Two sanctuaries, two horos inscriptions and a procession road of the Classical period in southern Euboia: Detection, reconstruction and interpretation

Abstract

In this article we reconstruct the religious landscape between the sanctuaries of Plakari and Karababa in southern Euboia. These cult places were connected by a procession road, datable to the Classical period. To map this fragmentarily preserved road system and the general layout of the rural sanctuary on the Karababa hill slope we developed a three-staged methodology for targeted surveys. This comprises a desktop study of the target area using remotely sensed and spatial data, mapping the target area by making orthophotos from a drone, and ground-truthing by means of pedestrian surveys and revisiting and reassessing known archaeological find places. As a next phase of our research we reconstruct the road system and offer an interpretation of the road, sanctuary and other constituent elements of the religious landscape, emphasizing the importance of movement and landscape perception. In this final, interpretative part we also discuss a large and long boundary wall which we argue to have encompassed the sacred land belonging to the sanctuary, and two horos inscriptions, probably demarcating the temenos of the sanctuary proper, which included several platforms, a threshing floor and possible altars and which may have been dedicated to Demeter.