Topography and History of Ancient Epicnemidian Locris •Km 1 *

Edited by

JOSE PASCUAL MARIA-FOTEINI PA PA KON STA N TINOU

B R I L L

Mnemosyne Supplements

History and Archaeology of Classical Antiquity

Edited by Susan E. Alcock, Brown University

Thomas Harrison, Liverpool Hans van Wees, London

VOLUME 362

The titles published in this series are listed at brilLcom/mns

Topography and History of Ancient Epicnemidian Locris

Edited by Jose Pascual

Maria-Foteini Papakonstantinou

' 6 8 ^

B R I L L

LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013

Cover Illustration: Left: Trapezoidal isodomic ashlar walls at Paliokastro Anavras in Epicnemidian Locris Right: The Sea of the Locrians from Cnemides in Epicnemidian Locris with the Lichades islands on the left, the Euboean coast on the right and the Achaea Phthiotis in the background.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Topography and history of ancient Epicnemidian Locris / edited by Jose Pascual, Maria-Foteini Papakonstantinou. /

pages, cm. - (Mnemosyne supplements; volume 362) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-90-04-25669-9 (hardback: alk. paper) - ISBN 978-90-04-25675-0 (e-book) 1. Locris (Greece)-Geography. 2. Locris (Greece)-History. I. Pascual, Jose (Classicist) II.

Papakonstantinou, Maria-Foteini. III. Series: Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum; v. 362. DF261.L63T67 2013

938'.3-dc23

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CONTENTS

List of Illustrations IX Explanatory Notes xv Abbreviations xvii Acknowledgments XXI Foreword xxin

N. Kyparissi-Apostolika

Introduction.) 1

PART ONE GEOGRAPHY

1 The Natural Landscape of Epicnemidian Locris: The Historical Conditions of Its Physical Environment 9

J.A. Gonzalez, C. Arteaga, F. Arteaga-Manjon-Cabeza, M. Arjona andR. Garcia

PART TWO TOPOGRAPHY

2 The Ancient Topography of the Epicnemidian Locris 65 /. Pascual

3 The Dipotamos Valley and the "Phocian Corridor" 201 M.-F. Papakonstantinou and G. Zachos

4 The Necropoleis of Epicnemidian Locris and Dipotamos Valley . . . 225 M.-F. Papakonstantinou andE. Karantzali

5 The Fortifications of Epicnemidian Locris 263 S. Milan

6 Communication Routes in and around Epicnemidian Locris 279 E. Sanchez-Moreno

V I I I CONTENTS

7 Mountain Passes in Epicnemidian Locris 337 E. Sanchez-Moreno

8 ©dXarra Aoxpcov: Plying the Sea of the Locrians 361 M. Arjona

PART THREE HISTORY

9 From Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age 395 S. Dimaki

10 Early Settlement and Configuration of the Archaic Poleis 405 A.J. Domtnguez Monedero

11 The Late Archaic Period 445 A.J. Dominguez Monedero

12 The Classical Period (480-323) 471

J. Pascual 13 The Hellenistic Period (323-146) 507

J.J. Moreno Hernandez andl.M. Pascual Valderrama 14 The Roman Period from 146 BC to Justinian 537

G. Zachos

Conclusions 549

Bibliography 563 Indices 601

M. Mordn and A. Myslowska A. Ancient Texts Cited or Discussed 603 B. Gods, Heroes and Persons 609 C. Toponyms and General Subjects 613

C H A P T E R N I N E

FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE LATE BRONZE AGE

Sofia Dimaki'

The waste land1 We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time —T.S. Eliot, Little Giddings (Four Quartets)

Archaeological research has been going on in Phthiotis for over a century. However, until recently, the prehistoric bibliography was based on generic but fundamental work mainly relating to pottery that had been conducted in the first half of the twentieth century by Wace and Thompson, Arvani-topoulos, Sotiriadis, Goldman and Weinberg.2 The establishment of the local Ephorate of Antiquities in 1973 with G. Hourmouziades as its first director3 signalled the beginning of the completion of the archaeological map which could a^ that time be described as a tabula rasa. Rescue and systematic excavations, field surveys undertaken by both the Hellenic Archaeological Service and foreign schools and large-scale public works were the main fac­tors that contributed to that outcome. In recent years the publication of articles, papers and postgraduate doctoral theses on this area, supported by background studies, has been gradually filling in the missing pieces of the puzzle which is, however, still far from complete.

