Field Trip

Yesterday after we had finished our lunch we went on a great field trip to three sites in Boeotia. We first went to Orchomenos to see the tomb of King Minyas. The tomb is a Tholos tomb although the top has collapsed so it is open to the sky. It is very similar to the tomb of Atreus at Mycenae since the tomb contains of small side chamber. The side chamber had a very interesting ceiling with intricate designs. We were given a short talk about the history of the tomb by fellow EBAPer Kyle. He told us that after the Romans conquered Greece, the tomb was used for Emperor Worship and that even Hesiod was worshipped here. After viewing the tomb we went to see the theatre which was next to it and then we walked around a small church that is made with reused stone from the older Greek structures.

The Tholos Tomb with a Roman altar

The wall at Gla

We ended our time in Orchomenos with an ice cream break to cool us all down. We then headed to the Mycenaean site of Gla. Gla was constructed when Lake Kopais was drained to provide protection for the farms in the Kopais Plain. The fortifactions are extremely large with the perimeter wall being 3000m in length. Another EBAPer, Max, told us information about the site. It is constructed on what had been an island on Lake Kopais and that it is possible to fit the both the sites of Mycenae and Tiryns within its walls and have space to spare. He also told us that the lake had reappeared in Classical times so the site was isolated on the island by the lake and it was only accessible by boat for most of the year.

The final location that we travelled to yesterday was the Sanctuary of Apollo Ptoon. Brian gave us a brief history of the sanctuary. It was an oracular sanctuary and because of that there were many tripod dedications. Other dedications that were discovered at the site included many Kouroi as well as some bronze swords with archaic inscriptions on them. He also explained to us that the excavations were never completed or fully published in part because the architect with the excavators lost all of their data. We then walked up the hill past the different levels of the sanctuary and we came to the remains of the temple which are hard to see since there is very little remaining. Beside the temple was a small spring that provided fresh water.

Sanctuary of Apollo Ptoon

We returned to Dilesi around 6:30 and many of us decided to have naps before dinner as the trip was very tiring after a long day of digging.