Kristian Göransson

Euesperides (Benghazi): preliminary report on the spring 2004 season

This article reports on the sixth season of the ongoing project at Euesperides (Benghazi). Excavation in Area P established the date of construction of the penultimate phase (and therefore of the plain pebble mosaic with inscription published last year) as 300-282 BC, following the abandonment and demolition of the antepenultimate phase beneath it. An area used for the preparation and cutting of the materials employed in the final-phase mosaics has been identified. In Area Q the dismantling of the street sequence was completed, and the W building fronting the street found to date from the fifth century BC. In Area R the crushed deposits of Murex shell were removed and working surfaces associated with purple dye production defined. Geological investigations to the west of the city revealed a possible location for the ancient harbour, and showed that the waterlogged deposits of the former sebkha are a good source for further palaeoenvironmental research. Study of the finds also continued. Further work on reconstructing the design of the final phase mosaic in Area P suggests a central motif probably of two dolphins set within a wave-crest surround. The initial results of the analysis of the mosaic samples taken from the final-phase Building A are presented. The study of the wall plaster fragments was begun, enabling some preliminary observations on the decoration. New forms of local black glaze pots have been recovered this year along with fineware imports from Attica, Corinth, East Greece, south Italy and the Punic world throwing light on the interrelations between Euesperides and the Mediterranean world from the fifth to third centuries BC. Full quantification of the coarse pottery assemblages continued this season, doubling the dataset of fully recorded pottery, whilst detailed analysis of vessel forms and their variations identified production techniques and chronological developments of vessel shapes within the local and imported wares. The study of the amphorae identified more Punic amphorae and an unusual basket-handled amphora which may be of Cypriot origin. Initial assessments of environmental and faunal remains were conducted.

Euesperides 2005: Preliminary Report on the Spring 2005 season

This paper is a preliminary report on the Spring 2005 season of the excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi). Work continued in Areas P and Q, and on the processing of finds from the 2005 and previous seasons. In Area P a series of domestic deposits dated to the last quarter of the fourth or first quarter of the third century BC was excavated, including a hearth, a probable domestic altar and associated votive deposits, and a series of post-holes perhaps connected with furniture and a loom. Two small external yard areas seem to have been used for purple dye production. In Area Q late occupation to the west of the street is dated to the late fourth century BC; to the east of the street, the latest stratigraphy appears to have been truncated and the occupation levels so far excavated here date from 470 down to 300 BC. Selected finewares from the excavations are presented, ranging in date from the sixth to the third centuries BC. Work on the coarse pottery and amphora assemblages has begun to distinguish products of different production centres within Cyrenaica. Besides demonstrating the quantities of imported coarsewares from Corinth, the Aegean and the Punic world, we can now recognise four classes of Cyrenaican amphorae, including exports present at Punic Sabratha. The study of the wall plaster, environmental remains and other finds are also briefly discussed. Euesperides is a site both of archaeological importance and of considerable scientific interest for its rare wetland vegetation, but both of these aspects remain vulnerable to ongoing damage as a result of urban development, uncontrolled rubbish dumping and a lack of effective protection of the site.