decided to attempt to clear this building entirely in an endeavour to find out its date and purpose. The clearing was not, however, substantially completed until the close of the 1953 excavation season, and this report presents the available evidence for the date as determined by the pottery found beneath the building; the purpose is still a matter for study, though various tentative conclusions can be put forward.

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