Article · 1933
A Geometric House and a Proto-Attic Votive Deposit
D. Burr and D. J. Thompson
Hesperia 2(4)
A report on excavations on the north slope of the Areiopagos in Athens, publishing a Geometric house, a child's grave and a Proto-Attic votive deposit of the seventh century BC, with catalogue.
Burr presents architectural remains, burials and finds excavated on the north slope of the Areiopagos in Athens. The report moves from an elliptical Geometric house and a child's grave to pottery from the house and the surrounding deposits, then turns to a large Proto-Attic votive deposit and its possible religious context. The finds are published in a catalogue of selected objects, with serial numbers, descriptions, Agora catalogue numbers, measurements and find circumstances where available, and an appendix adds material from 1933, including finds from the foundations of a stoa in Section Epsilon. Burr says that much similar material was omitted.
Architecture
The excavation area had been damaged by later walls, cisterns, cellars and pits. Burr reconstructs the surviving curved walls as one asymmetrical elliptical house, approximately 11 by 5 m, with a central hearth and stone platforms along its sides. She considers the roof and doorway uncertain, and infers that the house stood at least partly above ground until the early seventh century. Floors, a probable hearth, a child's cist grave and successive fillings with Geometric, Protocorinthian and Proto-Attic pottery make up the remains (pp. 543–550).
Dating
For the Geometric pottery Burr distinguishes simple, developed and ripe styles, using grave, house-floor and filling contexts to build a relative sequence. She places the child's grave earlier than the house, and the house's final occupation around the middle of the ninth century under the chronology she discusses. Later wares lay directly on fallen house walls and floors, and she finds the resulting gap difficult to reconcile with the accepted stylistic dating of Geometric pottery (pp. 551–567).
Her table groups Proto-Attic material under Subgeometric, Early Orientalizing, Orientalizing and Light on Dark styles, each with an approximate date range. She cautions that the deposit does not establish the relative chronology of those classes (pp. 626–631).
The votive deposit
The upper deposit held terracottas, shields, plaques, disks and a bronze tripod, together with household pottery and animal bones. Burr identifies distinct Proto-Attic styles and discusses how their shapes, decoration and techniques develop from Geometric traditions and respond to influences from Corinth, the islands and Crete. She also suggests that polychrome terracotta technique reached Attica through Cyprus and Crete (pp. 625–635).
She dates the contents to no later than about 640 BC and estimates that the dumping took place around 640 BC, possibly as late as 630 BC. The shields, horses, vessels and plaques relate, in her reading, to cults of the dead and chthonic deities. For the source she proposes a nearby sanctuary on the north slope, potentially that of the Semnai, with the objects used as filling and dumped around the time of a sanctuary clearance. No sanctuary has been excavated, and she presents the identification as a proposal (pp. 635–640).
What it records
- An elliptical house reconstructed from curved walls measures 11 by 5 m.p. 545
- A patch of burning on the eastern house floor is interpreted as a probable hearth.p. 546
- Burr places the grave earlier than the house, and the pottery in the miscellaneous filling latest in the local Geometric sequence.p. 551
- The small cist grave measured 1.00 by 0.40 m and was cut about 0.20 m below the Geometric house floor.p. 552
- Two Geometric sherds bearing graffiti came from the lower deposit between walls A–A and D–D.p. 563
- 119 pottery disks were scattered through the votive deposit and Area A–C.p. 603
- Burr suggests that polychrome technique reached Attica from Cyprus through Crete.p. 606
- About 33 terracotta shields, 0.09 to 0.27 m in diameter, were found in the votive deposit.p. 609
- A bronze votive tripod was found inside Proto-Attic kantharos No. 201 in the central part of the deposit.p. 621
- Burr dates the deposit's contents no later than about 640 BC and suggests that the dumping occurred around 640 BC, perhaps as late as 630 BC.p. 636
- Burr proposes that the votive deposit may come from a sanctuary of the Semnai near the excavation area.p. 637
Where to read
- Geometric house plan, floors and architectural sequencepp. 545–550
- Child’s grave and Geometric pottery sequencepp. 551–567
- Proto-Attic pottery, styles and techniquespp. 570–635
- Terracotta plaque, shields and figurines from the depositpp. 604–621
- Dating the deposit and proposed relation to the Semnaipp. 635–640
Contents
- Introduction542
- Architecture542
- Pottery and Other Material551
- Geometric551
- Protocorinthian568
- Proto-Attic570
- Discussion of the Proto-Attic Material625
- Technique628
- Shapes629
- Style631
- Chronology635
- Conclusion636
- Appendix621
Objects published here
11- Proto-Attic kantharos, Agora, Votive deposit, P 530, 200, Fig. 51 (p. 589)
- Proto-Attic kantharos with bronze tripod inside, Agora, Votive deposit, P 531, 201, Fig. 52 (p. 589)
- Proto-Attic oinochoe with a rider on horseback, Agora, Trench for wall D–D against the apsidal wall, P 754, 210, Fig. 58 (p. 592)
- Terracotta plaque with a female figure and two snakes, Agora, Above the stone platform at the southeastern end of the house, T 175, 277, Figs. 72–73 (p. 604)
- Terracotta votive shield with concentric bands, Agora, East of Pit I, T 176, 281, Figs. 75–76 (p. 610)
- Terracotta shield with a winged horse and rider, Agora, Southern part of the votive deposit, T 183, 283, Fig. 75 (p. 610)
- Terracotta shield with a six-petal ornament, Agora, Votive deposit, with No. 281, T 181, 287, Fig. 79 (p. 612)
- Four-horse team with driver, Agora, Southern part of the votive deposit area, T 186, 299, Fig. 82 (p. 615)
- Bearded terracotta rider, Agora, Found with No. 281, T 195, 302, Fig. 83 (p. 616)
- Terracotta horse from a four-horse group, Agora, Votive deposit area, southern end, T 196, 304 A, Figs. 84–85 (p. 617)
- Fragmentary bronze votive tripod, Agora, Inside Proto-Attic kantharos No. 201, B 87, 329, Fig. 87 (p. 621)
People, places and institutions
People
- Semnaiproposed recipients of the deposit
Places
- Areiopagosnorth slope where the house and deposit lay
- Agoracollection holding the excavated material
- Athenscity of the excavation
- Cretecomparison for plaque style and technique
- Eleusiscomparison for graves, pottery and plaques
- Menidicomparison for the votive deposit and offerings
- Kerameikoscomparative Proto-Attic material
- Phaleroncomparative Proto-Attic pottery
- Aeginacomparative pottery and figurines
Also named: Enkomi, Kylon, Epimenides of Crete, American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
Extent pp. 542–640, 92 figs; plans in Figs. 2–3; 338 catalogue entries
Defines Proto-attic, Subgeometric, Early Orientalizing, Orientalizing
Cypro-GeometricModernPotteryFigurinesReligion and CultBurialArchitecture