New evidence on Early Helladic Laconia

Abstract

This article presents three new Early Helladic sites in Laconia, identified as such on the basis of sherd material collected between 1990–94. Two of the sites, Agios Georgios and Vouno Panagias, lie on the east side of the Eurotas river in the Sparta plain and offer a good opportunity to study the settlement hierarchy and density at that time. Moreover, the two probable EH III sherds from these sites are the first to be recognised in Laconia. The third new site of Boza lies on the east coast of the Laconian gulf near ancient Asopos. The richness and variety of sherd material collected there point to the sea as a possible route via which ceramic innovations reached Laconia. Finally, important known sites like Agios Vassileios in the Sparta plain, Vardies south of Gytheio and Daimonia on the east coast of the Laconian gulf, greatly contribute to the picture of EH Laconia as a densely populated area maintaining contacts with other regions of the EH culture throughout the third millennium.