Fourteenth Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. 1 The title is borrowed from the poem of T.S. Eliot "Waste Land". 2 P-T: Lianokladi, Manesi (modern Lefkochori), Drachmani (modern Elateia), 171-191,

202-205. Arvanitopoulos 1910:198-199; Sotiriadis 1904,1905,1906a, 1906b, 1908a, 1908b, 1909, 1910,1911,1912; Goldman 1940:381-514 and Weinberg 1962.

3 AD 291973-1974: Chron. 513.

3 9 6 SOFIA DIMAKI

The focus of this study is the Locris region,4 which covers the southern part of Phthiotis. Its main geographical features are the mountain ranges, particularly Callidromus in the northwest, its extension Chlomon to the south and Mt. Cnemis in the east. To the north, the region opens up towards the alluvial plain of the Spercheius River while in the east it meets the coastline of the north Euboean and Malian Gulfs. Between these mountain ranges, there is a particularly diverse landscape, characterized by semi-mountainous and hilly areas, small lakes, rivers, small valleys and delta estuaries. The subsoil of the region contains old sediments dating from the Late Miocene, Plio-Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene ages in which various specimens of fauna and flora fossils have been found.5

The part of Locris called Epicnemidia includes the northern part of the region, whose natural borders are Thermopylae in the north, Cnemis to the south and west, and Mt. Callidromus, which separates it from ancient Opun-tian Locris, northeast Phocis and Doris. While examining the region's sedi­mentation timeline, researchers face a particular challenge. Ancient sources such as Pausanias and Strabo, foreign travellers like Lolling, Leake, Gell, and scholars like Oldfather and Pritchett are only some of those who engaged in the ancient topography of this area. As far as prehistory is concerned, our knowledge is strictly limited to the combined contribution of a few survey finds and rescue excavations.6

Epicnemidian Locris was first settled in the Neolithic period. Public works and in particular the construction of the Tithorea/Lianokladi section of the new Athens-Thessalonica railway line stumbled upon an unknown archaeological site at the intersection of the road from the Athens-Lamia highway to the village of Rengini. The site is on the low hill of Trilofo near the Liapatorema, on river deposits. The structural remains of a villa rus-tica dated to late second-mid-third century A D were found at the highest point of the southern slope of the hill.7 Along the eastern slope of this

4 Locris, together with Phthiotis, Doris and Parnassida became a province of the Phocis-Locris Prefecture in 1837. It was a province that included, according to the ancient topography of the historical period, Opuntian, Epicnemidian and Hypocnemidian Locris, northeast Phocis and Doris, and was abolished with the creation of the Capodistrean municipalities in 1997: Klados 1837.

5 Athanassiou 2006: In the Locris region fossils were found of an Aceratherium (Agioi Anargyroi), Equus, Bos or Leptobos (Harma), Hippopotamus (Karavydia), 119, Eucladokeros sp. and a mammuthus; cf. meridionalis (Rengini), 123-126. Kranis 2007: 362 and figs. 2, 7: geological maps of the Locris Basin.

6 Bibliography based mainly on GAMS and GAC I. 7 Geological elements of the Rengini area: supra 5.2, 362. Papastathopoulou 2007:143-

153-

FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE LATE BRONZE AGE 397 hill, which had undergone severe erosion, another site was found. This site seems to have been inhabited during the Early Neolithic period.8 On the two lower levels of the excavated trenches, several finds were uncovered, including pottery, a lot of debris of raw material, several cores, chipped and ground stone tools, which included some chocolate-coloured flint and honey-yellow flint blades. Some clay spoons, two steatite beads and possibly an ear stud, animal bones and shells, some of them pierced, were also found.9 However, it needs to be noted that this excavation did not uncover any structural remains apart from lumps of clay, some of them bearing the impressions of reeds and poles. The pottery from Trilofo includes a range of monochrome vessels, mainly fine ware open bowls, with surface colours varying from brownish red to light brown, both flat and ring bases, as well as either vertically- or horizontally-pierced knobs. A few sherds of imported rainbow pottery are also mentioned.10 There is no decoration of any kind or the modelled knobs so commonly found in southwest Locris. However, the pottery from Trilofo is part of the Neolithic koine of the period.11

