2004 Field Season
Our primary area of study for the 2004 season was the coastal plain known variously as Koutsopetria or Paliokastro, along the base of the significant coastal height called Vigla and the hill of Kokkinokremmos with its important Late Bronze Age fortified settlement. Our principal goals of the season were three:
(1) to define the extent and nature of a high density, Late Roman site at the base of the hill called Vigla;
(2) to identify and characterize other periods present in this site; and
(3) to determine the relationship between this coastal site and other coastal sites on the island, inland sites in the vicinity of Larnaka, and sites in the Eastern Mediterranean generally.
Fieldwork this season was directed toward a gridded collection over the whole of the Late Roman site. The area investigated by PKAP during the 2004 field season encompassed the greater part of the narrow coastal plain which extends from the base of the Koutsopetria ridge, which includes the cliffs of Vigla, Mavropilos, and Kokkinokremos, to the sea. The total area of this region is roughly 585,786 sq. meters. We surveyed 184 units using a 40 x 40 m grid and focusing primarily on the western part of the site and the base of the north-west trending ridge that terminated at the flat plateau of Kokkinokremos. The total area we gridded was 294,399 sq m., over 50% of the total area of the coastal plain, from which we took a 20% sample.
Stage One: Basic Sampling
Stage One involved a systematic survey of all of the grid squares covering the entire area of artifact distribution in the coastal plain, from as far west as the gravel road that runs to Pyla, and as far east as the plain below Kokkinokremos. Fieldwalkers spaced at 10 meter intervals walked transects across each unit, counting with tally counters all pottery and tile one meter to the right and west of their transect, as well as lithics and anything else they might come across in their swath (i.e. glass, mortar, metal objects, coins et c.), thus recording a 20% sample of density for each grid square, i.e., a 20% sample of the overall area of artifact distribution. Because we record counts for individual walkers and know their location in space, we also have specific ‘sub-tract’ data, for the densities of artifacts within a unit.
Along with individual counts of total artifacts we also recorded information regarding aspects of the unit which would affect the recovery of artifacts. Most of the information we collected is familiar to students of survey archaeology, and the directors of this project had personally field tested the effect of this variable in survey work in the Korinthia and Kythera. We recorded evidence of current land use (olives, wheat, barren, et c.) vegetation cover (weeds, trees, phrygana et c.), vegetation height in relation to the field walker (i.e. ankle high, knee high, waist high et c.) and surface visibility recorded at 10% intervals. We also noted whether the unit was ploughed and whether the soil was loose or compacted. Finally, we collected data that survey archaeologists have long supposed to be related to artifact recovery rates. This includes surface clast size, background disturbance (i.e. anything that obstructs one’s ability to differentiate artifacts from the soil matrix), and the presence or absence of sherd crusting.
To characterize and sample the artifacts in each of the gridded squares, the PKAP Survey employed a collection sampling strategy called the ChronoType (CT) system, versions of which were pioneered by the Sydney Cyprus Survey Project, and several recently concluded projects in Greece.
Stage 2: Total Collection Circles
The intensive transect walking of grid squares absorbed most of the time and energy of the 2004 field season. However, at the end of the season, we were able to initiate a second more intensive stage of artifact sampling by taking a 5% total collection sample from a selection of 10 grid squares. Total collection circles were done in acknowledgement of the limitations that large site survey strategies impose, and were specifically intended to reveal artifacts underrepresented by our artifact sampling strategy, allowing us to bring into finer resolution the chronological and functional character of the site. Moreover, it will also acknowledge ongoing concerns about the limits of survey method in assessing the complexities of artifact patterning in the Eastern Mediterranean.