Site details

Vati: Passia

PK	C1395
TITLE	Vati: Passia
WGS84	36.075685° N, 27.83664° E
Accuracy	50 m.

LAT/LON	36.075685, 27.83664
LON/LAT	27.83664, 36.075685

DMS

36° 4' 32.466" N

27° 50' 11.904" E

W3W	contributes, bamboozled, dozing
UTM	35 S, 575333, 3992667
EGSA87	845389, 3998873

Elevation m	273
Elevation feet	895.7
Region	Dodecanese
Subregion	Rhodes

GENERAL SITE TYPE Chamber Tomb

TYPE

1.    Cem.   Dietz [1984],     'The four graves excavated by Kinch were localized S and SW of the hill top on a plateau just below the top ... '
2.    Cem.   Georgiadis [2003], 38    'The Passia cemetery (B36) is at the top of the hill with extensive views ..., consisting of four tombs in use ... '
3.    Chamber Tomb.   Simpson [1981], 198    'A cemetery of chamber tombs was also investigated by Kinch at Passia, about 3 km. west of Vati, ...'

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. LH IIIA2: (1375 BC - 1320 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 198, 'LH IIIA2-C'
    b.    Dietz [1984]: 98, ' ... grave 1 was in use in the LH IIIA 2 (/early B) period ... '
    c.    Georgiadis [2003]: 240, 'III A2-C'

2. LH IIIB: (1320 BC - 1190 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 198, 'LH IIIA2-C'
    b.    Dietz [1984]: 104, 'I have argued that the whole group might be dated within one single phase which, as a preliminary proposal, I term late LH IIIB.'
    c.    Georgiadis [2003]: 240, 'III A2-C'

3. LH IIIC: (1190 BC - 1060 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 198, 'LH IIIA2-C'
    b.    Dietz [1984]: 98, ' ... grave 1 was in use in the LH IIIA 2 (/early B) period and in the early- middle/late IIIC phase.'
    c.    Dietz [1984]: 100, 'The burial in Passia grave 2 should thus be dated early in the LH IIIC period - ... '
    d.    Georgiadis [2003]: 240, 'III A2-C'

NOTE

1. Placing this cemetery is something of a puzzle. Kinch's sketch map is of little utility The constraints (from Dietz [1984] 21 are:

A. On the central ridge of Rhodes
B. Palaekastro ridge is opposite to the S
C. The sea can be seen on E and W
D. Prophilia ridge is seen to the N
E. A little closer to Arnitha than to Vati
F. On a hill with a plateau just below the summit.

Constraint A immediately limits us to the area around 36.07 N, 27.84 E. This is promising because Palaekastro ridge (F5327) does loom over this area on the S and Prophilia ridge is visible to the N. This area is the only place between Vati and Arnitha that the sea can be seen on both sides of the island. It is a bit closer, by road, to Arnitha (4598 m.) than to Vati (4910 m.). Just in this region, to N of the road, is a sprawling hill with adjoining lower hills extending towards the SE and SW. I have placed the mark at the top of the SW extension of this hill which appears to be about 20 m. lower in elevation than the hill top (290 m.). This also seems to accord with the photograph of the site in Georgiadis [2003] 289, Fig. 5.41. The error radius is set to 50 m.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Dietz [1984]: Dietz, Søren. Lindos IV, 1; Excavations and Surveys in Southern Rhodes: The Mycenaean Period. The National Museum of Denmark, Archaeological Historical Series (22:1). 1984, 'Passia, Vati', pg. 21. Online here.

2. Georgiadis [2003]: Georgiadis, Mercourios. The South-Eastern Aegean in the Mycenaean Period; Islands, landscape, death and ancestors. BAR International Series 1196. 2003., '', pg. 38. Online here.

3. Simpson [1981]: Simpson, Richard Hope. Mycenaean Greece. Park Ridge, New Jersey: Noyes Press, 1981., 'Vati: Passia', pg. 198. Online here.