Reading the Landscapes of the

Rural Peloponnese
Landscape change and regional variation
in an early ‘provincial’ setting

Daniel R. Stewart

BAR International Series 2504

2013
Published by

Archaeopress
Publishers of Briish Archaeological Reports
Gordon House
276 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7ED
England
bar@archaeopress.com
www.archaeopress.com

BAR S2504

Reading the Landscapes of the Rural Peloponnese: Landscape change and regional variaion in an early
‘provincial’ seing

© Archaeopress and D R Stewart 2013

ISBN 978 1 4073 1120 3

Printed in England by 4edge, Hockley

All BAR itles are available from:

Hadrian Books Ltd

122 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 7BP
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from Hadrian Books or may be downloaded from www.archaeopress.com
 CONTENTS
List of Figures iii
List of Boxes iv
List of Tables iv
Acknowledgements vi

I. Introduction 1
I.1 Research Context 2
I.2 Organisation of the Study 4

II. Data Sources and Approaches 5

II.1 Survey Archaeology 6
Survey Theory 7
Survey Method 10
Data Comparability 11
Site Definition and Classification 11
II.2 Historical Sources 14
II.3 The Intellectual Framework 17
Landscape(s) 17
Landscape and Geology 18
Landscape as Economy 19
Cereal Crop Agriculture 20
Viticulture 22
Oleoculture 25
Pastoral Activities 27
Landscape as Economy: Conclusions 28
II.4 Landscapes of Interaction 28
Modelling Rural Identities 31

III. Land Use and the Peloponnese 33

III.1 Methodology 33
Metadata 33
Survey Comparison 34
III.2 Intensive Surveys 38
The Laconia Survey 39
Laconia Survey Summary 40
Conclusions for Laconia Survey (Hellenistic) 41
Conclusions for Laconia Survey (Roman) 42
The Methana Survey 45
Methana Survey Summary 46
Conclusions for Methana Survey (Hellenistic) 47
Conclusions for Methana Survey (Roman) 4
The Berbati-Limnes Survey 50
Berbati-Limnes Survey Summary 51
Conclusions for Berbati-Limnes (Hellenistic) 52
Conclusions for Berbati-Limnes (Roman) 53
The Asea Valley Survey 54
Asea Valley Survey Summary 54
Conclusions for Asea Survey (Hellenistic) 56
Conclusions for Asea Survey (Roman) 58
The Southern Argolid Survey 60
Southern Argolid Survey Summary 61
Conclusions for Southern Argolid (Hellenistic) 63
Conclusions for Southern Argolid (Roman) 64
The Pylos Regional Archaeological Project 66
Pylos Regional Archaeological Project (PRAP) 66
Summary
Conclusions for PRAP (Hellenistic) 69
Conclusions for PRAP (Roman) 71
III.3 Conclusion 71

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IV. Regional Narratives 73
IV.1 Scales of Narration 73
Defining Historical Narration 73
Defining Scales 74
IV.2 Extensive Surveys 76
Achaea 77
Sikyonia 77
Eastern Arcadia 78
Megalopolis 79
Messenia 80
IV.3 The Peloponnese in Regions 80
Northeast 82
Northwest 84
Southeast 84
Southwest 85
Central 86
IV.4 Conclusion 87

V. Inter-regional Narratives 90
V.1 Moving from Small to Large 90
V.2 The Peloponnese as a Whole 90
The Hellenistic Peloponnese 90
The Roman Peloponnese 95
V.3 Mediterranean Trends 99
Greece in Context 99
The Nature(s) of Mediterranean Contacts 100

VI. Processes of Interaction 103

VI.1 Cultural Interaction 103
VI.2 The Nature of Cultural Interaction in the 103
Peloponnese
‘Local-Local Interaction 104
‘Local-Neighbour’ Interaction 107
‘Local-Foreign’ Interaction 109
VI.3 Conclusion: Scales of Interaction 111

VII. Conclusion 112

VII.1 Survey Comparison and Usability 112
VII.2 A New Interpretive Framework 112
VII.3 Processes of Interaction 114
VII.4 The Contextualised Peloponnese 114

Appendix: Intensive Survey Data 115

Laconia Survey Data 117
Methana Survey Data 120
Berbati-Limnes Survey Data 122
Asea Valley Survey Data 123
Southern Argolid Survey Data 124
Pylos Regional Archaeological Project Data 127
Ancient Agricultural Authors 128

Bibliography 135

ii