4.24 Lagoudhera Valley: Medieval to Modern

The Medieval-Modern pottery shows a clear focus of activity along the banks of the Lagoudhera River. The only Byzantine material was a single sherd of yellow monochrome glazed ware at Mavrovouni.

The highest concentrations are at Mavrovouni where a substantial amount of 14th to 16th century pottery was recorded. This is presumably associated with the church (TP047), a small settlement and a ring of cultivation. This may be the 16th-century settlement of San Chirico known from Venetian village lists (Grivaud 1998, 470). At the north end of the Intensive Survey Zone is the medieval estate of Athassi. The earliest evidence for activity here is from 1440, and it was recorded as having five francomati (free peasant farmers) living here in 1565 (Grivaud 1998, 468). We found no pottery to support this early date. It is during the Late Ottoman and Modern periods that the structure (TP014) and threshing floor (TP015) at Athassi are built, and the pottery found in the surrounding area dates to these periods.

TP014 Xyliatos Athasin

The Ottoman estate house at Athassi (TP014) was constructed of mudbrick and oven-fired bricks, and is relatively well preserved. The ground floor has four rooms and there is evidence for a second storey, though this is not preserved. Approximately 25m east and upslope from the estate house is a threshing floor (TP015). Built directly into the bedrock, it is constructed of flat paving stones which are not indigenous to the area. This location is at the south edge of a gully and would have been exposed to the necessary winds for winnowing. North of the estate house is a series of gullies, each with several checkdams (TP009). These checkdams are flat arable plots of land built up behind stone dams, and in this case sown with barley and almond trees. It is probable these are contemporary with the estate, based on the distribution of pottery.

Mavrovouni, in contrast to Athassi, has a wealth of later Ottoman pottery. The greater nucleation of Ottoman-period settlement may have resulted in farmers from the locality working in this area, including farmers from the neighbouring village of Xyliatos and perhaps from Athassi.

The middle and late 20th century was dominated by the vast open-scale mining operation at Memi, whose spoil heaps tower above Mavrovouni, and on the upper parts of Alestos to the west.