Citadel Excavation

Building K (2002-2008)

Introduction

The 2002-2008 excavation campaigns focused on the northwestern part of the citadel in the area between the complex of Building N and the Storerooms Λ of Megaron M, just to the NE of the Lion Gate; this oblong area (approx. 26m x 7.5m) was divided in three sectors and was overlaid with a 2x2m grid (established by means of a Total Station and Differential GPS). A Late Mycenaean building was discovered therein (Building K), which was a single-story, oblong structure (approx. 26m x 4m) attached to the Storerooms Λ of Megaron M, opening to the north onto a small (3.5m x 5m) open-air courtyard and to the west onto a wide ramp which gave access to the North Cyclopean wall and the adjacent courtyard. Building K was divided internally by partition cross-walls into a row of three rooms (storerooms and a kitchen area, as indicated by the associated finds and the soil micromorphology) with floors at different terrace levels following the descending slope to the north, and a low staircase connecting the two northernmost rooms. The clay floor of the building, which sealed a deep foundation fill (LH IIIA2/B1), was found covered with a thick ash destruction layer (final LH IIIB2). The successive and superimposed, eroded earthen floors of the open-air courtyard were laid upon a foundation fill which sealed off an underlying deep rubble fill of loose rocks and chips produced from the foundation and construction of the North Cyclopean wall (LH IIIA2). Building K appears to have been a rather temporary extension or addition to the Storerooms Λ of Megaron M: it was built on the foundation platform of an earlier phase apparently in a hasty, careless fashion and with re-use of earlier building material soon after the first destruction horizon (early LH IIIB2), at a time when the nearby palatial storerooms lay badly damaged and storage space was desperately needed until their full repair and restoration. Building K was totally destroyed at the very end of LH IIIB2, during the second destruction horizon, clearly by earthquake (to infer from the seismic imprint on the wavy outline of the long western wall) combined with a subsequent conflagration (as indicated by the thick ash destruction fill and abundant remains of burnt wood and sherds). This short-lived building was filled-in, never to be re-used again (as opposed to the adjacent Storerooms Λ and wall casemates of Megaron M), thus forming an important LH IIIB2 closed context sealing at places an undisturbed MH-LH IIIB stratigraphy.

 Room 1

The southernmost room of Building K was uncovered in Sector III; Room 1 (8.9m x 4.2m) is enclosed and delineated by the southern thick (1.60–1.75m) exterior wall of the building (Wall B), with a Mycenaean drain channel (D) running through its foundation; the western long and thin (0.60m) exterior wall of the building (Wall A); the western thick exterior wall of Storerooms Λ; and a partition cross-wall (Wall Γ) whose stone foundation barely survives on its west end. The clay floor of Room 1, which was entered from the west, was found covered with a thick (0.50m) ash layer containing shattered vases, burnt wood, small artifacts, color pigments, shell and animal bones, fresco fragments, and very small pieces of fine brownish-red clay accidentally baked in the fire that destroyed the building –possibly dissolved fragments of Linear B tablets. Small finds from the destruction layer included many zoomorphic and anthropomorphic Mycenaean figurines; lead and other metal sheets; stone vase fragments; a partly preserved jewelry mold; wall fresco fragments; burnt wood and bones, shell; obsidian flakes and blades; traces of color pigments (yellow, orange, red, and blue color); a partly preserved boar's tusk; intact pots found in situ and containing organic remains –samples of which were sent for microscopic and chemical analysis– and abundant pottery, predominantly of the LH IIIB period. This partially disturbed destruction layer, datable to LH IIIB2 on diagnostic ceramic evidence, was sealed off at places by the fallen debris (collapsed roof and melted mud-brick wall superstructure) in the fire that destroyed the building.

The central part of the clay floor was carefully laid upon a leveling course of slabs which crowned and sealed off a deep foundation fill and several rubble-filled bedrock cavities; the edges of the floor, however, alongside the exterior walls rested either directly on flattened bedrock outcrops (eastern part) or upon a wide (1.60m) rubble foundation platform running N–S and projecting inward by 1m underneath the floor (western part), bearing the stone sockle of the western long exterior wall of the building. This type of construction (wall platform and floor) is quite common in many other contemporary buildings at Mycenae. The western exterior wall of Building K, however, is only partly founded directly on the wide platform; at places it rests upon the foundation fill of the floor (cf. below) which covers extensive parts of the platform, thus dissociating chronologically and structurally the poorly-built, western exterior wall of Building K from the well-built, wide platform (foundation of an earlier building phase).

