Saturday, 9 May 2020

GLA Citadel or something else?

#GLA is a #Mycenaean site that definitely does not not fit the pattern. Its modern  name is Albanian in origin. Some scholars think it was Hylai an unlocated settlement.

Yes it has walls and a ramp leading to a gateway but ...

This map shows Lake Copais at its hypothetical fullest extent. 
Personally I think it was smaller having studied the topography via Google Earth.


Here's another view showing GLA as an island.


Note that the central buildings and the SE corner are walled off from the rest of the island.
Compare this to some of the other sites I've shown you.


I usually manage to find an decent aerial shot but in this  case ...
 
Frankly from what photos I've seen the modern island is mainly a mass of weeds inside a wall.

So why did the Mycenaeans put walls with a gate up on a remote island that would have been surrounded by water even in summer until the lake was drained in the 19th century? 

My best idea. While this is described as a citadel I think this was some kind of protected flood refuge for cattle and sheep and other stock or a supply storage depot. Recent research shows the Mycenaeans tried to drain at least part of the lake and reduce the problem of sudden water levels changes. 

The walls were added to keep herds up on the mound and maybe stop pilfering of supplies ?

This would also explain the four gates for quick access. You don't want to be having to move things to one gate if you're excavating from rising flood waters during spring thaw or after a dyke failure. You want to get to a higher level as quickly as possible. Those gates probably align with piers or causeways or roads buried under layers of silt deposit. I doubt however we're get full evidence of this any time soon as the local farmers would NOT be very happy if someone started tearing up their fields saying Hi we're looking for Mycenaean causeways!

A final thought if you were a Mycenaean looking to build a storage depot/ flood refuge and knew of a lump of rock too uneven for farming ... 






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