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Sacred Sites of Ancient Greece

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Jordan Fass
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« Reply #15 on: January 23, 2008, 01:23:13 pm »

Thorikos


The hill known today as Velatouri is the centre of a Mycenaean settlement and also of the ancient deme of Thorikos. Preserved are the unusual theatre of the 6th-4th centuries B.C., parts of the settlement, some of the metal-working establishments, a square tower of the 4th century B.C., the cemeteries and the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore.

Between the years 1820 and 1995, excavations have been carried out by the Archaeological Society in Athens, the American School of Classical Studies, the Belgian Archaeological School, the 2nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and by the Society of the Dilettanti.

The most important monuments and architectural units of the archaeological site are:


The Mycenaean acropolis on the top of the Velatouri hill and the two tholos tombs of the same period.
The Ancient Theatre of Thorikos. It is especially important for the history of the ancient theatre because of its unusual ellipsidal plan. Its original construction goes back to the 6th century B.C.
'Industrial village' - The central settlement of the ancient deme of Thorikos, which was a flourishing centre for the processing of metal from the Lavrion mines during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. Roads and houses are spread out along the west slope of the Velatouri hill.


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Jordan Fass
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« Reply #16 on: January 26, 2008, 09:55:45 pm »

Worship Site Predates Zeus

By Tuan C. Nguyen, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 23 January 2008 05:15 pm ET




Ancient pottery found at an altar used by ancient Greeks to worship Zeus was actually in use at least a millennium earlier, new archeological data suggest.
The pottery shards were discovered during an excavation last summer near the top of Mt. Lykaion in southern Greece.
The finding, which dates back to 3000 B.C., indicates that the tradition of divinity worship on the site is very ancient and may even pre-date the introduction of Zeus into the Greek world, said David Gilman Romano, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and co-director of the excavation project.
"We don’t yet know how the altar was first used, and whether it was used in connection with natural phenomena such as wind, rain, light or earthquakes, possibly to worship some kind of divinity male or female or a personification representing forces of nature,” Romano said.
A rock crystal seal bearing an image of a bull, of probable Late Minoan times (1500 - 1400 B.C.), also was found on the altar, suggesting an early connection between the Minoan isle of Crete and Arcadia.
Early analysis on various bones recovered from the site has shown they belonged to animals, not humans. Ancient texts had mentioned human sacrifice being practiced at the altar of Zeus, but so far, no evidence of this has been found.
The mountaintop altar is known as one of the mythological birthplaces of Zeus. A meadow below the mountain featured a racetrack, stadium and buildings once used to host an athletic festival that rivaled the original Olympic games, held at nearby Olympia.


http://www.livescience.com/history/080123-zeus-altar.html
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Jordan Fass
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« Reply #17 on: January 26, 2008, 09:57:23 pm »



Altar of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion. Left to right: Dan Diffendale, University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Arthur Rhon, Wichita State University, and Arvey Basa, University of Arizona. Credit: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
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