Liatovouni: A Molossian Cemetery and Settlement in Epirus

Angelika Douzougli & John K. Papadopoulos Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 125 (2010): 1-88.

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of recent discoveries at Liatovouni, a Molossian site in the valley of Konitsa in Epirus. The cemetery comprises 103 tombs dating from the 13^th or 12^th century through the late 5^th or earlier 4^th century BC. Special attention is given to the earliest burial, a well-armed male of the late Mycenaean period. The tombs contained an impressive array of grave goods, including local Early Iron Age matt-painted pottery, numerous imported Late Geometric, Archaic, and Classical vessels, a rich variety of bronze vessels, jewelry, and arms, a panoply of iron weapons, in addition to iron and bimetallic jewelry, and objects of silver, ivory, bone, wood, faience, glass, semi-precious stone, and terracotta. The material displays strong links with central and southern Greece, particularly the region of the Ambrakian and Corinthian Gulfs, Italy, southern Illyria, and the Balkan Peninsula more generally. The paper also includes a preliminary account of the small contemporary settlement (kome) adjacent to the cemetery. Liatovouni, together with Vitsa Zagoriou, provides an important insight into the nature of settlement in Epirus in the period before full-scale urbanization, with far-reaching implications for the rise of urbanism in the region.