Embedded in the 20cm-thick clay floor layer were found small fresco fragments, parts of Mycenaean figurines, obsidian flakes, Mycenaean 'buttons' (cloth eights), color pigments, shell, animal bones, and diagnostic LH IIIA2/B1 sherds which provide a t.p.q. for the construction of the floor. The underlying foundation fill produced mixed MH-LH IIIA2/B1 pottery and a heterogeneous assemblage of various finds, apparently coming from earlier disturbed layers and debris brought from other destroyed buildings nearby and dumped there, mixed with rubble and filled with brought soil to form the foundation of the new building. The foundation fill contained, among other finds, a great number of fresco fragments decorated with blue, red, and yellow color bands and tri-curved patterns, remains of burnt wooden beams, obsidian blades, cores and flakes, stone tools and vases, Mycenaean figurines and beads, color pigments, shell and animal bones. A LH pottery deposit was located in the foundation of the western wall of the room; furthermore, the excavation of two deep bedrock cavities under the foundation fill revealed a clear stratification of successive undisturbed layers of earlier periods (LH I/II, MH, Neolithic).

A Geometric pit-grave (1.17m x 0.46m) lined with vertically placed slabs (similar to other such graves found in the vicinity) was later built on top of the western part of Wall B, long after the Mycenaean building went out of use; the grave contained the poorly preserved skeleton of a young person laid in a contracted position on the paved floor with the head oriented to the west, but lacked any funerary goods (kterismata).

Room 2

The excavation of the central sector of the area (Sector II) revealed traces of Tsountas' Π-shaped test trenches dug in the 1890s, which were carefully cleared off along with all mixed and disturbed deposits. The long western exterior wall (Wall A) of the building and its foundation platform were found covered at places by collapsed, melted and burnt mud-brick superstructure, rubble, and roof tiles. Room 2 (5.35m x 4.2m), which was also entered from the west, is defined by two fragmentary partition walls, cross-walls Γ and Δ, dividing it from Room 1 to the south and from the adjacent Room 3 to the north, respectively. A partially preserved undisturbed destruction fill was associated with this room, and a large jar was found in situ in the context of this destruction fill, still containing organic remains (wine residue). Small finds from this sector included many zoomorphic and anthropomorphic Mycenaean figurines; a Mycenaean bead of blue-mass and stone 'buttons'; a marble finial of a sword-hilt or scepter; obsidian blades and core fragments; metal objects (including two ancient pottery repair clamps still attached to potsherds); stone grinders; a large number of clay loom-weights; fresco fragments; color pigment; a slab bearing an engraved mason's mark and samples of waterproof bonding lime plaster (plesia); a Hellenistic coin; shell, burnt and unburned animal bones; roof tiles and large quantities of pottery, mainly of the LH IIIB period.

Beneath and encased by the foundation platform of the western exterior wall were found two adjacent shallow bedrock cavities, on either side of cross-wall Γ, both sealed off by an overlaying Mycenaean pottery deposit: the southern cavity (1.10m x 0.80m) contained a MH burial which was furnished with an obsidian core, two stone scrapers, matt-painted and Minyan pottery, and the skeleton of a small animal, apparently the remains of a funerary ritual offering or animal sacrifice; the northern cavity (0.40m x 0.80m) was filled with a thick layer of ash and burnt soil containing burnt wood and sherds, most likely remains of a funerary pyre associated with the adjacent MH burial.

Room 3

In the northern sector (Sector I), by the North Cyclopean wall, the mixed surface fill was cleared off to reveal the remains of the northernmost room of Building K. Room 3 (5.40m x 4.2m) terminates at the thick (1.60–1.75m) northern exterior wall of the building (Wall Z) which runs E-W between the long western exterior wall of the building (Wall A) and the western exterior wall of Storerooms Λ, at a distance of approximately 3m from the Cyclopean wall. The area between Wall Z and the North Cyclopean wall appears to have been a small open-air courtyard with earthen floor, covered by the stone pile debris of Wall Z which has apparently collapsed downhill to the north. Room 3 must have been entered from the north, through this open-air courtyard. A partially preserved floor, made of pressed earth and clay (0.20-0.35m thick) stretches between the two parallel exterior walls in Room 3, bearing clear traces of fire and covered with a thick destruction fill which produced LH IIIB2 pottery and contained well-preserved remains of collapsed mud-brick superstructure encased in wooden framework. The clay floor was laid upon a leveling course of slabs which sealed off an undisturbed thick foundation fill. The foundation fill contained small and medium-size field stones placed to fill the cavities of the bedrock outcrops and level off the ground. The stone sockle of Wall A (0.60m thick) was founded directly upon a low and wide (1.60m) rubble platform which runs parallel to the wall and projects inward by approximately 1m, underneath the edge of the clay floor and its foundation fill. The western part of Room 3 is cut off by means of a corner partition wall (Wall E) and turned into a narrow blind room (Room 4: 2.30m x 1.30m) entered from the north, most probably a low staircase leading up to Room 2 whose floor is raised by 0.50-0.60 m.

