SURFACE LUMINESCENCE DATING OF ‘DRAGON HOUSES’ AND ARMENA GATE AT STYRA (EUBOEA, GREECE)

Abstract

The Optical Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) surface dating employing the single‐ aliquot regenerative (SAR) technique on quartz was applied to some small enigmatic buildings made of large marble schist slabs in a skillful corbelling technique, and a fortified megalithic gate, at Styra, Kapsala, Laka Palli and Kastro Armena in southern Euboea. The function and origins of the structures have created a puzzle that has fed the imagination and lead to various interpretations by many scholars. No archaeological excavations or methods of dating have been available for the megalithic‐like structures. The dates reported suggest the earliest construction to have taken place during the Classical period. Re‐use of these structures has occurred during Hellenistic and Roman times (the latter associated with the large scale quarrying of marbles), as well as, in Medieval times (found in agreement with the historical literature) and the contemporary period (as reported by shepherds). In all cases the datable slabs were rather reset as repairs.