AYIA TRIADA EXCAVATION - UPDATE

The Eforia for Speleology at Athens in collaboration with SEEP has conducted excavations at the Ay. Triada cave between June 18-22. The team members were Lina, Fotini, Fanis, Daisuke (aka Mega) and Zarko. Our results, although modest, have superseded our expectations.

The goal of this field season was to preliminarily examine the cave by opening test trenches to determine whether any undisturbed stratigraphy of cultural layers exists in the cave. We were able to open two test trenches and to excavate them to the bedrock. Our expectations were confirmed by finding undisturbed cultural layers in one of the trenches (trench 2) as well as several in situ features. In this respect, the season was a success. The material recovered from the trenches belongs to different chronological periods (some of them attested in southern Euboea) but is mostly prehistoric of which the material from the later Neolithic phases constitutes the bulk of the pottery and lithic finds. Some of this material is the earliest found in Karystia thus far, lending further support to the importance of this cave site for understanding the earliest habitation in this part of Greece.

We will now begin the study of the excavated material and other data and we will hopefully produce preliminary reports early in 2008. We will also begin the preparations for a larger scale excavation of the cave in 2008.

Below you can see some of the photos of the dig and the crew on and off work. If you are interested in contributing to the Ay. Triada Excavation Project (ATEP), please contact us at ztankosic@gmail.com.