Excavations at Phlius in 1892 Author(s): Henry S. Washington Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec.

, 1923), pp. 438-446 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/497795 Accessed: 08/04/2009 16:08
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aia. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Archaeological Institute of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of Archaeology.

http://www.jstor.org

gmerican Ocboo! of Classical Stubies at Itbtens

EXCAVATIONS AT PHLIUS IN 1892

IN March, 1892, my brother Charles M. Washington and I undertook some preliminary excavations at the site of Phlius, south of Sicyon. The work was confined almost entirely to the acropolis and lasted for only one week; the intended further excavation was never carried out, nor was any report made to the American School at Athens, at which we were students. My notebook has recently come to light and, as no other digging seems to have been done on the site, it may be of interest to put on record the results of our modest excavations. The site of Phlius has been visited and described by many travelers,' so that only a brief description is needed here. The acropolis

. .-000a 0:11:: :,.-;SU

- =

. -

FIGURE 1.-ACROPOLIS

OF PHLIUS.

occupied the lower end of a spur that runs west from Mt. Triceranum, on the east bank of the Asopus. A deep notch isolates the acropolis from the rest of the ridge. The acropolis is about 700 metres long, 70 to 80 metres across at its widest part, and its highest (eastern) point is about 85 metres above the surrounding plain, where lay, mostly to the south, the ancient city of Phlius. From its highest (east) end the ridge descends gently toward the west, being broken into two steps, of which the central one is the larger. A narrow terrace runs along the northern slope. The south slope is steep, and a curved embayment in this toward the western end is probably the site of the theatre. I am indebted to Mr. W. J. Lloyd, of the Topographic Branch of the U. S. Geological Survey, for having had made for me the sketch (Fig. 1) based on a rough sketch map
1 See J. G. Frazer, Pausanias's Descriptionof Greece, Vol. III, 1898, pp. 77-81.
American Journal of Archaeology, Second Series. Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America, Vol. XXVII (1923) No. 4.

438

EXCAVATIONS

AT PHLIUS

439

in my note book. A plane-table map of the ridge and vicinity is lost. Remains of the polygonal city wall are present at the east end, where there is a tower, whence they run down hill to the south. Apart from this, there were few ancient remains visible on the acropolis. The most important are: an angle of the building on the north terrace (1, Fig. 1); a threshold (3), 2.70 m. long and 0.88 m. wide, on the central plateau; an upright part of a Doric column northeast of this (2); and a few Doric capitals and drums near the chapel of Panagia Rachiotissa (Virgin of the Rocks) (5), which stands on a lower step forming the west end of the ridge. Southwest of this chapel, in the plain below, is a rectangular area, about 25 m. square, outlined by remains of walls and with column drums projecting at regular intervals within; this is known as rT HaXTrL, the Palace (6). Over the site of the city proper, to the south, are many walls, cut blocks, and some column drums; but the study of this portion was postponed. Trenches sunk in the highest, easternmost part of the ridge struck bedrock at a depth of about one metre, without revealing any walls. The only find here was the upper part of a small standing terra-cotta figurine, which is of the Tirynthian Argive type, and which closely resembles many of the figurines found at the Argive Heraeum.1 The body is flat, with the breasts slightly indicated, and the arms are represented by long knobs which curve inward. The nose is pinched out, the eyes are represented by small disks, the hair is arranged in narrow flat plaits, one falling in front of each shoulder and four down the back. There are flat circular earrings, and a single, simple necklace, which bears an ornament on the breast. On the head is a plain cylindrical stephane. This object is, I think, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Near the southwestern corner of the main, central plateau there was uncovered, at a depth of 40 cm., a rectangular base (4, Fig. 1) built of roughly squared "poros" blocks; this base is 4.50 m. long (east-west), 1.90 m. wide, and 0.30 m. high. Only the north and east sides are smoothly finished, so that it is to be supposed that the base, and hence the monument upon it, faced toward the north. Nothing was found in the trenches which were sunk to bedrock around this base, except an unfluted column drum of limestone, 1.17 m. long and 0.88 m. in diameter. Trenches dug around the thresh1 C. Waldstein, et al., The Argive Heraeum, II, 1905, pp. 19-22, pl. XLII, Nos. 5, 10, 12.

