RESEARCH REPORT FOR 2008, cont.

ASPRO NERO, AGIA IRINI, LIVARI: EXAMINATION AND SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTATION
RESEARCH REPORT FOR 2008
Work in 2008 was accomplished in three weeks from July 7 to July 26 in accordance with the
24th Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Agios Nikolaos in Crete. Vili
Apostolakou and Chrysa Sophianou very liberally made allowance for an earlier beginning in
July as the written permit from the Greek ministry was delayed by several weeks. Krzysztof
Nowicki described and classified pottery fragments on site during the two visits he made to
us. J. Alexander MacGillivray of the Palaikastro Excavation Team agreed to provisionally
store samples of local raw materials collected in the vicinity of the three sites under
investigation at their headquarters at Agios Antonios.
Aspro Nero (SITE 12)
Aspro Nero, [stou] Paletsi was revisited in order to check its overall extension and the
accuracy of the alignment of certain walls already documented in the 1996 field campaign. An
aberration of no more than ca. 20 cm all along the distance (ca. 75 m) from the ‘North
Bastion’ to ‘South Bastion’ seems tolerable. Surprisingly, more ‘Cyclopean’ walls were found
abutting on the ‘North Bastion’ to the north, when an hitherto fenced off olive grove was
made accessible for the first time. Documentation of the most significant stretches of walls
shows close similarities in construction technique and size of stone boulders with the
‘Cyclopean’ walls of the large MM/LM settlement at Chametoulo, Aletourgio/Vrysi (SITE 7),
only 1.7 km to the north as the crow flies (cf. Schlager et al. 1997, 33−36 figs. 12−14). SITE
12, therefore, may well be interpreted as an outlying fortified post or even a strong fortress
controlling the low lying valley leading from the coast up to the polje of Chametoulo with its
MM/LM town. The majority of datable ceramic stray finds in the area of the newly
discovered walls at Aspro Nero and elsewhere on the site was clearly MM, with some LM
sherds and a few pieces of Byzantine or Early Modern glazed wares. This fits well with the
chronology of SITE 12 in general as already suggested (Schlager 1999, 175).
At the southern border of SITE 12, further south of the ‘South Bastion’, a huge limestone
outcrop, though a natural formation, clearly resembles ‘Horns of Consecration’ (Schlager
1999, pl. XXVIc). Drawn and topographically determined, their long axis is nearly exactly
orientated due north−south. Some distance below to the east lies a small platform, artificially
brought into shape (this has been mistaken earlier for a much destroyed, possible third
‘Bastion’). On its east side, another rocky outcrop with narrow and deep crevices was found
which contained numerous fragments of MM pottery, mainly cooking pots, bowls, and cups.
Deposited deliberately in the rocky fissures, the whole assemblage appears to be the waste of
some feasting ceremonies held outdoors in the face of a monumental sacred landmark. Taking
this all as a whole it does not seem impossible that we are dealing with one of those open-air
shrines that are depicted on many a Minoan seal and gold ring of a slightly later period.
2008 achievements:
Topographical map of entire site;
Localization of raw material deposits in vicinity;
Examination and minor corrections of plan of ‘North Bastion’ and ‘South Bastion’;
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