Mycenaean Citadel Investigated	Volume 52 Number 1, January/February 1999
by Yannis N. Stavrakakis

Greek archaeologists working on Sifnos have uncovered the remains of one of the most important Mycenaean citadels outside the mainland. Located on the island's San Andrea acropolis, a rocky plateau overlooking the Aegean and the islands of Ios and Syros, the site was first examined more than 25 years ago. The new excavations, directed by Christina Televantou of the regional antiquities ephorate, have yielded the well-preserved foundations of at least ten buildings, possibly houses, with two or three rooms in each.

Potsherds and stone tools found at the houses are variously dated to the Mycenaean, Geometric, and classical periods, reflecting sporadic occupation of the site between the thirteenth and fourth centuries B.C. Televantou says the foundations of certain structures on the eastern side of the site, at the highest point on the plateau, may have belonged to a temple or other public building. Plans call for opening the site to visitors.

© 1999 by the Archaeological Institute of America archive.archaeology.org/9901/newsbriefs/mycenaean.html