Editing Lerna (section)

==Archaeology==
Excavations at the site were initiated under [[John L. Caskey]] in 1952, whose efforts initiated the series of publications of Bronze Age Lerna, ''Lerna''  I-V, inspiring many other publications.

[[File:Lerna SE fortification wall.jpg|thumb|Early Helladic fortification wall of Lerna III]]

Lerna was occupied in Neolithic times, as early as the fifth millennium BCE, then was abandoned for a time before the sequence of occupation from the Early to Late Bronze Age (Early [[Helladic]] through Late Helladic or [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] period). On-site techniques of [[flint-knapping]] with imported obsidian and chert attest to cultural continuity over this long stretch of time, with reduction in the supply of obsidian from [[Melos]] testifying to reduced long-distance trade at the end of Early Helladic III, corresponding to Lerna IV.<ref>Britt Hartenberger and Curtis Runnels, "The Organization of Flaked Stone Production at Bronze Age Lerna" ''Hesperia'' '''70'''.3 (July 2001:255-283).</ref>

The site of Lerna is one of the largest prehistoric [[tumulus|tumuli]] in Greece (ca. 180 m by 160 m across), which accumulated during a long Neolithic occupation. The crest of the mound was levelled and extended in the Early Bronze Age (Early Helladic II period, ca. 2500–2200 BC), as at [[Eutresis (city)|Eutresis]] and [[Orchomenus (Boeotia)|Orchomenus]],<ref>[[John L. Caskey]], "The Early Helladic Period in the Argolid" ''Hesperia'' '''29'''.3 (July 1960:285-303); Caskey, the excavator, offers an overview of Lerna.</ref> for the construction of a new settlement, known as Lerna III in the site's stratigraphy. Lerna III lacks signs of continuity with the previous occupation. It was strongly fortified by a double ring of defensive walls with towers<ref>(Caskey 1960:289),</ref> and was the site of a two-storey palace or administrative center known as [[House of the Tiles]], for the terracotta tiles that sheathed its roof (an early example of tile roofing).<ref>The walls of the building were just under a meter thick, and the entire structure was 12 m wide by 25 m long; only the great ''[[Tholos (Ancient Rome)|tholos]]'' at [[Tiryns]], 28 m. in diameter, compares with its scale (Caskey 1960:288).</ref>  This building was destroyed by fire at the end of the Early Helladic II period.<ref>"Violent destruction appears... to have occurred about the same time at Lerna, [[Tiryns]], [[Asine]], [[Zygouries]], [[Aghias Kosmas]] and perhaps at [[Corinth]]. Stratigraphic evidence for this period is inadequate at [[Asea, Greece|Asea]], [[Prosymne]] and [[Mycenae]]" (Caskey 1960:301)</ref> In the following period (Lerna IV = Early Helladic III) the site of the "House of the Tiles" was covered by an earthen tumulus and not built upon again, whether through respect<ref>The "quite extraordinary respect paid to its ruins" is noted in Caskey 1960:301, who concludes "that a foreign invasion created widespread havoc in this region."</ref> or fear, until, at the end of the Middle Helladic period, shaft graves were cut into the tumulus, suggesting that the significance of the monument had been forgotten. Lerna was used as a cemetery during the Mycenaean age (Late Helladic period), but was abandoned about 1250 BCE.

Ceramics of Lerna III include the hallmark spouted vessels that archaeologists name "sauceboats", with rims that sweep upwards into a curved spout, as well as bowls with incurving rims, both flat-bottomed and with ring bases, and wide saucers, sometimes with glazed rims, more pleasant for the drinker's lips. Jars and [[hydria]] have swelling curves. Painted decoration is sparse; stamped sealing form decorative patterns on some pieces, or rolled scribed cylinders have been used to make banded patterns. Remarkably, banded patterns made with the self-same seal have been found at Lerna, [[Tiryns]] and [[Zygouries]].<ref>Caskey 1960:293.</ref> The burning of the House of Tiles brought the Third Period at Lerna to a decisive close; a low round tumulus marked its undisturbed, apparently sacrosanct site.

Lerna IV (Early Helladic III) marked a fresh start, not as a fortified seat of central authority this time, but as a small town, with houses of two and three rooms with walls of crude brick set upon stone foundations; several had central circular hearths. Narrow lanes separated houses. A great profusion of unlined pits (''[[bothros|bothroi]]'') was characteristic of this phase: eventually they became filled with waste matter, bones, potsherds, even whole pots. The pottery, markedly discontinuous with Lerna III, shows a range of new forms, and the first signs— regular spiral grooves in bases and parallel incised lines— marking the increasing use of the [[potter's wheel]]. Painted linear decoration in dark glaze on the pale body is characteristic of Lerna IV. Caskey identified<ref>Caskey 1960:297.</ref> early examples of the ware that in Middle Helladic contexts would be recognized as [[Minyans|Minyan ware]], and, among the few examples of imported pottery, a winged jar characteristic of [[Troy]], perhaps Troy IV.

Lerna V is continuous with the preceding phase, distinguished largely by new styles in pottery with the sudden, peaceful introduction of matte-painted ware, the thick-slipped Argive version of gray Minyan ware, and a vigorous increase in the kinds of imported wares, coming from the [[Cyclades]] and [[Minoan civilization|Crete (Middle Minoan IA)]]. A new custom of burying the dead in excavations within the houses or between them is universal at the period.

Modern geological techniques such as core drilling have identified the site of the vanished [[Sacred lake|sacred]] '''Lake Lerna''', which was a freshwater lagoon, separated by barrier dunes from the Aegean. In the Early Bronze Age Lake Lerna had an estimated diameter of 4.7&nbsp;km. Deforestation increased the rate of silt deposits and the lake became a malarial marsh, of which the last remnants were drained in the nineteenth century.