Remarks and caution on finds of Kastrouli Mycenean settlement (loofah, charcoal, bone, wall burnt clay coating, ceramic)
Abstrakt
Τhe excavated materials of the Late Helladic III settlement Kastrouli in Phokis, Greece has produced signifi-cant diverse information regarding chronology, human mobility, diet, characterization and provenance. The comingled burial of Tomb A and the finds from at least two buildings also contained some strange materials which properly analyzed offer a plea for caution.
Moreover, they offer an opportunity to examine technolog-ical aspects, identification of species, dating and firing conditions. The few materials investigated here by Optical microscopy (OM), SEM-EDS, FTIR and 14C include some spongy-like fibers, an incised ceramic sherd, a burnt bone, burnt clay and four radiocarbon dates of charcoal and bone.
It was found that the spongy material was 14C dated to a modern loofah intruded in the tomb A; and the "decoration" in the grooves in the incised ceramic was remnants of the soil in which it was buried and not any possible incrustation or filling with unfired clay. The burnt animal bone analysis by FTIR provided a possible firing at ca 400-550 °C.
The OM of the burnt clay has not produced any possible print textile. The radiocarbon dating of charcoal and one bone produced dates ca.13th c.
BCE, and the spans from 14thc BCE to late 12th c. BCE is discussed in the light of wiggles during this period in the calibration curve.