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The Rural Site of Pyrgouthi

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A Rural Site through Time

PYRGOUTHI

From Early Iron Age to Late Antiquity

The name Pyrgouthi comes from a local designation of the tower, the sites main feature, which foundation is still visible today some 2 km west of the modern village of Berbati (Prosymna) in the central part of the Berbati Valley.
Five distinct habitation phases, during which the site was occupied to at least some degree, have been identified. The tower, originally built in the Early Hellenistic period (c. 325-275 BC), was in use during four of the sites five main phases over a period of 900 years.

Earliest human activities at the site of Pyrgouthi can be dated to the end of the Early Iron Age (c.900-850 BC), when the focal point of settlement in the Berbati valley moved from Mastos Hill to the eastern part of the valley, close to the Kontoporia, the mountain pass which was the main route of communication between the Argolid and Corinthia. A considerable large amount of sherds datable to the Late Geometric and Early Archaic periods were found. The absence of storage vessels and presence of small pyxides of Corinthian origin, which are usually considered as small containers for valuables, points to a population whose wealth was portable by necessity and to free moving pastoralist groups that used Corinth rather than Argos as the market place.

A second phase followed in the 5^th century BC and involved the production of pottery and tiles in two kilns, which were abandoned slightly later. These kilns catered to the needs of local settlers. Other activities in the close vicinity of the kilns were obviously rendered impossible due to the risk involved in the firing of pots and tiles.

The third phase saw the construction of the tower around the year 300 BC, which must have been located on the outskirts of a village located in the area to the north-east of the tower. The tower may have been used as a secure storage facility apart from being a signal tower or a guard post over the passage of the Klisoura. But the occupation of the site as well as the nearby settlement appears not to have lasted very long into the 3^rd century. It has been suggested that the tower was destroyed and the valley abandoned during or due to the wars in the earlier part of the Hellenistic period.

The tower was already in ruins, when the site was again occupied during the very end of the Hellenistic period in the 1^st century BC and turned into a small farmstead that too appears to have been short-lived. A building with relatively large, rectangular rooms, incorporating fallen blocks of the tower, was built immediately to the west of it, while the tower itself was refurbished and rebuilt to a somewhat more modest structure. Shallow pits for large storage vessels were dug inside the tower and a wide variety of artifacts was found including tableware as well as vessels for cooking or other preparation and loomweights for the production of textiles.

The site appears to have remained uninhabited till Late Antiquity (6^th century AD), when it was resettled and completely refurbished into a medium to large farmhouse complex with varied agricultural activity for the cultivation of vine, grain and pulses.

The site was abandoned after the tower was destroyed by fire sometime around AD 600 and not occupied again, suggesting a threat from the outside.

The Pyrgouthi site was part of a regional surface survey conducted between 1988 and 1990 and was excavated in 1995 and 1997 by the Swedish Institute of Athens. Substantial damage had been caused to the tower in relatively recent years, although not in the living memory of the Berbatiotes. A pinetree growing in the middle had to be pulled out together with its large system of roots. The village expropriated the tower and the area to the east and south of it, thus creating an archaeological site.

PYRGOUTHI

The Hellenistic Tower

The tower was constructed in the Early Hellenistic period (c. 325-275 BC) and may have served both the defense of people and produce.
The tower was reused for the first time in the last century BC as part of a farmstead function for a couple of generations.

At the end of the 6^th and the beginning of the 7^th centuries AD, the site was turned into an agricultural complex, where the tower was refurbished with architectural features associated with the production of wine and utilized as a press-house.

The tower is a square structure 7.0 x 7.0 m on the outside, and oriented exactly after the cardinal points. The walls, built in dry-wall, polygonal technique of large limestone blocks and conglomerate and measuring 0.7-1.2 m in length, 0.5-0.7 m in width and up to 0.8 m in height, are preserved for two courses above the foundation except on the southern side where one part of the wall retains only one course.

The foundation consists of large, horizontally laid slabs which protrude c. 0.1-0.2 m from the face of the lowermost course of the wall. The conglomerate walls must have stood to a height of roughly 2.5 m above the foundation. Similarities in the polygonal masonry of the Pyrgouthi tower to the fortification walls of Asine have been observed, and linked to idiosyncrasies developed by individual masons or teams.

