The Kiapha Thiti Excavation Project (KTEP) was a collaboration between the 2nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of Eastern Attica and the Canadian Institute. The excavation ran from 1982-1986 and was co-directed by Dietmar K. Hagel (Queen’s University) and Hans Lauter (Ruhr-Universität Bochum). The project excavated a site on the significant hilltop of Kiapha Thiti in southeast Attica, at the northern end of the Vari valley.
While excavations revealed several interrupted phases of occupation from the Chalcolithic period through late antiquity, the main focus of KTEP’s study was a fortified Mycenaean settlement dating to around 1500 BCE. The site’s distinctive construction methods and the careful reinforcement of its defensive walls were of particular interest, offering useful insights into fortification practices in Greece during this period. Other significant finds at Kiapha Thiti include an open-air sanctuary of the Nymphs established in the Archaic period, and an early Christian chapel built near the summit of the hill during the late 5th or early 6th century CE. Deposits found within the sanctuary include many female figurines and fragments of pottery each inscribed with an upright alpha in Attic style, testifying to the spread of Greek writing in the early 7th century.
Select Bibliography
Christiansen, J. 2000. Kiapha Thiti III.1. Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen: The Iron-Age Sanctuary. Marburger Winckelmann-Programm 1990. Marburg: Selbstverlag der Philipps-Universität.
Hagel, D. & H. Lauter. 1987. Die frühmykenische Burg von Kiapha Thiti, Attika. Erster Vorbericht. Marburger Winckelmann-Programm 1990. Marburg: Verlag des Kunstgeschichtlichen Seminars.
Hagel, D., H. Lauter, M. Küpper, H. Lauter-Bufe, V. von Droste zu Hülshoff, B. Ulrich & A. Schönborn. 1990. Kiapha Thiti III.2. Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen (Eisenzeit) Marburger Winckelmann-Programm 1990. Marburg: Selbstverlag der Philipps-Universität.
Lauter, H. 1995. Kiapha Thiti: Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen II.2:1. Die bronzezeitliche Architektur. Marburger Winckelmann-Programm 1990. Marburg: Selbstverlag der Philipps-Universität.
Maran, J. 1992. Kiapha Thiti: Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen II.2:2. Jahrtausend v. Chr.: Keramik und Kleinfunde. Marburger Winckelmann-Programm 1990. Marburg: Selbstverlag der Philipps-Universität.
More on the project can be found here: https://portal.cig-icg.gr/node/986