Further discussion of EN fine ware pottery use started back in the 1980s. According to K.D. Vitelli and C. Bjork, who studied the material from the early phases of Franchthi and Achilleion, the pots were not used for storing and cooking food but for food consumption and display. However, recent research suggests that although a small proportion were indeed used for exchange and as symbolic objects, most pottery was used to meet the every­day needs of the Neolithic community, for such purposes as preparing food, storage or transporting goods, but not as cooking pots.12 Several studies of EN chipped stone have been carried out in recent decades, mainly in Thessaly, the Peloponnese and lastly in Macedonia. Preliminary reports and studies on Neolithic and Bronze Age assemblages have been conducted in

8 Apart from the Boeotian Cephisus river basin and south/west Locris, no EN site has yet been found in the Spercheius valley. An EN site is referred to at Oiti/Panagia: AD 1978 Chron.: 158-159.162-163.

9 AD forthcoming. Froussou 2004:167-169; Froussou 2006:641-656. 10 Supra 2.5:171. Daux 1956: 223, fig. 11; French 1972: 5, fig. 2; Coleman, Wren and Quinn

1999:294; Kendall 1998:53,54,62. 11 The closest parallels come from Elateia/Gekas and Atalanti/Agios Vlassis: Supra 2.5:

167-172, pi. 53c. Dimaki and Souvatzi 2009:817-818; id. forthcoming. For the distribution of EN pottery groups in Locris: Supra 10.3: fig. 16a. In Thessaly: Wijnen 1981:26, fig. 11. For EN/MN connections between central Greece and the northern and eastern Peloponnese: Lavezzi 1978:405-406,427.

12 Vitelli 1989:17-29; 1993:184-199,213-217; Bjork 1995:86; Halstead 1995:16. Yiouni 2004: 1-22. Increasing domestic use of pottery in LN period: Perles and Vitelli 1999:98.

398 SOFIA DIMAKI

relation to systematic excavation at the sites in the southeast of the area. At Atalanti/Agios Vlassis,13 similar to Trilofo, small amounts of obsidian and honey-coloured flint (in 600 pieces: 84.2% chert/flint, 10.24% obsidian, 2.83% honey flint) were found, in contrast to the larger proportion of obsid­ian found in EN layers in Elateia. Obsidian and honey-flint are imported raw materials and it is generally suggested that they arrived in settlements already processed. In Neolithic Halae opposite proportions are observed (of 73 pieces, 23% are chert and 77% obsidian).14 The excavation finds also include the upper part of a shallow stone bowl. The production of stone ves­sels in EN is limited and they are considered objects of special value and the product of craft specialisation. Two other examples of marble vessels from Elateia and Agios Vlassis are mentioned.15

Finally, two broken hole mouth bowls are mentioned, one inside the other, one of which contains the remains of a cremation burial. Unfortu­nately there are no further details about the condition of the bones.16 In addi­tion to inhumation, cremation was also practised throughout the period. The same ritual, well known in EN Thessaly and recently in LN Macedonia, reflects the cosmology of the Neolithic community both through the specific mode of burial and the symbolic value of the objects that accompanied the dead.17 To date, the Trilofo cremation is the earliest burial found in Locris. A child's burial dating to the MN has been mentioned at Halae as well as a LN child's burial at Elateia/Gekas. At Proskynas/Rachi a FN cemetery with inhumations and a child's cremation was also found.18

In fact, there is not a lot to say about the following periods of the Early and Middle Bronze Age. Our knowledge relies entirely on the work of Hope Simpson, Dickinson and Lazenby in the 1970s. The only site where EH pottery was found is on the southern border of the area at Tachtali.19 The

13 AD forthcoming. 14 Supra 2.5:205-206, pi. 7oe 1-3 and f, 2. Demoule and Perles 1993:383; O'Niell 1999:327-

328, tab. 3-7; Skourtopoulou 2000:270,275,277. 15 For pottery, jewellery, obsidian and honey-flint blades, stone vessels etc.: Perles and

Vitelli, 1999:97-98,100-102,106. Perles 2001:22,202,221,223,286-287. The vessel from Elateia was found in the topsoil, but there are no further details: Supra 2.5:204. pi. 69, g, 1.