Small finds from this sector included both artifacts and ecofacts, among which many zoomorphic and anthropomorphic Mycenaean figurines; Mycenaean stone, bone or clay beads and stone 'buttons'; obsidian blades or core fragments; metal objects (including a lead ring); stone grinders and clay loom-weights; several small Mycenaean fresco fragments; samples of waterproof bonding lime plaster (plesia); a Hellenistic coin; shell, burnt and unburned animal bones; roof tiles, and abundant pottery, mainly of the LH IIIB period, including cookware (cooking pots, frying pans and grill clay bases).

Courtyard

A small (3.5m x 5m) open-air courtyard extended between the northern end of Building K (Room 3) and the North Cyclopean wall. This courtyard gave access to Room 3 from the north and was approached via the wide ramp running alongside Building K. The successive and superimposed, eroded earthen floors of the open-air courtyard, which were covered by the stone pile debris of the northern exterior wall of Building K (Wall Z), were laid upon a foundation fill which sealed off an underlying deep rubble fill of loose rocks and chips produced from the foundation and construction of the North Cyclopean wall (LH IIIA2).

 Ramp

To the west of Wall A and at a depth of –2.60m (approx. 0.50m deeper than the floor level of Room III) another pressed earth floor was unearthed, which appeared to be a road pavement rather than a room floor, most likely an access road to the northern Cyclopean Wall and to the small courtyard.

 Conclusion

It so appears that the 13th century BC, and especially its latter half, was marked by intense and frequent seismic activity in certain regions of mainland Greece, which caused severe structural damage, local fires, disorganization and disarray, immediate allocation of manpower for costly and energy-consuming repairs, and hence disruption of economic life and trade. At Mycenae, several well-defined and stratified closed contexts, successive repairs and modifications, construction and destruction layers define at least two major LH IIIB destruction horizons: one in the transition of LH IIIB1/B2 (ca. 1240 BC) and another one towards the end of LH IIIB2 (ca. 1200/1180 BC). The former, which is defined by a number of contemporary destruction layers all linked by qualitative and quantitative association (i.e. containing groups of identical vases), was apparently caused by severe earthquakes, as indicated by the type and extent of structural damages (collapsed buildings, walls curved or shifted off from their foundations), by the spatial distribution of partial and total damages inside and outside the citadel, cases of human victims buried under collapsed debris (Panagia I , Plakes), abandonment and repairs. A significant fault measuring some 2-4.5km in length, 1.5m in width and a maximum vertical displacement of 3m has been located to the east/northeast of the citadel, showing traces of multiple reactivations in the past. It was perhaps the same local seismic activity that caused considerable damage at Tiryns in ca. 1240 BC as well (but not at Midea?). Roughly contemporary is also the destruction by earthquake of Troy VIh, caused by the activation of a different fault in Anatolia (a common seismic phenomenon in the Eastern Mediterranean). As to the second destruction horizon (ca. 1200/1190 BC), the correlation of the evidence from Mycenae and other regional and extra-regional centers indicates intense local seismic activity in the Argolid, well-documented at Tiryns and Midea (human victim), but until now less clearly visible at Mycenae (localized and limited destructions by fire and earthquake). Building K at Mycenae appears to have been a rather temporary extension or addition to the Storerooms Λ of Megaron M: it was built on the foundation platform of an earlier phase apparently in a hasty, careless fashion and with re-use of earlier building material soon after the first destruction horizon, at a time when the nearby palatial storerooms lay badly damaged and storage space was desperately needed until their full repair and restoration. This building was totally destroyed at the very end of LH IIIB2, during the second destruction horizon, clearly by earthquake and fire. This short-lived building was filled-in, never to be re-used again, whereas some of the nearby Storerooms Λ and wall casemates of Megaron M were partially restored and occupied on a smaller scale during the LH IIIC period when they were eventually abandoned.