Well Built Mycenae, Fascicule 14: Tsountas House Area(14 Well Built Mycenae: The Helleno-British Excavations within the Citadel at Mycenae, 1959–1969)

Well Built Mycenae, Fascicule 14: Tsountas House Area presents the results of the excavations in this area at Mycenae conducted under the direction of Wace (1950) and Taylour (1959-60) in collaboration with Papademetriou and later Mylonas. Located in the 'Cult Centre', the Tsountas House Area contains two buildings and multiple access ramps. It represents both the earliest and latest constructions in this sanctuary complex. First investigated by Tsountas in the late 19th century but never fully published, the remains were fully restudied, and the excavation expanded to discover the first evidence of ritual architecture, features, and paraphernalia. This study is essential for understanding the conception and function of Mycenaean religious space, the associated features and finds, and the socio-political development of cult in the earliest known religious installation at Mycenae. It is also important for a diachronic understanding of the Cult Centre's development from an individual extra-urban shrine to a sanctuary complex enclosed eventually within a fortified citadel. The contextualised discussion of the unique finds and evidence for ritual and practice directly informs the continuing dialogue about popular and official religions and the role of a palatial administration.

Table of Contents:
Foreword (E. B. French and K. A. Wardle) ; Acknowledgements ; INTRODUCTION ; Note on the Polygonal Tower ; Historiography of Excavation and Publication ; Chronological Theories ; PART 1. THE HOUSE ; Description and Excavation ; The House ; The Entrance ; Court A ; Room B ; Megaron C ; Rooms D1 and D2 ; Stairs G ; Basement (Rooms F1–3 and Corridor E) ; Forecourt H ; Walls J, K, and M ; Wall N and Offset O ; The Forecourt Deposit ; The Finds ; The House ; Forecourt H ; Wall K ; Summary ; Use of the House ; PART 2. THE TSOUNTAS HOUSE SHRINE (G) ; Terminology ; Description and Excavation ; The Shrine ; Room G ; The Shrine — Lower Floor ; The Shrine — Upper Floor ; Area Q ; The Finds ; Room G ; The Shrine ; Area Q ; Summary ; Use of the Shrine ; Part 3. ACCESS TO THE AREA ; Description and Excavation ; Stairway and Central Drain K ; The Culvert ; Lower End of Stairway and Drain K ; The Sacred Way ; The Upper Ramp from Threshold m to the Middle Ramp ; The Upper Ramp ; The Middle Ramp ; The Lower Ramp and Passage J ; Area Z ; The West Cyclopean Wall ; The Finds ; Stairway and Drain K ; The Upper Ramp ; The Middle Ramp ; The Lower Ramp and Passage J ; Area Z ; Summary and Use ; Part 4. CONCLUSION ; Endnotes ; Bibliography

About the Author :
Kim Shelton is Director of the Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley. She directs the excavations at the Sanctuary of Zeus, Ancient Nemea, the Petsas House, Mycenae, and the TAPHOS chamber tomb project at Aidonia. As a specialist in ceramics and the political economy of the prehistoric Aegean, her research is focused on workshop dynamics and their relationship to the market economy of pottery, the regional needs of a diverse population, and the Mycenaean palatial administration. Her research on ancient Greek ritual and religion explores the earliest manifestations of Greek religious ritual through permanent architectural establishments and ritual paraphernalia from the Bronze Age to the Archaic periods. She has worked at Mycenae for more than 30 years with the Archaeological Society of Athens and the British School at Athens.