440

HENRY S. WASHINGTON

old near the centre of this plateau revealed no connection with any building, and the same result followed from digging around the fragment of a Doric column, 1.12 m. long and 0.44 m. in diameter, which projected from the ground to the northeast of the threshold (2). Other trenches sunk over this central part of the ridge also yielded nothing, and bedrock was met with at depths of from less

FIGURE 2.-TERRA-COTTA GARGOYLE TEMPLE FROM OF AESCULAPIUS PHLIUS. (?):

than 1 to nearly 2 metres, while bare rock projects above ground at several points. Some trenches were dug on the lowest step of the ridge at the west end, where stands the chapel of Panagia Rachiotissa, in the walls of which are several Doric capitals and drums and a triglyph, while some Doric drums and capitals lay on the ground near by. The digging here was brief because the priests objected to our working in the sacred precinct. Solid rock was met with at depths of about 40 cm., the soil being very thin. The only object found was the right half of a terra-cotta lion's head gargoyle or water spout, which had been split medially (Fig. 2).1 The piece is 17 cm. long and 14 cm. in its greatest width. Its style is more realistic and the head evidently belongs to a later period than the lion's head water-spouts
1 The object is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (No. 98.162), and I am much indebted to Dr. C. H. Hawes for a photographof it.

EXCAVATIONS AT PHLIUS

441

of the Argive Heraeum. While the decision as to its date must be left to archaeologists, I would hazard the suggestion that it belongs to the first half of the fourth century B.C. The walls on the north terrace proved to belong to a small building, the remains of which were fully uncovered. (1, Fig. 1). A plan and section of this are given in Figures 3 and 4. The building faces east, but I have no record of its exact orientation. The north wall is 6.30 m. long (exterior), the west wall 7.45 m., while the south wall is only 5.72 m., about half a metre of its east end having been apparently destroyed. The construction is well seen in the west wall, which is the best preserved. At the bottom, 1.70 m. below the present surface, begins
i '? ?-?;???; ?T? -r? .r? = ?. '' `'?? '"'9? z j ?;, r ?\_?,. , ?. ??? ? ?? ??)C = 5?_ :???I?. .?; -?- ?? ?.??f. J`1'L rC -?? : ,c. = i?-?;?-`' 9 'e

?t , E

I;

,"P I?

L- -

L. ,ii
3,r %6e . .

I-I I
I.
I FIGE.NL.
FIGURE

-I
I

I i
I i

I
I

3.-NORT

BUILDING.

Whitelimestone; White=limestone;

dotted

poros

FIGURE 3.- NORTH

BUILDING.

dotted= "poros."

442

HENRY S. WASHINGTON

the foundation wall, which consists of three courses of rather roughly cut blocks of "poros" stone.1 The upper course is the best finished and is 31 cm. high; the second is somewhat rougher, but smoothed on the outer face, and is 40 cm. high; while the blocks of the lowest course are very roughly worked and are 50 cm. high. The width of the north foundation wall is 80 cm. over most of its length; that of the west wall is 60 cm., and that of the south wall is about 40 cm. The cella wall proper, which rests on this foundation, consists of slabs of white limestone, cut smooth on the exterior, and carrying a fillet, 9 cm. wide, along the upper outer edge. These slabs are 74 cm. high and 37 cm. thick at the base; their length is somewhat variable, but is generally about 2.50 m. Three of these slabs extend
J'" 1; .

C1 I6-

?f',

b'? .S*

FIGURE 4.-NORTH BUILDING:SECTIONEAST-WEST.

along the entire length of the west wall, two along the south wall, while only one is left at the west end of the north wall. The central slab of the west wall presents a peculiar feature. Its inner (east) face is cut down obliquely and evenly from a distance of 25 cm. from the outer edge, the sloping plane surface extending to the inner lower edge, as shown in the section, Figure 4. I have been unable to conjecture the purpose of this very peculiar cutting, for which I can recall no parallel in the ancient Greek buildings that I have seen. The north foundation wall is continued around the east side for a distance of 2.20 m., and at this corner is a recess formed byprojecting blocks, as shown in Figure 3. At the centre of the east side is a square base of "poros" stone, the top of which is on a level with that of the foundation walls. The south wall, which is only one-half as wide as the north wall, shows on the inside three small projecting blocks of "poros." My notes leave me in doubt as to its eastern termination, but I have restored it conjecturally as continuing
1See Appendix 1 for a descriptionof "poros" stone.

