Supervisors info:
Χρύσανθος Κανελλόπουλος- Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Κλασικής Αρχαιολογίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Ευρυδίκη Κεφαλίδου -Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Κλασικής Αρχαιολογίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Daniela Stoyanova- Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Department of Archaeology, Sofia University
Summary:
The subject of this study is the presentation and examination of the terracotta
roof tiles found during a rescue excavation conducted in 2016/2017 on Vasileos
Georgiou A Street, 2 in Piraeus, in the context of the western extension of the Tramway.
The roof tiles belong to three assemblages excavated within a triangular area (Area 1),
which belonged to a larger building complex, occupying the SW part of a building block
in the NW part of the city, to the east of the port of Kantharos.
The latest chronological assemblages studied consist of a layer of fragmented
roof tiles, as well as a multitude of coarse-ware sherds, which has been called
conventionally ‘destruction layer’, as well as a disposal pit (L1), which was revealed
after the removal of the ‘destruction layer’, and contained an abundance of roof tile,
transport amphorae, as well as coarse- and fine-ware sherds. The pottery and tiles found
date from the 3rd century BCE until the 1st century BCE, while the available evidence
links the deposits to the clearing of the city’s debris after the destruction of Piraeus by
Sulla in 86 BCE. The earliest assemblage was excavated in a well (Well 1), in which
coarse- and fine-ware sherds were found, dating the contents of the well to the late 5th
c. BCE, as well as fragments of transport amphorae and Laconic roof tile sherds, one
of which was stamped.
The total number of the roof tile sherds collected and studied from all three
assemblages is 4,397. During the study, a set of criteria was defined for grouping the
roof tiles into distinct types. Thus, the tiles were first separated based on their type,
Corinthian or Laconic, and then grouped primarily based on the cross-section of the
rims, the clay fabric, as well as their dimensions. Based on these criteria, 16 distinct
groups of Laconian roof tiles emerged, which come from at least 16 different roofs, as
well as 9 distinct groups of Corinthian roof tiles, which come from at least 9 roofs.
Based on the aforementioned grouping, an attempt was made to determine the type of
roofs from which the tiles probably originated, as well as to investigate the possibility
of drawing conclusions regarding the shape and pitch of these roofs.
A special section was dedicated to the stamped Laconian pan tile, which comes
from the overlying fill layer of Well 1 and bears the inscription "ΔΗΜΗΤΡΟ[Σ]".
Stamping roof tiles with names of deities in the genitive case was common practice,
indicating that the tiles belong to a shrine of the deity being inscribed. In the context of
this study, we examined the hypothesis that the tile in question comes from a sanctuary
dedicated to Demeter, such as the Thesmophorion of Piraeus, which was probably
located - based on philological and archaeological evidence – in the vicinity of the
excavation site.
Keywords:
terracotta tiles, roof tiles, roof slope, roof pitch, stamped roof tile,Thesmophorion, architecture, Piraeus
