Definition: Mitrou is a Bronze Age and early Iron Age archaeological site located on a small tidal islet in the North Euboean Gulf of Greece, about 65 kilometers northwest of Lefkandi. Continuous occupations identified at Mitrou have included Helladic through the Middle Protogeometric periods from the 16th through the 10th centuries BC.
Important architectural structures at Mitrou include Building A, a long narrow apsidal building (built with an apse), which apparently was used through the Late Bronze Age and into the Protogeometric, when it was burned in the early to mid 10th century BC. This structure is similar to the Heroon at Lefkandi, and like that structure may have commemorated an ancient Greek hero. Evidence supporting the designation of Building A as a heroon include the pattern of sturdy, closely placed support posts and a variety of pedestalled cups, jugs, kraters and pithoi including a large bell-shaped krater which may have been a grave marker. Five cist tombs were also identified at Mitrou.
The Mitrou Archaeological Project began in 2004, and is co-directed by Aleydis Van de Moortel, assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, and Eleni Zahou, archaeologist of the 14th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Lamia.
Important architectural structures at Mitrou include Building A, a long narrow apsidal building (built with an apse), which apparently was used through the Late Bronze Age and into the Protogeometric, when it was burned in the early to mid 10th century BC. This structure is similar to the Heroon at Lefkandi, and like that structure may have commemorated an ancient Greek hero. Evidence supporting the designation of Building A as a heroon include the pattern of sturdy, closely placed support posts and a variety of pedestalled cups, jugs, kraters and pithoi including a large bell-shaped krater which may have been a grave marker. Five cist tombs were also identified at Mitrou.
The Mitrou Archaeological Project began in 2004, and is co-directed by Aleydis Van de Moortel, assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, and Eleni Zahou, archaeologist of the 14th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Lamia.
Sources
Van De Moortel, Aleydis and Eleni Zahou 2003-2004 2004 Excavations at Mitrou, East Lokris. Aegean Archaeology 7:39-48. Free download.
The Mitrou Archaeological Project webpage at the University of Tennessee is the place to learn more about Mitrou.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