The inside of the tower covers an area of approx. 30m2. The entrance of the tower is located in the northeastern corner of the building, where the threshold stone is still visible, framed by two standing boulders (orthostats). The pivot hole is located on the northern side of the threshold stone, at a slightly lower level which indicated that the door opened inwards.

During the original building phase, a staircase leading up to a second floor was located in the northwestern corner that was not in use during the later phases, as a pit to receive a pithos was dug there.

The Tower had upper mudbrick walls on top of the stone foundation walls during the Hellenistic and Early Roman times. A tile roof laid on top of a wooden roof truss. Apart from the door another source of light would have been necessary, and might have existed either above the upper row stones or higher up the mudbrick walls. Since these walls would have collapsed over time, during the years the tower was out of use, new walls had to be built in the sixth century AC.

The 6^th century refurbishing of the tower involved architectural features associated with the production of wine: a treading floor in the south-west corner, a rectangular trough along the western wall, a press along the eastern wall and a structure in the south-east corner.

The tower was destroyed by fire around AD 600. The tile roof collapsed, leaving the walls still standing, thereafter the upper walls, made of mudbrick, slowly decayed.

PYRGOUTHI

The Kilns of Pyrgouthi

The debris of two potter’s kilns where identified by two large shafts dug in the soft limestone bedrock to the west of the tower, interpreted as combustion chambers under remnants of walls belonging to the Late Hellenistic/Early Roman phase of the Pyrgouthi site. The kilns predated the tower and were dated based on the ceramic finds within the kilns which place both kilns within the 5th century BC, the eastern kiln slightly earlier than the one in the west.

The main function of the kilns was firing tiles of Corinthian type and catering to the needs of ceramic objects in agricultural small holdings of the settlers who resettled the valley in the middle part of the 5^th century.

The original size of the Berbati kilns remains unknown. The larger of the two kilns was excavated in the western area in 1995. This kiln was oriented from southeast to northwest and had a preserved length of 4.1 m and an interior width of 2.5 m. It consisted of a dug-out shaft in conglomerate bedrock, interpreted as the combustion chamber. The kiln floor was of solid bedrock and sloped slightly towards the south. The interior walls were lined with successive layers of pale yellow or grayish plaster.

In 1997, a second kiln of similar shape was found a short distance towards the east at a somewhat higher level. The kiln was oriented from the southwest to the northeast and had a preserved length of 2.75 m and a preserved interior width of 1.5 m. As opposed to the western kiln, this kiln was cut into the solid bedrock and had its interior partition wall still standing in the middle. The plaster lining along its interior walls had a thickness of 3-6 cm and preserved the plasterer’s fingermarks in places.

Like all kilns recovered in archaeological excavations in Greece, the Pyrgouthi kilns were in all probability updraft kilns, a method still used today by traditional potters. The Kilns were pyrotechnological structures with two chambers separated by a perforated floor and covered by a dome. The flame was introduced into the bottom of the kiln, at or below floor level, and exhausted out the top. In such kilns, the draft allowed the heat to move upwards thanks to the stoking channel at the bottom and the chimney at the top of the dome.

The essential feature of the updraft kiln was the perforated floor that separated the firing chamber from the combustion chamber, preventing the pots from direct contact with the flames and allowing less heat to reach the firing chamber, thus limiting the risk of overfiring the pottery and of breaks and cracks. The perforated floor was supported by a central pillar or by a tongue-like pier projecting from the back wall of the combustion chamber.

The large size of the western kiln, the rectangular or trapezoidal shapes, and the double, arched, back walls of both kilns are the main characteristics of the Berbati kilns. Rectangular shape and large size in a kiln points at towards firing roof tiles and this appears to be true for Berbati as well, as a large amount of broken roof tiles of the Corinthian type was found. As such the kilns compare with similar installations at Corinth and Thermon, also dated to the 5^th century. The tile kilns at Nemea seem more advanced and are dated to the 4^th century.

The reason why there were two kilns of the same shape but of widely different size at Pyrgouthi remains unknown. The production might have begun on a modest scale and increased later, to accommodate demand.

