“semitisches pantheon”. eine “männliche tyche” - MOSAIKjournal.com

76|ANASTASIA CHRISTOPHILOPOULOU
The Late Helladic IIIC phase in Ag. Andreas is relatively well defined
and stratigraphically easily distinguished by a layer of rich
clay, which was imported to the hill to be used as a material for
insulation, similarly to the practice followed on Siphnos in traditional
stone-built houses until recently. One almost complete building
(building H) attached to the wall, at the west edge of the acropolis,
provides us with a good example of a house, surviving both
Late Helladic IIIB–C phases and the Late Geometric reoccupation
(fig. 2). 21 The building comprised two rooms with a single entrance
on the north side while a narrow area in front of the entrance functioned
as a small yard. Room 1 (the northern room) contained a
substantial proportion of pithos fragments as well as other vessels
probably indicating a rear storage room. 22 Room 2 (the southern
room) contained a small hearth made in a natural hollow of the
rock floor. 23 The southern room also contained a “ledge” (used
either as a table or as a bench) making building H a typical example
of a bench-house, similar to the ones excavated in the Late Geometric-Archaic
settlement of Kastro on Siphnos again. The building
was abandoned during Late Helladic IIIC period, as shown by
pottery recovered in the two rooms. 24 The fact that building H retains
the same arrangement as a bench-house in both Late Helladic
IIIC and Geometric phases is an indication that the particular type
was a very common practice of house arrangement in elevated island
sites such as Ag. Andreas. Another common practice in this
house is the habit of filling with earth the natural cavities of the
rock floors. An indication of the food habits of the residents is given
by the quantity of edible seashells excavated in its floors.
The area immediately to the north of house H was occupied
by another house, house Θ, with similar orientation, dated to Late
Geometric times (fig. 2). 25 Within building Θ the most spacious
room was used during Late Helladic IIIC and Geometric times.
The room contained a hearth. It was fitted with a wide door, and
21 PHILIPPAKI (1976) 284–285; PHILIPPAKI (1977) 357–360, fig. 1. 2;
pl. 180 a–d; TELEVANTOU (2001) 196, fig. 4.
22 PHILIPPAKI (1977) 358.
23 TELEVANTOU (2001) 193, fig. 2.
24 TELEVANTOU (2001) 204.
25 PHILIPPAKI (1978) 192–193, fig. 1.