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Early Bronze-age Stone Mortars from the Southern Argolid
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Kosmas, Ayios |
| Copyright Year | 2008 |
| Abstract | N THE COURSE OF THE STANFORD UNIVERSITY archaeological and environmental survey of the Southern Argolid, fragments of 12 stone mortars were recovered from surface sites. 1 All but one of the fragments appear to belong to a single type of mortar. A fragment of another mortar was found in the excavation at the site of Halieis in the same region by an Indiana University team, bringing the total to 13. The mortars are all made of a distinctive dark gray, fine-grained, volcanic andesite typical of the volcanic deposits of the Southern Aegean, especially those of Aigina.2 Their shape, as it is reconstructed from two large fragments, is that of a shallow, circular, unspouted pan with a flat base and with one handle, or lug, on the exterior below the rim. The lug may be either H-shaped or spoolshaped. The type found in the Southern Argolid closely resembles mortars from Ayios Kosmas in Attica and Lithares in Boiotia which belong to the Early Helladic II (EH II) period, or roughly the middle of the third millennium B.C.3 This specific form of stone vessel has a limited distribution at present and is known only from the Southern Argolid, Ayios Kosmas, and Lithares (Fig. 1). A full treatment of the subject to elucidate the cultural and chronological significance of the type is a useful preliminary step to the further recognition of this form. In this paper, it is proposed that the mortar in question be designated the Ayios Kosmas (AK)-type mortar, because the type was first recognized at that site. A second mortar type is also found in the Southern Argolid sample and is at present without a parallel. It appears to be made of the same material as the AK-type mortar and to have had a similar function. Its overall shape may have been a rectilinear palette or box with short, square feet, but it is not possible to reconstruct the shape from this one fragment. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/uploads/media/hesperia/148360.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