EXCAVATIONS AT PHLIUS

443

around the corner, like the north wall. If this be the correct restoration the building would appear to have had a double entrance or, at least, one broad entrance divided by a column. In front of the sloping surface in the central block of the west wall, and at a distance of 45 cm., is a base of "poros" blocks, about 2 m. long and 0.60 m. wide. Its upper surface is 50 cm. lower than the top of the limestone slabs, so that it rises 25 cm. above the level of the top of the poros foundation walls. This is, presumably, the base of an altar or of the cult statue. The only objects found in the building were a few terra-cotta cones, such as were used for weaving. After having cleaned out the building and laid bare the walls, inside and out, we refilled the excavation at the request of the owner of the land. Trenches sunk in different directions from the building showed nothing, except to the south. Here were found four Doric column drums, about 45 cm. in diameter, laid side by side, with blocks of stone between them. At the south end of this row of drums there was uncovered a roughly built arch, of very late (possibly Byzantine) period, 1.10 m. wide, which would appear to have supported a flight of steps to the central plateau above. The building described above presents, as has been said, some notable peculiarities. It is wider than it is long; the walls are of different thicknesses; it appears to have a double entrance or one divided by a single column; while the entrance is centrally placed, the altar (?) seems to be a little off centre; the purpose of the sloping cut inner surface of the central slab of the west wall is enigmatical; the fillet at the top of the first course of the cella wall is unusual. The fact that no columns were found (except those to the south which are too wide for the walls) and that the walls (except that on the north) are too narrow for columns indicate that it was a simple cella with a single column in antis, like some of the treasuries at Delphi. A little digging was also done at the spot called TO IIaXarL (the Palace) in the plain southwest of the chapel of Panagia Rachiotissa. Here a rectangular space, about 25.50 m. east and west by about the same north and south, is inclosed by walls which projected above the soil. The area was planted in grain'at the time, but lower drums of columns, regularly spaced, were to be seen within the inclosure. Permission could not be obtained to dig within this area, but several walls of various ages were uncovered immediately to the west of it, when the work was brought to a close.

444

HENRY S. WASHINGTON
INTERPRETATION

Pausanias1 mentions four sacred buildings on the acropolis; a grove and sanctuary dedicated to Ganymeda or Hebe "of awful and immemorial sanctity," a temple of Hera "on the left as we quit the sanctuary"' (of Ganymeda); a temple of Demeter and Kore; and finally, "going down from the acropolis we pass on the right a temple of Aesculapius." He also says: "Below this temple is a theatre, and not far from it is a sanctuary of Demeter with ancient stone images." I would suggest that the North Building (Fig. 3, 1) is the "sanctuary" of Ganymeda or Hebe. This would be the first temple met with by Pausanias, who was coming southward from Sicyon. The temple of Hera probably lay in the upper, extreme eastern point of the acropolis. This position harmonizes with its lying on the left as we leave the sanctuary of Ganymeda, and the terra-cotta figurine, with its stephane, closely similar to those of the Argive Heraeum, leads one to think that a temple of Hera was situated near by. The temple of Demeter and Kore probably lay in the central part of the ridge, and the threshold found here may have belonged to this building. The temple of Aesculapius we may safely consider, with Frazer, to have occupied the spot on the western end of the ridge where the chapel of Panagia Rachiotissa now stands. The rather numerous architectural fragments found here point clearly to the existence of a Doric temple near by, and this position agrees well with the statement of Pausanias that this was the last temple he passed on going down from the acropolis. The large rectangular walled inclosure, with regularly spaced columns over the interior, r6 IIaXart, near and below the chapel, I would identify with the "sanctuary of Demeter with ancient seated images." Its location fits in with what Pausanias says of it, and the general resemblance of its plan to that of the sacred inclosure at Eleusis makes a connection with the worship of Demeter very plausible. This is rendered the more probable by the later statement of Pausanias (II, 14, 1) that "the Phliasians themselves admit that they imitate the rites of Eleusis." In conclusion, it may be said that, for a minor site, further excavations at Phlius would probably reveal some results of interest. There appears to be little left of ancient buildings over much of the acropolis and, as we learn from Pausanias and Xenophon that there were considerable areas of groves and corn land, it is probable that few buildings existed there. The depth of soil is also not great.
1 Pausanias, II, 13, 3 ff. I follow the translation of Frazer.

