Site details

Stavros: Polis Cave

PK	C610
TITLE	Stavros: Polis Cave
WGS84	38.439792° N, 20.637871° E
Accuracy	10 m.

LAT/LON	38.439792, 20.637871
LON/LAT	20.637871, 38.439792

DMS

38° 26' 23.2512" N

20° 38' 16.3356" E

W3W	revisits, glean, linguistics
UTM	34 S, 468396.81, 4254674.78
EGSA87	206397, 4259681

Elevation m	9
Elevation feet	29.5
Region	Ionian Islands
Subregion	Ithaca

GENERAL SITE TYPE Cave

TYPE

1.    Artifacts.   Simpson and Dickinson [1979], 186    'Much prehistoric and DA material was excavated in this cave ..., '
2.    Artifacts.   Simpson [1981], 159    '.. to judge by the presence .. of small spears of LH IIIB-C type, and reports that other bronzes of Mycenaean type were found here ...'
3.    Artifacts.   BSA [1934], 53    A variety of bronze tripods and figurines are described, passim, by Ms. Benton.
4.    Cult.   Simpson [1981], 159    'The cave was certainly used as a cult centre in the Geometric period; and the sanctity of the site may have originated in the LH IIIC period or earlier; ... '
5.    Cult.   Souyoudzoglou-Haywood [1999], 95    'The function of the cave in prehistory is not certain. An early suggestion that it served as a place of burial, on account of some (undated) bones found in it, was soon dismissed. Desborough thought it likely that the cave was used as a cult place, like in the historic period, a suggestion first put forward by S. Benton.'
6.    Cult.   Waterhouse [1996], 303    'With this the cult aspect is assured, as the Mycenaeans did not live in caves.'
7.    Sherds.   Souyoudzoglou-Haywood [1999], 95    'There was little early Mycenaean pottery, just three or four sherds from LH I-II cups, and some more LH IIIB and particularly LH IIIC vases,'

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. Middle Helladic: (2000 BC - 1600 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 159, 'MH LH I/II LH IIIA(2)-C'

2. Late Helladic I: (1700 BC - 1635 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 159, 'MH LH I/II LH IIIA(2)-C'
    b.    Souyoudzoglou-Haywood [1999]: 95, 'There was little early Mycenaean pottery, just three or four sherds from LH I-II cups, and some more LH IIIB and particularly LH IIIC vases, but the largest volume of pre-Geometric material was PG.'

3. Late Helladic II: (1635 BC - 1410 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 159, 'MH LH I/II LH IIIA(2)-C'
    b.    Souyoudzoglou-Haywood [1999]: 95, 'There was little early Mycenaean pottery, just three or four sherds from LH I-II cups, and some more LH IIIB and particularly LH IIIC vases, but the largest volume of pre-Geometric material was PG.'

4. LH IIIA: (1410 BC - 1315 BC)
    a.    BSA [1934]: 53,

5. LH IIIA2: (1375 BC - 1320 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 159, 'MH LH I/II LH IIIA(2)-C'

6. LH IIIB: (1320 BC - 1190 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 159, 'MH LH I/II LH IIIA(2)-C', ' ...presence in a later context of small spears of LH IIIB-C type, ... '
    b.    Souyoudzoglou-Haywood [1999]: 95, 'There was little early Mycenaean pottery, just three or four sherds from LH I-II cups, and some more LH IIIB and particularly LH IIIC vases, but the largest volume of pre-Geometric material was PG.'
    c.    BSA [1934]: 53,
    d.    Waterhouse [1996]: 304, ' ... this pottery, mostly LH III B, ... '
    e.    Simpson and Dickinson [1979]: 186, ' ... presence of small spears of LH IIIB-C type, ... '

7. Iron Age: (1200 BC - 535 BC)
    a.    Simpson and Dickinson [1979]: 186, ' ... probably lasted some way into the DA.'

8. LH IIIC: (1190 BC - 1060 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 159, 'MH LH I/II LH IIIA(2)-C', 'Most of the Mycenaean pottery belongs to the LH IIIC period, ... '
    b.    Souyoudzoglou-Haywood [1999]: 95, 'There was little early Mycenaean pottery, just three or four sherds from LH I-II cups, and some more LH IIIB and particularly LH IIIC vases, but the largest volume of pre-Geometric material was PG.'
    c.    BSA [1934]: 53,
    d.    Simpson and Dickinson [1979]: 186, ' ... presence of small spears of LH IIIB-C type, ... ', '... local development of LH IIIC ... '

9. Protogeometric: (1100 BC - 900 BC)
    a.    BSA [1934]: 53,
    b.    Waterhouse [1996]: 303, ' ... a considerable quantity of Protogeometric, ... '

10. Geometric: (900 BC - 700 BC)
    a.    BSA [1934]: 53,
    b.    Waterhouse [1996]: 304, 'In the Geometric period ..., the discovery of bronze tripod-lebetes, ... '
    c.    Simpson [1981]: 159, 'The cave was certainly used as a cult centre in the Geometric period; ... '
    d.    Simpson and Dickinson [1979]: 186, ' ... to the G period, when the cave was certainly used as a centre of cult, ... '

NOTES

1. See the plan in Waterhouse [1996] 304, Fig. 1

2. The most complete description of the archaeological work in the 1930's (and with good photographs and diagrams) is in the article by Sylvia Benton, 'Excavations in Ithaca, III' which is referred to here as BSA [1934]

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. BSA [1934]: Annual of the British School at Athens. Athens. Greece. (35) 1934/1935., '', pg. 53. Online here.

2. Simpson [1981]: Simpson, Richard Hope. Mycenaean Greece. Park Ridge, New Jersey: Noyes Press, 1981., 'G 30 Stavros: Polis Cave', pg. 159. Online here.

3. Simpson and Dickinson [1979]: Simpson, Richard Hope and O.T.P.K. Dickinson. A Gazetteer of Aegean Civilization in the Bronze Age, Vol. I: The Mainland and the Islands. Paul Åströms Förlag, Goteborg. 1979., 'E 18 Ithaca: Polis Cave', pg. 186. Online here.

4. Souyoudzoglou-Haywood [1999]: Souyoudzoglou-Haywood, Christina. The Ionian Islands in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age; 3000-800 B.C.. Liverpool University Press. 1999. , 'Polis (Cave of the Nymphs) (51)', pg. 94. Online here.

5. Waterhouse [1996]: Waterhouse, Helen. ‘From Ithaca to the Odyssey’, The Annual of the British School at Athens (91) 301-317, 'The Polis Cave', pg. 303. Online here.