16 Supra 8.3:646, figs. 7,9. 17 Gallis 1979: 66-69; id. 1982:58; Perles 2001:274-276; Triantaphyllou 2008:150. Stratouli

et alii 2010:98-101. 18 Supra 9.4: 292, fig. 6. Sotiriadis also mentions two burials in Elateia/Gekas supra 2.3.1:

53-54. 2.3.2:136, 2.3.4:307- 2.3.5:69. Supra 2.5:163, pi. 50. Psimogiannou 2008:37-38,41, 99~ 100,137, fig. 3.17; Papathanassiou 2009:617-628; Papathanassiou, Zachou and Richards 2009: 223-234.

19 AO 25,1970 Chron. 237.

FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE LATE BRONZE AGE 3 9 9

nearest sites are those in Melidoni (EHI, EH III) and Atalanti/Agios Nikolaos (EH III).20 At Atalanti a tumulus has recently been found with burial pithoi and Agia Marina/Kalyvia pottery.21 At Tragana/islet of Mitrou a surface find consisting of a few sherds and plundered graves was found and part of an EH II settlement with structural remains, pits and open spaces was also discovered at Proskynas/Rachi.22 Three sites dating to the Middle Bronze Age have been located: Alpenus/Psylopyrgos (MH grey and yellow Minyan ware), Rengini/Paliokastra (MH) and Tachtali.23 The MH material in Locris comes mainly from graves, scanty structural remains and the settlement of Sotiriadis and a tumulus excavation in the Boeotian river basin of Cephisus. The extensive remains of a MH settlement recently excavated on the islet of Mitrou/Tragana have added to our local knowledge of the period.24

In the Trojan war, according to Homer's Iliad 2.531-535, lesser Aias, son of Oileus, was the leader of the Locrians who lived in the towns of Cynus, Opus, Calliarus, Bessa, Scarphe, Augeae, Tarphe and Thronium. Despite the vast amount of research which has been done on the subject to date, scholars studying ancient Locris still face a significant challenge in matching the names of the towns mentioned in Homer's works to the towns found in the area; such towns include Scarphe, Augeae, Tarphe and Thronium, which are located in the territory of Epicnemidian Locris, the homeland of Aias. Nevertheless, LH pottery has been observed at three sites: Alpenus/ Psylopyrgos (LH I/LHII?, LHIIIA-B), Rengini/Paliokastra (LH?) and Tachtali (LH).25

Research into the Late Bronze Age in the area has focused on rescue exca­vations of chamber tomb cemeteries to the west of Mt. Callidromus and to the south in the "Phocian Corridor" near or in the Dipotamos valley. In Cnemis, at the Agnanti/ Kritharia site, a LH IIIA-PG cemetery was exca­vated back in the 1970s.26 The bulk of the pottery belongs to LH IIIC. Finds

20 GAMS 467, GAC 73. GAC 71. Supra 9.3: figs. 9, u. 21 Pottery of the type-site of Agia Marina/Kalyvia (modem Agia Paraskevi): 2.3.9:163.

2.3.10:205.2.3.11:211, 270. P-T: 12. GAMS: no. 456. Supra 9.3:20-21, fig. 16b. GAC 61. Supra 10,2: 817,819. Papakonstantinou forthcoming e.

22 Kramer-Hajos 2005:173,190-191, tab. 6a, 6b, 6d; Zachou 2009. 23 GAMS, 138-139. GAC, 264. Pritchett 5.167. Supra 18. 24 Supra 2.3.3:142-144. 2.3.4: 402-404. 2.3.6:93-96,127-128. 2.3.9:160-165. 2.3.10: 2io-2n.

2.301: 254-258, 271-272. AD 34,1979 Chron. 186. Dakoronia 1987b: 55-64. Supra 21.1:167,173, 190-197.

