Recent Research Concerning the Walls at Asea

Papers from the third international seminar on Ancient Arcadia, held at the Norwegian Institute at Athens, 7-10 May 2002The fortification walls of Asea Paleokastro in Arcadia have recently been studied in several different aspects. Thus, the parts of the walls which are still visible above the ground have been documented in detail. Furthermore, an attempt has been made to trace the course of the lower city walls which are covered by modem alluvium with the help of various geophysical methods. As a result we suggest that the acropolis walls should be dated to the classical period, whereas the lower city walls probably were constructed during the Kleomenic war (229/28-222 B.C.) Cleaning work done around the main gateway of the acropolis indicates that the road leading up to the acropolis originallly was constructed for carts. During the Late Byzantine period the acropolis was refortified, and some walls belonging to this phase are still to be seen at the main gateway and the summit of the acropolis. Preliminary results of the geophysical prospection finally indicate that the lower circuit wall may have had a total length of ca. 1 km, enclosing an area of about 11 ha