In the context of this year’s excavation period within the five-year research program in the Kleidi area in Samikon (in the Greek region of Elis), which concluded at the end of September, significant data about the monumental structure discovered in 2022 through geophysical survey, came to light.
The research project, aiming to investigate the topography of the area and locate the sanctuary of Poseidon and the port of Samikon, is a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Elis and the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, under the direction of Dr. Birgitta Eder and Dr. Erofili Kollias.
During the excavation, a part of the building was uncovered, revealing that its dimensions are larger than originally estimated from the geophysical survey. The total length of the structure is estimated to be around 28 meters, and its width exceeds 9 meters. It is a temple from the 6th century BCE with two construction phases.
According to recent evidence, it appears that this temple was a place of worship within the famous sanctuary of Poseidon, an important religious center of the Amphictiony of the cities of Triphylia, as mentioned by Strabo in his Geography.
It was built in the Archaic period but seems to have been reconstructed during the second half of the 4th to the early 3rd century BCE and consists of two main halls, as well as a smaller one in the northwest (rear).
The hall, initially interpreted as a pronaos, turned out to be one of the rooms of the cella, in whose axis the bases of two columns from an Archaic colonnade were found. Therefore, it can be assumed that there were similar columns in the second hall as well. In any case, the temple’s plan is unusual, without a precise parallel.
The function of the two main halls remains unclear. Perhaps two deities were worshipped, or the second hall could have served as the seat of the Amphictiony. During the temple’s reconstruction, tiles from the old roof were reused, evenly placed as a substrate for the new pavement.
The archaeological research is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation and the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, while geophysical investigations are carried out by a research team from the University of Kiel and geoarchaeological research by researchers from the University of Mainz.
In the coming years, the team plans to continue investigating the site to obtain more evidence of the extent and shape of the sanctuary.
Sources
- Share on:
Discover more from LBV Magazine English Edition
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Quantum particles observed for the first time to have mass only when moving in one direction
An international team of scientists has achieved a remarkable breakthrough in the study of quantum materials thanks to an experiment conducted in Florida. Using the world’s most powerful magnet, they…
New Observations from the James Webb Telescope Confirm There’s “Something” Accelerating the Universe’s Expansion, but We Don’t Know What It Is
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) delve into a mystery that has puzzled cosmologists for more than a decade: the so-called Hubble tension, which refers to the…
The Extraction of Mazarrón II, the Phoenician Ship That Lay Underwater Off the Coast in Southeastern Spain, Is Complete
Mazarrón II, a Phoenician shipwreck found off the coast of Murcia in southeastern Spain, represents a true treasure for maritime archaeology as the most complete ancient vessel discovered in the…
The Bar Kokhba Revolt Against the Romans in 131 CE Was Initially Led by Jewish-Origin Legionaries
A recent study led by Haggai Olshanetsky, a researcher at the University of Warsaw, has changed the historical perception of the Bar Kokhba Revolt or Second Jewish Revolt (sometimes also…
Jeannette Rankin, the First Woman Elected to the U.S. Congress, Voted Against Entering Both World Wars
The National Statuary Hall is a semicircular room in the U.S. Capitol originally built to host sessions of the House of Representatives (the lower chamber of Congress) but repurposed in…
14 Kilograms of Roman Chainmail Found Near the Fortress of Bonn in Germany Were Used to Repair Damaged Armor
Near the site of the ancient Roman legionary fortress in Bonn, Germany, archaeologists uncovered a 14-kilogram cache of chainmail, dated to the 2nd–3rd centuries AD. The remnants of the armor…
The Oldest Bowstrings in Europe, 7,000 Years Old, Found in a Cave in Granada, Spain
A recent study led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has revealed the sophistication of Neolithic archery equipment on the Iberian Peninsula (5300–4900 BCE). The analysis of remains found…
Vestiges of the Oldest Human Rituals in Asia and a Totem-Rock Found in a Galilean Cave
In the depths of Galilee in modern-day Israel, an unprecedented archaeological discovery is shedding new light on the earliest inhabitants of the Asian continent. The Manot Cave, located near the…
Othonoi, the westernmost island of Greece, is the mythical Ogygia from The Odyssey
In the crystal-clear waters of the Ionian Sea, 47 nautical miles east of Italy’s Cape Santa Maria di Leuca, lies Othonoi (Οθωνοί in Greek), an island that blends history, mythology,…
Bismarck Towers: A Monumental Phenomenon Spanning Four Continents
The construction of 184 monuments in honor of Otto von Bismarck between 1869 and 1934 in Germany seems logical. After all, the “Iron Chancellor” was the architect of German unification,…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