25 GAC 74. Supra: 22.2. Supra: 18. For the PG/G material: AD 1963 Chron. 144; 1964 Chron. 242; 1972 Chron. 330; 1973 Chron. 280. Papakonstantinou and Sipsi 2009:1029-1042.

26 Supra: 22,235-237. Supra 21: uo.

400 SOFIA DIMAKI

include bronze pins and fibulae, a steatite bead and buttons, a bone pin and a bronze, iron and gold ring. Other discoveries in this area have also been mentioned. One was reported by a local resident in 1957, who claimed to have found a sword with an engraved spiral on the ridge at the Ai-Lias site. It was taken to Athens and, after examination by Marinatos and Kon-toleon, was dated to 1450 BC.27 Ai-Lias is a conical eminence beside the Dipotamos River and is clearly visible, even from the national Athens-Lamia highway. The remains of dry-built concentric walls indicate the existence of fortifications. On examining the site, which is covered with thick veg­etation, especially on the northern side, stones were found on the sur­face, suggesting the possible existence of destroyed walls. Coarse pottery was also found there. In the fields to the south and west of the eminence, there is sparse Roman pottery. These characteristics are strong indications that the sword was actually found elsewhere, maybe in the cemetery of Kritharia. The other site is Tachtali, a strategic location between Epicne­midian Locris and the "Phocian Corridor" where EH, MH and LH sherds are mentioned. The Kritharia cemetery and the settlement of Tachtali are 3 kilometres apart, which weaken the assumption that the two sites were connec ted . 2 8 , -

The sites in the Dipotamos valley and also closer to Zeli and Kalapodi do not belong to the Epicnemidian Locris region but are particularly inter­esting. On the eastern side of the Dipotamos River at Golemi/Agios Geor-gios, on the north side of the hill, a cemetery dating to LH IIB-LIIIC/Sub-Mycenaean has been partially excavated.29 Recently, a new tomb was found at the top of the hill, about 400 m from the old tombs. It potentially expands the southeast boundaries of the cemetery and indicates its vast extent. MH grey Minyan pottery was observed northwest of the cemetery. The whole area, which lies on the limestone formation (Aspossara), has abundant PG/G cist graves and C/H pithos burials.30 Southeast of the EN settlement of the Agios Vlassis site is a low mound located on the Atalanti-Levadeia road.

27 The sword was kept in the Archaeological Museum of the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens. Papanagiotou 1971:285-286. Papanagiotou PHTH 3,29-30.

28 Supra 21,1:110. 29 AD 40,1985:169-170, pi. 57; 43,1988:225-226, pi. 126; 44,1989:170-171, pi. 102; 46,1991:

193-194. pi. 83; 47.1992: 207-208; 51,1996: 322-323; 65, 2010. Mountjoy 1999, 809, 812, n. 5. Supra 23.2,105.

30 Palyvos 2001:73, digital soil model and lithological map of the area: £x-2.i and 2 . iA . AD 65,2010; 66,2011.

FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE LATE BRONZE AGE 401

There are two cemeteries near Zeli: Gvela and Agios Georgios, dating to LIIIC and LIIB-IIIC respectively.31 Finally, in Kalapodi, two more cemeter­ies are located at Kokalia (Dalianis/Bakandritsos plot) and Vagia, dating to LHIIB-LHIIIAi and LH IIIA2 respectively.32 The tombs at Kokalia produced rich finds, indicating their elite status. The distance between these cemeter­ies and Zeli/Agios Georgios is less than 900 meters, so it is possible that they belonged to the same settlement. The sanctuary of Apollo at Agioi Apostoloi Kalapodi (or the Abae oracle, according to a new interpretation) produced a LHIIIC-PG pottery sequence.33 Kalapodi is in the middle of the area and appears to be the site of a settlement that, at least during the Middle Helladic to Late Bronze/Early Iron Age, combined an important Post-Palatial cult centre with tombs in the cemeteries of Kokalia, Vagia, Zeli/Agios Georgios, within a radius of less than 900 m.34 It may also have had close connections with other settlements such as Zeli/ Gvela, Golemi/Agios Georgios, possibly Tachtali, Kritharia and Exarchos and others in Boeotia and Euboea.35

We should not consider Epicnemidian Locris separately, but rather treat the whole Locris area as a unit in archaeological terms. As we pointed out earlier, this region, which extends to the east coast, is dominated by a moun­tainous landscape with limited arable land scattered along small valleys.36 This diverse landscape, with its continuities and discontinuities, played an important role in the development of human/environment interaction.

