The Archaic At HalaiHalai was founded anew in the Archaic period. The fortifications and gates of the Archaic acropolis must have been built in accordance with an overall plan and the interior buildings and spaces may also have been carefully planned. The lines of the main street and most of the fortifications were maintained for the whole life of the town, although the fortifications were expanded toward the southeast on several occasions and the walls themselves were renovated and strengthened. The northwest end of the acropolis was probably the religious center (temple area) from the beginning. The earliest temple is aligned on exactly the same axis as that of the acropolis as a whole. Since the altar to the east of the temple has a slightly different alignment, it is likely to have been constructed at a different time from the temple, presumably somewhat later.
The new excavations have reached Archaic levels chiefly in Area F (the temple area) and in Area A, immediately to the north. Since we have not yet physically connected the two areas with trenches, the stratigraphy and chronology cannot yet be closely coordinated. In 1992 work on Archaic levels took place chiefly in Area A. plan A new trench, A5, immediately adjacent to the northeast side of A4 (Fig. 7; Pl. B, b), revealed the northwestern end of a large rectangular room (Room 19). At least ten courses of mudbricks still remain in place above the stone socle of its northwestern wall (AV) near the western corner of the room. This extraordinary state of preservation can probably be attributed to the continued use of Room 19 while floor/use level gradually rose as much as a meter or more. The stratigraphy within the room, regular, horizontal layers of clay-like material, sometimes with vertical divisions, is difficult to interpret until more of the room has been excavated. One suggestion is that the room may have been in use for the preparation or storage of mudbrick. At the north corner of Room 19 in the uppermost levels of the use deposit three slabs of stone are set on edge to create two receptacles (Fig. 7; Pl. C, a). Although interpretation is uncertain, each receptacle is roughly the size of a mudbrick, and it is possible that they were used as standards against which moulds for mudbricks could be checked. A group of amphorae were found fallen with their lids within a room adjacent to the northeast side of Room 19 (i.e., northeast of Wall BM; see Pl. C). One of the amphorae is of Corinthian type and is nearly identical with others found in the Perian destruction debris at Athens,. It suggests that the mishap may have occurred about the end of the Archaic period. There is too little evidence yet available to show whether there may have been a general destruction at Halai at that time, but it is likely that the buildings in trenches A3 and A5 subsequently continued in use. Further digging in trench A3 revealed details of the circular platforms mentioned in the previous report (Fig. 7; cf. Coleman, 1992, pl. 71, a). They are roughly one meter in diameter and one of them, Structure b (Fig. 7), was covered with a layer of "turkey wing" shells (arca occidentalis; Pl. B, b), carefully bedded in clay. The shallow channel partly surrounding Structure C (Pl. B, c) may have been intended to collect or provide for the runoff of a liquid, although it might also have been intended to help support and keep in place a mound of earth or other material on top of the platform. Slight differences in level suggest that not all the platforms were in use at the same time. Large fragments of a two-handled cup, a trefoil-mouthed jug and a crater were found scattered around the platforms and presumably date to their latest period of use. The purpose of the platforms is still uncertain. The interpretation previously suggested on the basis of comparisons with Geometric structures at Lefkandi that they might have been the bases for graneries now seems unlikely, since almost no traces of organic material was found on or around them and the shells on Structure b seem rather fragile for such a use. It seems unlikely that they were within a roofed or enclosed space and their proximity to the temple (less than 10 m. distant) and the presence of the cup, jug and crater, which indicate the use of a liquid, specifically wine, suggest that they had a ritual use. The new finds in Area A now suggest that our earlier interpretation of this part of the acropolis as a residential area may have been in error, since the buildings and structures now seem more appropriate for civic rather than private use. Much further excavation is necessary if the history and society of Archaic Halai is ever to be understood. Meantime, the scarcity of finds clearly datable to the later fifth century B.C. either from our trenches in Areas A and F or the excavations of Goldman below the "poros pavement" in the Temple Area, suggest the possibility that Goldman may have been in error in dating the destruction that resulted in the deposition of much of the debris that she assigns to the "second temple area" to 426 B.C. rather than earlier. An Archaic relief sculpture in stone best decribed as "folk art" and a local black-figured skyphos, both found in 1991 in trench F6 near the edge of the Temple Area, are catalogued in Appendix 1 (Nos. 7, 8).
Go on to the Classical Period
Last modified 2.5.98 |
Left: An AutoCad drawing of the temple and altar area of Archaic Halai
(In 
