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Stratigraphic Project at Aegina-Kolonna

The stratigraphic project »Aegina-Kolonna« is part of a special research project SCIEM 2000 (»Synchronisation of the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millenium BC«) and since 2010 a cooperative project of the Athens branch office of the OeAI in collaboration with the Department of Classical and Early Aegean Archaeology at the University of Salzburg. The most important aims of the project are:

• the study of the relative chronological sequence of the Bronze Age (EH III to LH I) settlement phases of Aegina Kolonna
• synchronisation with important sites on the Greek mainland (for example Lerna), the Cyclades (Thera and Melos) and Crete
• the identification of imports and the determination of their first appearance in Kolonna
• the definition of the locally produced pottery and its distribution (geographical and chronological) outside Aegina
• ¹⁴C-dating of the various settlement phases and phases of pottery development

The fine stratigraphic sequence from the Early Bronze Age III up until the Late Bronze Age I could be investigated and confirmed by new excavations in the centre of the prehistoric settlement of Kolonna between 2002 and 2010. In the course of excavations, a Late Bronze Age pottery kiln and, directly beneath it, a large, multi-room building dating to the Middle Bronze Age was brought to light; the structure was very likely the seat of the local élite. In this building, which provided evidence of numerous construction phases, large amounts of high-quality local and imported Cretan pottery were found, as well as locally produced drinking and cooking vessels in Cretan style. Based on current knowledge, the erection of the building took place at the end of Middle Bronze Age I, approximately contemporary with the first appearance of Cretan imports in Aegina-Kolonna. The unusual size of the building, the finds discovered within it, and the archaeozoological analyses reveal that the local élite population of Aegina-Kolonna aligned their life style with that of Minoan Crete.

The working out of the Middle Bronze Age stratigraphy and the processing of the finds using statistical analysis is currently not yet completed. Until now, it has been possible to define eight differing phases of ceramic development, which conform well to the sequence of the settlement phases.

Financing

2000–2010: Special Research-Project SCIEM 2000

Excavations 2002–2010: Institute of Aegean Prehistory and University of Salzburg

Archaeozoological, -botanical and anthropological investigations: Institute of Aegean Prehistory

Cooperation

• G. Forstenpointner, A. Galik, G. Weissengruber (Project Aegina-Kolonna, Subsistence and More: Archaeozoology), University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Institute for Anatomy
• U. Thanheiser (Project Aegina-Kolonna, Subsistence and More: Archaeobotany), VIAS
• F. Kanz, K. Grossschmid (Project Aegina-Kolonna, Subsistence and More: Anthropology), Medical University of Vienna
• E. Kiriatzi (scientific examination of the prehistoric pottery), Fitch Laboratory, British School at Athens
• T. Karkanas, Administration of Greek antiquities, Höhlenephorie
• E.-M. Wild (¹⁴C-Analysis), VERA-Laboratory, University of Vienna
• M. Lindblom (early- und middle Bronze Age pottery), University of Uppsala
• T. Carter (Obsidian investigations), McMaster University, California

Bibliography (selected)

• W. Gauß, Minos auf Ägina. Beobachtungen zu den Beziehungen Äginas zu Kreta, in: E. Czerny – I. Hein – H. Hunger – D. Melman – A. Schwab (Hrsg.), Timelines. Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 149, Bd. 2 (Leiden 2006) 435–446.
• W. Gauß, Ägina Kolonna in frühmykenischer Zeit, in: E. Alram-Stern – G. Nightingale – A. E. Bächle (Hrsg.), Keimelion. Elitenbildung und elitärer Konsum von der mykenischen Palastzeit bis zur Homerischen Epoche: Akten des internationalen Kongresses vom 3. bis 5. Februar 2005 in Salzburg = The Formation of Elites and Elitist Lifestyles from Mycenaean Palatial Times to the Homeric Period, VMykKomm 27 (Wien 2007) 163–172
• W. Gauß – R. Smetana, Aegina Kolonna. The Stratigraphic Sequence of the SCIEM 2000 Project, in: F. Felten – W. Gauß – R. Smetana (Hrsg.), Middle Helladic Pottery and Synchronisms. Proceedings of the International Workshop held at Salzburg October 31st – November 2nd, 2004, Contributions to the Chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean (Wien 2007) 57–80.
• W. Gauß – R. Smetana, Aegina-Kolonna in the Middle Bronze Age, in: A. Philippa-Touchais – G. Touchais – S. Voutsaki – J. C. Wright (Hrsg.), Mesohelladika. La Grèce continentale au Bronze Moyen. Actes du colloque international organisé par l’École française d’Athènes, en collaboration avec l’American School of Classical Studies at Athens et le Netherlands Institute in Athens, Athènes, 8–12 mars 2006, BCH Suppl. 52 (Athen 2010) 165–174.
• E.-M. Wild – W. Gauß – G. Forstenpointner – M. Lindblom – R. Smetana – P. Steier – U. Thanheiser – F. Weninger, 14C-Dating of the Early to Late Bronze Age Stratigraphic Sequence of Aegina Kolonna, Greece, in: M. B. H. Breese – L. E. Rehn – C. Trautmann (Hrsg.), Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Rome, Italy, September 14–19, 2008, Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research, Section B (Rom 2010) 1013–1021.
• A. Galik – S. Zohmann – G. Forstenpointner – G. Weissengruber – W. Gauß, Subsistence and more in Middle Bronze Age Aegina-Kolonna: Exploitation of Marine Resources, in: A. Philippa-Touchais – G. Touchais – S. Voutsaki – J. C. Wright (Hrsg.), Mesohelladika. La Grèce continentale au Bronze Moyen. Actes du colloque international organisé par l’École française d’Athènes, en collaboration avec l’American School of Classical Studies at Athens et le Netherlands Institute in Athens, Athènes, 8–12 mars 2006, BCH Suppl. 52 (Athen 2010) 743–751.

Contact

Walter Gauß