31 AD 41,1986: Bi, 68, pi. 68. Supra 8, 809. Supra 23.2,102. AD 32,1977:104, pi. 67; 33,1978: 139. pl- 47; 34.1979:186, pi. 62; 35,1980: B-i, 240-242, pi. 103; 40,1985:171,173; 53,1998. Supra 8, 809, 812, n. 6, 7. Supra 21:100, nearest neighbour model fig. 5.1, settlement-cemetery relations fig- 5-4-

32 AD 53,1998: 394-395. Supra 23. 2, 93-97. Dakoronia 2007: 59-62. Dimaki and Papa-georgiou forthcoming; AD 35,1980: B-i, 242-244, pl. 104. Five new tombs have recently been excavated: AD 66,2011. Supra 21.1:99.

33 Jacob-Felsh 1996:1-213; Periphereia 1:157-162; Felsh Periphereia 1:163-170; 2001:193-199. DAI 77,2006:77-78; 78,2007:102 abb. 8; 79,2008:109, abb. 5. Livieratou 2009:959-961, fig. 9-12.

34 No trace of EH occupation has yet been found. The MN Neolithic settlement is probably between Agia Irini and the sanctuary, the FN settlement near Vagia, for the MH at the height of Souvala south of the village: Felsh 1996:308; AD 50,1995 Chron. 338. The nearest sites are Hyampolis (EH, LIIIB, GAMS n. 455, GAC n. 60) and Exarchos/Smixi at the Lykoperasmata Pass on the road to Boeotia (EN-PG): AD 34,1979, Chron. 186; 36,1981 Chron. 228; 48,1993 Chron. 213; 51,1996 Chron. 31. Supra 10.2:308.

35 Konstantinidi 2003: 75, 76. According to tab. 2, Elateia and Kalapodi are sites less than 5 km from a river. The same applies to Tachtali, Kritharia and Golemi/Agios Georgios. Zeli/Gvela is within the limits of the proposed distance, fig. 2,3. Supra 21138-139. Bintliff 2008: 218-220.

36 The opposite is the case with grain production in the Cephisus river basin: 75 % to 50 %, which is common in the ancient world: Zachos 1997:71.

402 SOFIA DIMAKI

Natural processes occurring over time, such as eustatic movements or tec­tonic activity, which in some cases destroyed coastal sites such as Kyparissi, Cynus and Scarpheia, changes in sea level that turned peninsulas into islands, as in the case of Atalantonissi, Gaidouronissi and the islet of Mitrou, alluviation and soil erosion due to climate change and land use played a lesser role in the development of human activity in the long term.37 To some extent this geographical heterogeneity influenced the pattern of settlement on coastal plains, valleys as well as on the mountainous areas.

Results based on the evidence provided by old and new finds and exca­vations both at coastal and inland sites indicate that during the Neolithic period there are six EN, thirteen MN and nine LN/FN sites on tells, low hills and, in two cases, in a cave.38 The number of sites that belong to each phase of the Early and Middle Bronze Age (sixteen and nineteen respectively) is unclear due to the incomplete data obtained from the old excavations in the Cephisus River basin of Boeotia and the general reports by the Archae-ologikon Deltion. The number of sites rises to thirty-two in LH.39 Thus there are indications that several sites were newly occupied in the MN, while there appears to have been a decline in the number of sites in the later LN/FN phase which was followed by a gradual increase up to the LH period.40 The west and south of Locris supported the highest density of human set­tlement, although all the sites seem to have shared the same "package" in each period, linked by a network of trade and exchange across their borders. This network was based on a multitude of roads, passes and paths through the Callidromus and Cnemis mountains and also on seafaring. The prehis­toric sites of Locris seem to be on these routes, connecting people, prod­ucts and ideas. They served basic needs: leading to water wells and fields or nearby villages, or were the means of communication with other regions, as documented by imports of exogenous materials and products. The centre point of this network of overland routes leading to the east and southwest