EXCAVA TIONS AT PHLIUS

445

However, the neighborhood of the North Building and the area around the chapel would probably repay digging, and the large
inclosure of Tr6HaXdarL should also be excavated.
APPENDIX: "POROS" STONE

A few words may be said regardingwhat is, or should be, meant by the term "poros" stone and the differencesbetween it and "limestone." "Poros" (7ropl in modern Greek) is a somewhat indefinite term for a rock that is much used in Greecefor a commonbuilding stone, the use of which goes back to a high antiquity. It is a variety of limestone, but differs from ordinary limestone in the following characters. It is very finely arenaceousor marly; most often of a pale creamcolor, also light yellow or light gray; somewhat granularbut rather soft and friable and easily cut with a knife, especially when first exposed in the quarry. In this last quality (but not in origin) it resembles the various volcanic tuffs of the Roman Campagna, and to this ease in working it owes its extensive use as a building stone, especially for foundations and other architectonicparts that are not exposed to view. Even when hardened by exposure it is much more readily cut with a knife than is an ordinary limestone, and the non-petrographicarchaeologistwill not go far astray if he calls by the name of "poros" any such easily cut, finely granular, yellow, light cream or gray, dull-lusteredand somewhat rough building stone, which effervesceswith dilute hydrochloricacid or with acetic acid (strong vinegar) and usually leaves a fine muddy residue. I have unfortunately no specimensof "poros" at hand, but some thin sections of specimens of "poros" collected by me at several localities and excavations in Greece show that the rock is microscopicallyof an extremely fine-grainedtexture, composedof very minute uniformly sized anhedralgrains of calcite, with here and there some larger ones of quartz, and considerableclayey matter. The specimens examined by me show no evidence of stratification or remains of fossils. I have never specially studied the origin of "poros" but such observations as I made, both of the natural occurrenceand of the petrographiccharacters,have led me to think that much "poros" resembles the Roman travertine in being a calcareous tufa (not a volcanic tuff), produced by the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate, and not derived, as are the ordinary limestones, from more or less worked over organic remains. Ordinary limestone is usually much more compact than "poros," decidedly harder, and with a smootherfracture; it is easily scratched but cannot usually be cut with a knife. The grain of limestone is apt to be somewhat coarserthan that of "poros," it frequently shows signs of stratification, and often contains fossil remains,either visible to the naked eye or discoverableby the microscope. Much limestone again is more or less crystalline, showing small glistening surfaces here and there. This crystalline, or rather sub-crystalline, texture is evidence of the effect of metamorphism,throughwhich limestone may be changed eventually to a wholly crystalline marble, of either fine- or coarse-grainedtexture. The "poros" stone is one of the chief formations of the later Tertiary (Miocene or Pliocene) in Greece and it occurs at many places in the Peloponessus; whereas limestone properin Greeceis much older, being almost wholly either early Tertiary 1 Alfred Philippson, Der Peloponnes,Berlin, 1892, pp. 408, 416.

446

HENRY

S. WASHINGTON

(Eocene) or Cretaceous.1 The "poros" which was used at Phlius probably came from the immediate neighborhood, as the surrounding region is mostly later Tertiary, while the limestone blocks probably came from some quarry to the west or southwest, where there are Eocene and Cretaceous limestone beds. HENRY S. WASHINGTON. GEOPHYSICAL LABORATORY, D. WASHINGTON, C. 23 ff.
1Philippson,

op. cit. pp. 390 ff.; R. Lepsius, Geologie von Attika, Berlin, 1893, pp.