A SANCTUARY OF THE GEOMETRIC PERIOD IN ANCIENT HELIKE, ACHAEA

Abstract

The article presents an apsidal temple excavated by the 6th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Nikoleika, in the chora of ancient Helike. The building was erected at the end of the eighth century, after levelling which probably destroyed a Protogeometric construction. A mudbrick altar erected in the first half of the eighth century lay buried beneath the temple floor: offerings and faunal remains from the altar area are presented, noting evidence for ritual dining. A terminus ante quem for the abandonment of the Geometric temple is provided by mid sixth-century architectural terracottas, presumably from its successor.