Porti Mesaras-Asterousion, Municipality of Gortyna. Report of preliminary results of the surface survey of 2015
Abstract
The first goal of the season was to effect an architectural survey and to create new up-to-date plans of the tholos site and the adjoining area, based on the actual state of all architectural remains: the tholos tomb, the retaining wall(s) and the traces of the settlement. Modern methods of digitalization were used for creating an orthographic view and a photogrammetric model of the tomb.
The main aim of the Project was to conduct an intensive surface survey on the Papouri hillock and its immediate vicinity for the better understanding of the site, its local context and chronology. The preservation of the masonry remains, the location and extent of illegal excavations and the effects of agricultural activity were reviewed and proposals for solutions were put forward.
The most important finds made during the surface survey were a specific set of pottery, a small local limestone quarry and a small prehistoric burial cave. Further study of all the finds of 2015 season, the setting of a precise dating and the localization of the Porti settlement, the finding of parallels for and putting a date to the quarry, an understanding of the history of use of the cave of "Tou Kouphou o Spilios" and especially the relation between the settlement, the tholos tomb of Porti and the cave, are all set as the main priorities of investigation.