Delion

GENERAL

The Delion sanctuary of Apollo and Artemis is situated on the Kynthos hill, 2 km N-NW οf the ancient city-walls. The first temple is believed to have been constructed during the 8th c., while a rebuilding took place in the early 5th c. The 5^th c. sanctuary includes a temple, an altar and a peribolos.

MONUMENTS

An altar, cut into the rock and two traces of parallel walls beneath the cella of the classical temple of Artemis, are considered the earliest structures of the sanctuary dating to the 8th c..

The 5th c. temple is of Doric Order (9,29 x 5,82 m). Its main entrance was to the S, while a second was found to the W. The various architectural members (cyma, lion-head sprouts, Sphinx acroterion, capitals and sections of metopes) indicate a marble prostylos temple, with two columns forming the facade.

An altar was placed in front of the temple’s east façade. The area is surrounded by a square, thick peribolos, 26 m long. Part of the peribolos wall, running behind the temple, was disturbed by a projecting terrace with two steps on each side.

FINDS

Clay vessels

Colossal statue of Artemis, wearing a chiton

Fragments of marble statues

Clay figurines

Female terracotta protomes

Stone seals and scarabs

Plaque with an engraved scene

Fibulai

Beads of glass or sea-shell

Some of the vessels, the seals, as well as the plaque date to the 8th c.

The colossal statue of Artemis must have been the cult statue of the temple.

CHRONOLOGY

The material extends from the Middle/Late Geometric Period (8th c.) to the early Hellenistic (end of the 4th c).

IDENTIFICATION

The character of the votives could suggest that Artemis was the divinity worshipped here.

RECORDS

Excavation Date: 1899, 1961

Institution/Excavator:German Archaeological Institute/Rubenschon O., Greek Archaeological Service/ Zapheiropoulos N.

Excavation Type: Systematic

REFERENCES

Primary Publications:

• Daux G. 1961. Chronique des fouilles, BCH 85 : 849-850
• Despinis G. 1976. Ergon 1976 : 217-220
• Despinis G. 1977. Ergon 1977 :153-155
• Despinis G. 1979. Προβλήματα τῆς παριανῆς πλαστικῆς τοῦ 5ου αιώνα π.Χ. Thessalonique, 1979: Sv. Délion Paroikia
• EFA 1977. Chronique des fouilles, BCH 1977 : 635, fig. 289-290
• EFA 1978. Chronique des fouilles, BCH 1978 : 737
• Kontoleon N. 1966. Gnomon 38: 202- 211
• Rubenschon O. 1962. Das Delion von Paros, Wiesbaden, F. Steiner
• Zaphiropoulou N. 1960. Δήλιον, AD 16 : 245-246

Secondary Publications:

• Berranger D. 1992. Recherches sur l’histoire et la prosopographie de Paros à l’époque archaïque, Clermont Ferrand, Ed. de l’Université Blaise-Pascal,  81 
• Coldstream J. N.  2003². Geometric Greece 900-700 BC, New York, 317
• Croissant F. 1983. Les protomés féminines archaïques, recherches sur les représentations du visage dans la plastique grecque de 550 à 480 av. J.-C., Vol. I et II, Paris, 95-124, n. 16, 22, 26
• Drerup H 1969. Griechische Baukunst in Geometrischer Zeit, Arch.Hom., II, Göttingen, 69
• Mazarakis Ainian, A., 1997. From Rulers’ Dwellings to Temples. Architecture, Religion and Society in Early Iron Age Greece (1100-700 B.C.), Jonsered (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 122), 247
• Mermoz J. 2010. La vie religieuse des Cyclades de l’HR IIIC à la fin de la période archaïque, Lyon, PhD Thesis, 100-102, 105-108
• Ohnesorg A. 1991. Altäre auf Paros, R. Etienne et M. Th. Le dinahet (eds), L’espace sacrificiel dans les civilisations méditerranéennes de l’antiquité. Actes du colloque tenu à la Maison de l’Orient, Lyon 4-7 Juin 1988, Paris,  121-126
• Ohnesorg A. 1993. Inselionische Marmordächer, DAA, 18, 2, Berlin
• Ohnesorg A. 1994. Kykladische Altäre, Bericht über die 37. Tagung für
• Ausgrabungswissenschaft und Bauforschung der Koldewey-Gesellschaft, Duderstadt 27-31 Mai 1992, Bonn, 53-58
• Schuller M. 1991a. Der Artemistempel im Delion auf Paros, Berlin
• Schuller M. 1991b. Die Wandkonstruction dorischer Tempel auf den Kykladen, A. Hoffmann (ed), Bautechnick der Antike : internationales Kolloquium, Berlin vom 15-17. Februar 1990, DiskAB, 5, Mainz, 208-215