PYRGOUTHI

The Late Antique Farmhouse

While the economy of the Berbati Valley was probably dominated by the roman villa during the 4^th and 5^th century, a change in habitation pattern to smaller independent farmsteads was seen after its destruction around the middle of the 5^th century. Maybe as a result of the collapse of the villa economy and as a consequence of changes in conditions for land ownership, the number of sites in the valley increased during the late 5^th and 6^th century. Some of the 6^th century sites had been continuously inhabited during the Roman period while others, like Pyrgouthi, were established on sites where they incorporated earlier structures. Many sites were newly founded without any continuity from earlier periods.

The 6^th century farmhouse was medium to large in size and consisted of at least six rooms used for either domestic or agricultural purposes, and two outdoor areas, which may have been used either as outdoor working areas or for separating two different building complexes, as the living quarters seem to have been located to the west and agricultural quarters to the east.

These features are common features in farmhouses from all periods and express the need of enclosing or protecting the property and dividing the farmhouse into separate parts. The house type of Pyrgouthi, with a tower and a central court or an open area in the center, was commonly used in the northeastern Peloponnese for farmsteads dated to Classical and Hellenistic times but also for Roman farmsteads. The Late Antique farmstead probably did not look very different from the Hellenistic and Early Roman buildings that once stood on the site.

During its 6^th century refurbishment, the site was cleared from earlier occupation debris, as was the tower. The refurbishing of the tower involved new walls constructed on top of the stone foundation and covered with plaster, a tile roof as well as the building of a number of architectural features: a treading floor in the south-west corner, the rectangular trough along the western wall, a press along the eastern wall and a structure in the south-east corner.

The installations and material found at Pyrgouthi show that this farmstead produced wine on a limited scale and was also involved in animal husbandry and crop cultivation. The lack of large storage facilities and the comparatively small installations used for wine production suggest that production and agricultural activity were small scale and maintained principally on a household level intended primarily for household purposes. The farmstead was probably to a large extent self-sufficient.

Some products may, however, have been used for trade or exchange as the farmstead seems to have been part of a regional trading network, which embraced the import of regionally made household ware, amphorae and lamps found at the site. Moreover, the remains of fine ware pottery and amphorae imported from outside of the Greek mainland are a clear indication that at least indirect trading contacts beyond the region were accessible to the Berbati Valley via the local or regional markets. Pyrgouthi’s trading contacts were to a large extent oriented towards the Corinthia and Corinth rather than Argos and the Argive plain during the Late Antique period.

It is assumed that the Pyrgouthi farmhouse belonged to an independent farmer or so called free-holder. Most likely, Pyrgouthi was not the only Late Antique farmstead in the Berbati Valley.

The Late Antique use of the site lasted for a period of between fifty and hundred years.

Finds of the Late Antique farmhouse at Pyrgouthi on display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Large amphora with cylinder-shaped neck and two horizontal handles on the shoulders, AD 550-650
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

One-handled globular amphora with folded rim (left) and amphorae with almost globular body with conical neck and two vertical handles (right), AD 550-650
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Roof tiles of the Pyrgouthi farmhouse and large transport Amphora, AD 550-650
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

One handled globular jugs (left-right) and moldmade lamp with raised palm branch decoration (middle), AD 550-650
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Small micaceous amphora, with oval body, pointed toe, thin neck and one vertical handle, probaby imported from Asia Minor, AD 550-650
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Circular mortar of limestone with handstone of greyish-brown feldspar stone, AD 550-650
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Iron ardshare, AD 550-650
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Forged, rounded iron Sickle with missing handle and Iron Nails. The Nails were proably used in the roof construction or some other wooden construction such as a press.
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Iron nails, iron chain with six links (AD 550-650) and copper-alloy plaque with incised and punched decoration (goat), archaic period (7th-6th c. BC)
On display at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Reconstruction of the interior of the Late Antique Tower at Pyrgouthi (J. Hjohlman, 2005)

PYRGOUTHI

Farming & Production

A reconstruction of the cultivation of the Pyrgouthi site in Late Antiquity, based on water flotation of soil samples, shows that Grain was probably grown on a large scale in the Berbati Valley. Barley, wheat and oat were found in large quantities as were by-products from cleaning of these and other crops. In situ growing is further indicated by the finds of iron tools associated with cultivation, as the ardshare for plowing and the sickle for reaping. The water mill that seems to have been in operation on the banks of the Asterion river during Late Roman times, was probably still functioning during the sixth and seventh century and used by the farmers of Pyrgouthi for the production of flour.

