Prehistoric Settlement of Thermi in Lesbos

One of the most important archaeological sites on the island of Lesbos is the prehistoric settlement of Thermi, located on the beach of the present-day village of Pyrgoi in Thermi, 10 km. north of Mytilene. It is an Early Bronze Age site (3200-2400 BC), with later settlement phases in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (2000-1300 BC). The site was identified and systematically excavated in 1929-1933 by the British School of Athens and more specifically by the British archaeologist Winifred Lamb (1894-1963), who published her work in detail three years later, in 1936. At the end of the excavation work of the British School of Athens, W. Lamb proceeded to landfill the trenches for protection reasons. Since then, the prehistoric settlement of Thermi has remained inaccessible and essentially unknown to the wider public. In 2005, and after the successful inclusion of the archaeological site in the Regional Operational Programme for the North Aegean 2000-2006, the work of uncovering, shaping and showcasing the settlement began, which was completed in 2008. In 2011, additional probational digs were carried out, which brought to light newer archaeological data.

The prehistoric settlement of Thermi belongs to the cultural unit of the northeastern Aegean, which was centred in Troy and included, apart from the Asia Minor coast, the large islands of Lesbos, Lemnos, Samos and Chios. The coastal settlement of Thermi was founded at the beginning of the 3rd millenn. (around 3000 BC), and soon showed signs of early urbanisation, as did most centres in the same cultural unit of the northeastern Aegean. On the one hand, the general position of Lesbos at the crossroads connecting the Aegean with the Hellespont, the West with the East, and on the other hand, the position of the settlement in particular, at the closest point to the opposite coast of Asia Minor, provided all the necessary conditions for its rapid development, which in any case was part of the geographically and geologically privileged and fertile area of southeastern Lesbos.

The settlement of Thermi was built on a low hill on a small peninsula bounded northeast and southwest by two shallow streams, the mouths of which formed two sandy beaches, ideal for the mooring of small prehistoric boats. W. Lamb’s excavation revealed an area of about 8 acres. A large part of the settlement, however, was eroded over the years by sea waves. The area originally occupied by the settlement is estimated to have totalled 16 hectares, while the inhabitants of Thermi, in its heyday, numbered about 1,200 – not counting the number of farmers who had their dwellings scattered within the adjacent countryside.

From the beginning of its foundation, Thermi was an organised settlement with obvious early urban characteristics. According to the excavation data, the study of the stratigraphy, the available settlement remains and the portable finds, five successive settlement phases of the Early Bronze Age (3200-2400 BC) (Thermi I-V) can be distinguished, corresponding to the first two phases of Troy (Troy I-II), as well as phases of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (2000-1300 BC). The first two phases of the Early Bronze Age (3200-2400 BC) (Thermi I-II) are estimated to have lasted approximately one century, while the remaining three (Thermi III-V) lasted 200 years each.

Early Bronze Age (3200-2400 BC)

Thermi I

During the first phase, the settlement was founded on soft rock, following the gentle curve of the natural terrain, oriented from north to south. Thermi I was a small unfortified settlement, but it was nevertheless thoroughly organised and constructed following a centrally-planned building system – particularly popular in the northeastern Aegean and western Asia Minor – which was preserved until Thermi III. More specifically, the buildings were connected to each other by partitions and formed clusters, which were separated by narrow streets and arranged radially around a central building complex, which was delimited by a wider street, 2-3 m. wide. The houses of the inhabitants of Thermi were stone-built, with horizontal roofs, made of branches and clay, following the palatial type of architecture: rectangular elongated buildings, with an entrance on the narrow side facing the road, with a usually closed or sometimes open, anteroom and main room. Both the floors of the interiors (of the houses) and the streets, as well as the few small open spaces (squares), were generally paved with sea gravel (pebbles), rarely with slates.

Thermi II

During the second settlement phase of Thermi, the first attempt of its inhabitants for defensive reinforcement is observed: in the rudimentary fortification enclosure, created by the continuous outer walls of the houses, in the western hinterland, an entrance gate to the interior of the settlement is formed, protected by two towers of a trapezoidal floor plan. In Thermi II, the ratio of covered and open spaces remains the same, with a few exceptions, as does the typology of the houses. There are, however, some houses with a polymerised main room, the use of which is linked to the storage needs of the inhabitants.

Thermi III

In Thermi III, the effort of defensive reinforcement of the settlement continued with the creation of an internal fortification enclosure, this time 1-2 m. thick, surrounding the central quarter of Thermi, and reinforced with four towers/fortifications. This defensive building activity, although not particularly elaborate, in fact makes the centre of the settlement a last resort in case of an emergency and should be interpreted in the light of a possible gradually increasing need for greater protection from external dangers. Towards the end of the settlement phase of Thermi III, this internal fortified enclosure was removed and the central building complex was renovated.

Thermi IV

In these years Troy (Troy II) acquires great power and supremacy throughout western Asia Minor, while the flourishing and rapid spread of the Trojan civilisation throughout the northeastern Aegean, which affects its most important centres (as well as their interactions), does not leave Thermi unaffected. It is in this context that the dramatic changes that took place in the fourth settlement phase of Thermi (Thermi IV) should be observed, which reflect, on the one hand, the population growth of the settlement and on the other hand, its strong political organisation. The urban floor plan of the settlement changed radically: the centrally-planned building system with its radial floor plan was abandoned for good. The settlement is now organised in large blocks separated by a few parallel streets and occupying the entire width (SW-NE), in accordance to the orthogonal town planning system. The elongated buildings remain of the same general type, however, individual subdivisions can be observed inside them (usually in the anteroom, more rarely, in their main room). The whole city is now shielded by a fortified enclosure.

