I struck out for Halieis this morning. On the way down to Porto Kheli I stopped off at the antiquities dealer to snap off a few shots of the materials (marble thresholds and architectural pieces, antique bricks, circular hand mills, agricultural implements, large pithoi, stone basins, wellheads, furnace bellows, and so on) he had for sale. I’ve driven out to the site and now sit in the shade of a nearby carob. The excavated areas of the lower town are completely fenced in and locked tight. The materials in the excavated area appear to have been left as is except for the occasional trimming of the weeds. The unexcavated potion of the site stretches off into some nearby olive groves. I’m not sure how visitors gain access but it is clear that the archaeological service that is responsible for the whole of the Argolid doesn’t place a high priority on the archaeology of the southern Argolid in terms of attempting to cater to local and tourist interests. I will begin some interviews tomorrow with local hotel owners, people in the tourist industry, etc. to try and get a handle on these issues.

This excavated portion of the site is adjacent to a locale archaeological organization. Because today is a national holiday many businesses and offices are closed. GPS at sign adjacent to fenced in area N 37° 18.821, E 023° 09.154.

I video walked down to the lower fenced in excavation area that stretches to the shore. When I reached the shoreline I filmed an excavated area without a fence around it. It was in a poor state. I proceeded back to the car and drove down to the area by the shore. Here I took a panorama and sound sample at 10:40. Walls protrude everywhere—in the olive groves, next to the excavated areas, under the fence of the house in the middle of the site and down by the water. The heat is picking up. It is going to be another very hot day and there is little wind. I will now work my way up the Halieis corridor.

I have driven over the top of the Halieis corridor in order to scout out the general area. There are many "For Sale” signs and general construction in the area. For example to the west of the western ridgeline of the Halieis corridor there are several large estate homes under construction. I will take a panorama of this and continue to scout out the area.

Panorama taken at N 37° 18.548, E 023° 09.053

I drove over the headland and down to the Akshinitsa Bay. The locale is very built up with the Akshinitsa Bay Hotel to the north of the bay. I tried to locate site A10 but it is enclosed within a private estate. I will set out for A51, A52, and A52 and hope for better luck in locating them.

I took a panorama from the parking lot just to the NW of A10—N 37° 18.213, E 023° 08.705

On the way back I stopped the car by an open field of freshly cut grain in the shade of an olive and took a video walk to the top of the pine-covered ridge near A11. The smell of pine was a welcome change from the dry and dusty tinge one gets in a field of cut grain. The hill is conglomerated pebbles so the footing on the walk up was tricky. I took a panorama near A11 on the ridge just down from the summit of pines described by the AEP. I then ventured into the pines to look for A11, but I spent very little time at the task as it is getting late and there is much that I hope to accomplish today. The ridgeline is littered with shotgun shells. Summit—N 37° 18.116, E 023° 08.866

From the middle of this cluster of pines on the summit I took a video walk back down to the car.

New construction is occurring all over the peninsula to the E of Kosta. It took me quite some time to locate the survey area from 1980. Even here there has been a huge amount of contemporary construction.

1:20pm—I am out of water and pretty frustrated with today’s progress. I will take the middle of the day and return to Ermioni for lunch and possibly a mid-day swim. I will return to the area in the late afternoon when it is not so dreadfully hot!

I return to the Kosta area (refer to Metokhi coast from 1:5000 map of area) in the afternoon determined to revisit A51 and A55. I parked along the road and will now video walk the area transected by Red Team on August 8, 1980. Despite all the recent construction in the area the field where site A51 is located appears to be full of thistles only. I will take a video walk segment up to the pistachio bushes mentioned by Red Team.

I didn’t find the pistachio bushes but I did encounter quite a few carobs. I took a video walk from the western edge of the transect area of Red Team on 8/8/80. I walked E and uphill in a more or less zigzag pattern because of the high thistles. I stopped halfway up the hill near a few carobs to look around a light scatter I had come across. I then proceeded from this field farther east and stopped at another scatter area. I saw no trace of the pistachio bushes mentioned by Red Team for that would have put me on course. I began to suspect that A51, Metokhi "tower" had been swallowed by the estate nearby but fortunately I finally came across it.

Recent bulldozer activity in the area has affected the structure of A51. The western portion of the “tower” is being worn away from automobile traffic along a dirt road up the hill that provides access to the adjacent estates. The southeast corner block of the structure appears to have been removed by earth moving activity in the vicinity. It is difficult to say how much of the structure has been affected because the northern half is buried under topsoil and thistles. The soil was removed from a bulldozed section of the hill a few meters to the north. A51 is at N 37° 17.781, E 023° 11.238

Sound sample was taken at 4:55pm.

I will rewalk the area of the transect to the west then along the road to see if I can get a better look at the area of A55, A52, and A54.

The headland that A54 is situated on is completely enclosed by a private estate. The A52 roadside site has had a similar fate. I will walk along the along the road by A52 up the hill to A51 and out by A54 on my way back to the car.

I drove up the dirt road that covers part of A51 to have a quick look for A55. I drove past two fairly new estates and walked along the hillside just below the road and pine trees. I came across bits of the light but continuous scatter mentioned by Red Team on 8/8/80. So I took GPS readings and a panorama as well as a video walk to the area and a video transect back. N 37° 17.881, E 023° 11.305

There was a deep linear trench cut into the hillside not far from the area of the scatter. This may suggest that the area will be built upon soon. Indeed, such a fate awaits A51 as the field in which it is situated is also "For Sale."

Thus far I have been able to collect data on over 50 sites. I have to begin some of my interviews tomorrow. I should start with tourist agencies in Porto Kheli. Up to this point none of the major sites such as Franchthi, Hermion or Halieis have had any controlled/overseen access. There are either fences around them or they are open. I need to get a handle on the interest in the archaeology of the region. What purpose does it serve? Or is it merely treated as a backwater compared to the other more famous sites in the Argolid?

16/8 While driving out of the area yesterday I noticed that both A56 and A53 are enclosed within the boundaries of a huge estate which has been heavily landscaped with ornamental terraces and cypresses on the hills. In the low valleys between were new vineyards…

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