In the Tower, the presence of wheat of the durum/carthlicum type, so called Persian wheat that is rarely identified outside the Caucasus and Black Sea area, was noted, suggesting that this type of wheat was imported and cleaned at the site, or that it represents a local cultivation of an imported crop.

A number of pulse crops were also identified: lentils, broad beans, peas, Spanish vetchling, bitter vetch, dwarf chuckling and carob, used as good complements to meat and grain products or for medicinal purposes and animal fodder. The majority of these pulses were probably grown on site, alternatively or in rotation with grains and other crops. Some of the pulses may also have been imported to the valley from regional markets.

Fragments of figs, walnuts and pomegranates show that these were consumed at the site and also point towards arboriculture. Dried figs are sometimes regarded as emergency food and can also be used as fodder.

There is no doubt that olive cultivation continued to be an integrated part of the economy of the valley in the 6^th century. Charcoal analysis show two different tree types associated with the Pyrgouthi site: The Olive tree and the juniper, which is in accordance with the dominating bioclimatic conditions and the plant formations of the area. Although olive production was not associated with the Pyrgouthi site as no grinding equipment and no samples of Olive oil were found in any of the ceramic samples analyzed for organic residue, the presence of olive and juniper in the charcoal samples has been explained by the use of olive and juniper wood in the construction of the tower, as olive wood was a preferred material in construction and used for timber since ancient times, as was juniper.

During the Late Antique period, the tower at Pyrgouthi was used mainly for wine production, judging from the installations, the finds and the chemical analyses. The presence of the treading floor and the results from residue analysis carried out on one fragment from the treading floor pipe as well as four pottery fragments from amphoras found within the tower indicate that the press was used solely for wine production. Surface residues from three of the samples also showed the presence of resin, probably pine resin, which may have derived from the production process. Resin was commonly used as a sealing compound for the interiors of amphorae, but it was also used as a preservative or as a flavoring.

PYRGOUTHI

Destruction and abandonment

Based on the finds that were dated mainly in the second half of the 6th century and some shapes to the first half of the 7^th century, the Late Antique use of the site lasted for a period of between fifty and hundred years between AD550-650. The farmhouse seems to have been abandoned some time during the first half of the 7^th century after the Tower was destroyed in a fire that was immediately followed by the collapse of the tile roof.

The buildings to the south and west of the tower showed no traces of a destruction fire. It appears that the tiled roofs of these building caved as a result of abandonment of the site and the gradual decay of the wooden roof trusses and the mudbrick walls.

The fact that valuable metal objects such as the ardshare, a sickle and other metal objects but also glass vessels and well-preserved pottery were found, suggests that the buildings were abandoned quite soon and hastily after the destruction of the tower. The lack of evidence for a permanent occupation of the site in the following centuries and the low activity in the valley, suggests that the site was destroyed and abandoned in combination with a threat from outside.

One plausible theory that has been put forward in order to explain the destruction and abandonment of the Pyrgouthi farmhouse are invading Slavic tribes. The Slavs in their roaming over the Greek mainland quite naturally used the roads that had been in use since Antiquity. During Late Antiquity the ancient road leading from Corinth to Argos was the “Kontoporeia”.

The site was used again during the Medieval and Modern period, but finds point to a temporary use rather than a permanent one.

Bibliography

Gain more in-depth knowlege on the Rural Site of Pyrgouthi by studying the sources

Hjohlman J., “Pigouthi in Late Antiquity”, Pirgouthi A Rural Site in the Berbati Valley from Early Iron Age to Late Antiquity, Excavations by the Swedish Institute at Athens 1995 and 1997, Stockholm 2005

Penttinen A., “From the Early Iron Age to the Early Roman times”, Pirgouthi A Rural Site in the Berbati Valley from Early Iron Age to Late Antiquity, Excavations by the Swedish Institute at Athens 1995 and 1997, Stockholm 2005

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