37 Dakoronia 19960!: 43-44; Stiros and Papageorgiou: 1992: 221-224, figs. 3-4. Papadim-itriou and Papadimitriou Periphereia 1:5-6. Palyvos 2001:97. Gaki et alii 1999:109-110. Vbuva-lidis et alii 2010:64-74. Papakonstantinou and Vouvalidis forthcoming. Halstead 1995:15-16. The earthquakes of 426 BC and AD 515 caused tsunami and disasters in the North Euboean and Malian Gulfs which are mentioned by Strabo (1.3.20) and Procopius (Goth. 8.25.16).

38 A MN clay figurine and LN pottery have been respectively found in two caves at Agia Marina and Kolaka.

39 Bintliff 2008: figs. 2,4,12. Bintliff et alii 2006:667-675. 40 Bintliff 1982:107-108.

FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE LATE BRONZE AGE 403

is the Vasilika plateau: The Tabula Peutlngeriana, (Dimosiorema/Vasilika Odos) extends from the Boagrius River through Vasilika and Elateia to the Cephisus River basin and Boeotia. The Vasilika plateau is also connected through Varvas/Zeli to Karya, Agnanti and Atalanti in the east. Several settlements and tombs (Alpenus/Psylopyrgos, Rengini/Paliokastra, Teithro-nium, Modi, Elateia, Tachtali, Agnanti/Kritharia Golemi/Agios Georgios, Zeli/Gvela, Zeli/Agios Georgios, Kalapodi/ Kokalia. Kalapodi/Vagia) are located on these roads and on the Phocian Corridor. Alpenus/Psylopyrgos in the north may be associated with the Kleisoura and Fontana Passes.

Besides the network of roads, the role of sea routes is equally impor­tant.41 In prehistoric times the Euboean Gulf was a route for human move­ment and trade. Evidence of patterns of contact between land, coasts and islands such as Boeotia and northeast Phocis, Thessaly, Euboea, eastern Attica, Ceos, Aegina and the Cyclades is provided by the important coastal settlements in southeastern Locris:42 From Larymna in the southeast to Thermopylae in the north, a line of several coastal sites (Larymna, Halae, Tragana/the islet of Mitrou, Atalanti/Agios Nikolaos, Livanates/Cynus, Meli-doni, Alpenus/Psylopyrgos) can be seen. To the west, the Corinthian Gulf is similarly important as a corridor of communication between the Pelopon­nese, Central and Western Greece and further north to the Adriatic.

Little is known about the intra-settlement patterns of NL/ Bronze Age sites in Locris, mostly because, for various reasons, they have only been par­tially excavated. The inter-settlement patterns reflect interaction and rela­tions via a regional and interregional exchange network. For the Early and Middle Bronze Age, last year's excavations in southeastern Locris provide us with new evidence on settlement remains and social practices.43 Late Bronze Age material derives mostly from grave finds rather than settlement remains.44 Nineteen chamber tomb cemeteries are scattered over the region and some of them indicate elite status, ethnic and social differences both in architecture and burials.45 Nevertheless, new finds show evidence of the existence of a regional ruling elite in the early phases and the rise of local

41 Berg 2007. 42 Lis-Riickl 2011:163-165. 43 Supra: 21.2,17-67,199-217. 44 Supra 21.1: LBA geological location of sites, 120-112, sites from LH-LIIIC figs. 5.5,5.6,5.7,

and 5.8. 45 Dakoronia 1996b: 1167^173. The common type is the chamber tomb, but in Elateia/

Alonaki two other types of tomb have been found: Dimaki Periphereia II: 324; Dakoronia 2004: 185-186; Iezzi 2005; Iezzi 2009:187,189, fig. 11.1.

