PHENEOS IN NORTHEASTERN ARCADIA – AN UNDISCOVERED TOWN

When discussions turn on archeology, people generally talk about the discovery of exciting excavations. This is, however, only one side of it. What is less known is that the excavations are often followed by extensive and time-consuming investigations aimed at obtaining a sufficient understanding of the finds. This work is considerably less spectacular and much less in the spotlight. Nevertheless it is indispensable for the successful completion of a project. Such work is now about to be started after a five-year cooperative effort by the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Athens, with work being done by the University of Graz, and the Greek Antiquities Authority in Archaia Pheneos. Pheneos (Feneos) is located in northeastern Arcadia, at almost the direct centre of the Peloponnese. The hill on which this ancient town was built is the highest elevation of the high plain of Pheneos (ca. 800 m), today covered only with macchia. In ancient times, the town was well linked with the network of roads running through the Peloponnese; it was even mentioned by famed Greek poet Homer. The excavations carried out between 2011 and 2015 have not only uncovered parts of the northern town walls but also led to the discovery and partial unearthing of two previously unknown sanctuaries (6th-4th century B.C.) The finds have been identified as most probably having been dedicated to goddesses. The goal of the project Pheneos in northeastern Arcadia an unexplored town is to obtain more detailed information about the underlying religious beliefs and the times when the sanctuaries and town walls were built. The focus of this research is on the artefacts found, with special attention devoted to the pottery. The research and excavation findings will be published in two monographs consisting of contributions by several Greek and Austrian colleagues.

Pheneos in Northeastern Arcadia: An Undiscovered Town FWF project P 30446 PI: Elisabeth Trinkl On most excavation sites, pottery in a fragmentary and broken condition forms the bulk of the archaeological record. These fragments have to be sorted and arranged by stratigraphical context so as to enable their documentation and closer research. The Austrian Science Funds (FWF) with the project "Pheneos in Northeastern Arcadia: An Undiscovered Town" made it possible, that, for the first time, such research could be done on the pottery from the site of Pheneos. The valley of Pheneos is located in the middle of the Peloponnese, in north eastern Arcadia. The ancient town of the same name was situated on a hill on c. 800 m above sea level. While Pheneos nowadays is a rather remote place, the city in antiquity was located along the major routes crossing the Peloponnese and prominently features, for example, in Homer's Iliad. In the frame of the project, work focussed on the finds made from 2011 to 2015, when the Greek Directorate of Antiquities collaborated with the University of Graz and the Austrian Archaeological Institute at Athens to excavate parts of the settlement of Pheneos. These finds date from the first millennium B.C. and the mediaeval period (13th to 15th centuries A.D.). Documentation of the pottery comprised the following properties: vessel shape, current condition, composition of the clay, and surface treatment. Vessel fragments were drawn by hand, photographed, and, for special objects, 3D scanned. In this way, it became possible to assign functions to the structures uncovered during excavations. We can now say that, in the first millennium B.C., several sanctuaries caused intense activity on the settlement hill. In the mediaeval and early modern eras, a cemetery - perhaps with an associated church - lay in the examined area, as well as a private building. The starting point for the excavations in 2011 was the still visible defensive wall. Based on the ceramic record, this wall can now be dated to the third century B.C. The great amount of prehistoric pottery adds further information to the material analysed in the frame of the project. It points to a first usage of the area in the Neolithic, with continued human presence throughout the Bronze Age. Furthermore, detailed pottery research allows a distinction of locally produced ceramic vessels from imported wares. These observations constitute an important part to the reconstruction of economic interrelations within Arcadia throughout history and provide information on the trade relations of Pheneos within and without the Peloponnese, revealing connections e. g. to Italy and Asia Minor. Therefore, research on the pottery from Pheneos will be continued in a follow-up project, involving scientific analyses.