Site details

Hagios Georgios Sanctuary

PK	C6238
TITLE	Hagios Georgios Sanctuary
WGS84	36.24031° N, 23.085755° E
Accuracy	10 m.

LAT/LON	36.24031, 23.085755
LON/LAT	23.085755, 36.24031

DMS

36° 14' 25.116" N

23° 5' 8.718" E

W3W	reflex, comebacks, failed
UTM	34 S, 687425, 4012620
EGSA87	417702, 4010702

Elevation m	332
Elevation feet	1089.2
Region	Kythera

GENERAL SITE TYPE Peak Sanctuary

TYPE

1.    Peak Sanctuary.   Sakellarakis [1996], 83    ' ... and at first glance established that here, on a mountain some 350 m high, was the site of the peak sanctuary of the Minoan settlement at Kastri, ... '

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. Middle Minoan IB: (1900 BC - 1850 BC)
    a.    Sakellarakis [1996]: 87, 'Sherds from the MM I B - MM II period occur sporadically.'

2. Middle Minoan II: (1850 BC - 1750 BC)
    a.    Sakellarakis [1996]: 87, 'Sherds from the MM I B - MM II period occur sporadically.'

3. Middle Minoan III: (1750 BC - 1675 BC)
    a.    Sakellarakis [1996]: 87, 'The MM III - LM I pottery, ..., is exceptionally rich, ... '

4. Late Minoan I: (1675 BC - 1470 BC)
    a.    Sakellarakis [1996]: 83, 'In the undisturbed LM I layer, ..., many pieces of mortar were found ... ', 'The MM III - LM I pottery, ..., is exceptionally rich, ... '

5. Late Minoan IB: (1625 BC - 1470 BC)
    a.    Sakellarakis [1996]: 87, 'The great amount of MM III - LM I/LM IB pottery, compatible with the date of the Kastri colony, suggests that the acme of cult devotions at Agios Georgios occurred during this period.'

6. Late Minoan II: (1470 BC - 1420 BC)
    a.    Sakellarakis [1996]: 88, 'Cult activity, however, did not terminate even though the LM II finds are very sparse, as are later Mycenaean ones.'

NOTES

1. Dr. Sakellarakis (Sakellarakis [1996]) does not quite make clear whether the peak sanctuary is by the church of St. George or if it is, perhaps, some 500 m. to the E which is actually higher. I have reproduced the location of his Fig. 10a which is just to the S of the church terrace.

2. A popular account of the discovery of the peak sanctuary at Hagios Georgios is here.

rhc

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Sakellarakis [1996]: Sakellarakis, Y.. ‘Minoan Religious Influence in the Aegean: The Case of Kythera’, The Annual of the British School at Athens (91) 81-99. 1996., '', pg. 81. Online here.