404 SOFIA DIMAKI

centres. The continuity of occupation at the end of the LIIIC phase and the transition to the Early Iron Age revealed by the sites of Tragana/islet of Mitrou, Livanates/Cynus, Kalapodi and Elateia, have added crucial material to our knowledge and have changed our picture of the Dark Ages in Cen­tral Greece.46 In addition, pottery and background studies provide us with information about social differences, the economy, craft specialisation and indications of a large-scale exchange network that operated in Locris and adjacent areas.47

In conclusion, the patchy evidence that has been brought to light to date has allowed us to "describe the history" of the archaeological landscape of an area which was largely unknown. The most "civilized" parts were actually on or outside the borders, in the Spercheius valley to the north, the Boagrius valley and the Dipotamos valley to the south. Is Epicnemidian Locris a "Waste Land"? The discovery or excavation of old or new prehistoric sites may well lead to further major research projects in an area whose archaeological value has been underestimated and fill the horror vacui of this part of the region. As Levi-Strauss once said:

All human societies have behind them a past of approximately equal length. If we were to treat certain societies as "stages" in the development of certain others, we should be forced to admit that, while something was happening in the latter, nothing or very little was going on in the former. In fact, we are inclined to talk of "peoples with no history". This ellipsis simply means that their history is and will always be unknown to us, not that they actually have no history.48

Despite the lack of evidence, there are indications that Epicnemidian Locris did have "peoples with history" and further research in years to come will reveal more about prehistoric human activity in this area.

46 Supra 32. Deger-Jalkotzy and Dakoronia 1992: 67-71; Lemos 2002: 78-79,108-109,171-172,189,204-205, mapi; Dakoronia 2003b: 48-51; Deger-Jalkotzy 2004:187-188; Van de Moortel and Zachou 2004:44-46. Dakoronia 2006:483-504; Kounouklas 2009: 989-997. Supra 33.8: 954-959,96, figs. 7-10, and for the distribution of LBA-PG sites in East Phocis-Eastem Locris, figs. 1-3. Van de Moortel 2009:370-372. Supra 21:157-159; Deger-Jalkotzy 2009:115-U6; Rutter 2007:292,294-295; Van de Moortel and Zachou forthcoming.

47 Pini Periphereia 1:331-338; Mommsen et alii 2001:343-354. Supra 9.5; Pentedeka et alii 2009:934-935; Vykukal 20u; Supra 38.

4 8 C. Levi-Strauss 1995: <PvXrj xm Iuxopia, EXS6CTEH; rvtotrr), Athens, 29.

This book presents the results of a major project carried out by a t e a m from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and the 14th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquit ies at Lamia. The book gives a full picture of a ex tens ive area of Greece k n o w n as Epicnemidian Locris, on which very little has b e e n studied and published in the past. Its re levance in historical t imes was due to its natural e n v i r o n m e n t and main ly on the pass at Thermopylae , which marked the physical boundary b e t w e e n centra l /nor thern Greece and the south, be ing the scene of repeated conflicts. The book offers a complete picture of what Epicnemidian Locris w a s l ike in the past: its geography, topography, frontiers and the ancient s e t t l ements of the region.

JOSE PASCUAL, Ph.D. (1993), Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, is Professor of Ancient History at that university. He has published monographs and m a n y articles on Anc ient Greek History, including Greece in the Fourth century B.C. From Spartan imperialism to the death of Philip of Macedon ( in Spanish, 1997).

MARIA-FOTEINI PAPAKONSTANTINOU is Director of the 14th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquit ies and Deputy Director of the 24th Ephorate of Byzant ine Antiquit ies of the Greek Ministry of Culture. She has published m a n y articles on the Archaeology of Central Greece and has excavated, for example , the Asclepie ion of Daphnus .

Contributors: Manuel Arjona, Carlos Arteaga, Francisco Arteaga-Manjon-Cabeza, Sofia Dimaki , Adolfo J. D o m i n g u e z , Rosario Garcia, Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Eh" Karantzali, Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika, Jose Pascual, Maria-Foteini Papakonstantinou, Soledad Milan, Maria Moran, Anna Myslowska, Jorge J. Moreno, Ignacio M. Pascual Valdcrrama, Eduardo Sanchez-Moreno and George Zachos.

This book is volume 362 in the series (SYNE SUPPLEMENTS.

ISSN 0169-8958 brill.com/mns-haca