, Peter Scherrer, Klaus Tausend,
Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes in Wien, Band 81/2012, pp. 51-65, 2024/10/14
Pheneos is situated in northeastern Arcadia in a high valley, a former lake, completely surrounded by steep
mountains. Ancient literature – except Pausanias, who mentions some monuments – does not tell much about this minor polis. The small city hill (813 m) lies in the northwestern part of the plain and has never been thoroughly investigated. In 2010, a bilateral agreement was signed between the University of Graz and the 37. EPCA Korinthia, creating a 5 years’ research cooperation. Main topic is the archaeological investigation of the city walls, which are only known and partially unearthed on the northern slope of the acropolis hill. The first campaign in August 2011 yielded information about the construction of the wall
with its five semicircular towers in mostly trapezoidal masonry; stratified finds suggest an erection date in the second half of the 4th century B.C. Layers containing wasted votive offerings indicate a late archaic to classical sanctuary nearby. Surprisingly, the whole acropolis and her eastern and southern foothills turned
out to have been covered by an unusually big Middle Bronze Age settlement. Research will continue in
August 2012.