Thermi V

During the fifth and most complete building phase of Thermi (Thermi V), the orthogonal urban system was extended and perfected. The core of the settlement now consists of five large, unevenly sized building blocks, this time with a different orientation, which are organised on the basis of a large road, according to the ‘linear’ urban floor plan. The latter runs through the entire length of the settlement (NW-SE), while more transverse roads, starting from the western and southern gates of the wall and running through the entire width of the settlement, create small squares at their junction and thus ensure easy communication between the districts. In Thermi V, a strong defensive wall, 2 m. wide and with enclosures was built. Smaller transverse walls connected the outer wall to the inner wall, which had two main gates – one to the south and one to the west – reinforced by towers/bastions. This phase saw the appearance of single-room, two-room, three-room and palatial type dwellings with open courtyards. The elongated building Θ1 (25 x 5 m.), which is located in the centre of the settlement (in sector Θ, facing SW-NE), opposite the southern gate, is noteworthy and has a particularly important political and economic character. It comprised an enclosed anteroom, a very spacious and elongated main room with a central hearth, and two smaller rooms in its rear northeastern section, one of which revealed a second hearth and a stone platform.

Daily Life

The water supply needs of the inhabitants of Thermi were covered by wells that were drilled down to the water table of the area. Of the eight wells found in total, three date back to Thermi I, four to Thermi IV, while the rest seem to have been drilled during the later settlement phases in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (2000-1300 BC). Both the portable finds of this category (everyday utensils, numerous stone, bone and metal tools) and the fixed architectural structures (cooking and heating hearths, stone stands and platforms, vaulted ovens, supporting pits for pots, clay-lined cesspools in later years) bear witness to the daily activities of the inhabitants, in relation to food preparation, storage of goods, housekeeping and other productive activities. The latter include hunting, fishing, farming, breeding of animals, spinning and weaving, tanning, basket-weaving, carpentry and shipbuilding, bone and stone making, stone working and metalworking. However, it seems that, for the most part, the inhabitants of Thermi were craftsmen and traders.

Pottery

The pottery of Thermi is handmade, in the Early Bronze Age, and its clay is brown. Initially, the surface of the vessels is blackish, reddish and brownish-red, sometimes fully glazed or at parts glazed, often with incised decoration, sometimes with colour variations and not always well fired. Later, hand-made vessels acquire a brown, and more rarely reddish and greyish, surface, which will prevail in later times. Apart from storage vessels (amphorae and pithoi) and everyday utilitarian vessels (cooking vessels, pressure-type vessels), the basic shapes of the vessels used (mostly drinking and serving vessels) are bottles (simple or tripodal), cups (with or without a footed base), pouring vessels (prochoi), scoops, etc.

Metalworking

The art of metalworking (copper, silver, gold) that the inhabitants of Thermi possessed since early times is reflected, not only in the rich findings of this category, such as tools (metal discs, drills, needles), weapons (swords, daggers, axes, spikes), jewellery (brooches, bracelets, talismans), but also the objects associated with their production, such as the mining funnels for melting and casting metals, the moulds for making weapons and tools, and the nozzles used to turn up the fire, an essential element in metallurgy. The bronze weapons (swords, daggers, arrowheads) of the Late Bronze Age found in the settlement deserve special mention. These works are local and typologically belong to the broader category of Mycenaean weapons – thus indicating the influence of the Mycenaean culture on the town of Thermi – and confirm the long tradition of the metalworkers of Thermi, who undoubtedly occupied a special place in the settlement throughout its life.

Clay Figurines

Characteristic are the numerous clay figurines that first appeared in Thermi III and continued to be produced until Thermi V. Typologically they are very varied and mostly depict female figures. They are linked to the cultic beliefs of the inhabitants of Thermi and certainly testify to their contacts with the southeastern Balkans.

Foreign Affairs & Trade

From the study of pottery and clay figurines, imported raw materials, such as metals (gold, silver, copper, lead), but also imported finished products, such as stone bottles, copper brooches with bird-shaped heads etc., testify that the inhabitants of Thermi had special contacts and trade relations with Troy – and Asia Minor in general – with the Cyclades, mainland Greece and Macedonia.

Middle and Late Bronze Ages (2000-1300 BC)

At the end of the Early Bronze Age (2400 BC), the settlement of Thermi was abandoned and its inhabitants withdrew to the interior of the island. This is the period during which Troy loses its glory. Around 2000 BC and in parallel with the revival and prosperity of Troy (Troy VI), which was the cultural metropolis of western Asia Minor and the northeastern Aegean, new inhabitants took residence in the settlement of Thermi, which was – and would remain until its destruction by fire around 1300 BC – of limited size and importance. In those days, the earlier building tradition continued and the typology of the houses remained the same, but there was an important innovation: the ceramic wheel was introduced. The influence and radiance of the Mycenaean culture is also evident in the prehistoric settlement of Thermi and is reflected in the decorated pottery and its local copies, the characteristic Mycenaean clay figurines and the Mycenaean bronze weapons of the period. Important findings of this settlement phase include a vaulted ceramic kiln for firing the vessels, as well as small cist-shaped cases with infant/child burials found near the houses of the inhabitants.

The prehistoric settlement of ancient Thermi is one of the most important archaeological sites on the island of Lesbos, which, after the completion of the project of its development and promotion, was made available to the general public and is still open to visitors today. The excavation of the site and the study of the rich archaeological data that emerged, on the one hand, undoubtedly helped to complete to a great extent our picture of the early urban settlements of the wider cultural unit of the northeastern Aegean, and on the other hand, shed light on the mostly unknown, but very important, aspects of prehistoric Lesbos, especially during the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Ages.

Location

Municipality: Mytilene

Municipal Section: Mytilene

Location: Area from Kalamiaris, Panagiouda to Thermi beach

Images

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