Lelanton
Lelanton is a proposed ancient name for the modern village of Lefkandi, located on the island of Euboea in Greece. Historically significant, Lefkandi thrived during the mid-twelfth century BC and is noted for its prosperity during the transition from the Mycenaean era to the Greek Dark Age. This town was strategically situated between the cities of Chalcis and Eretria, with the Lelantine Plain as its surrounding landscape. Archaeological findings have revealed rich burial sites, including exceptional grave goods such as gold jewelry and Near Eastern imports, indicating a connection to trade networks of the time.
Among notable discoveries are the remains of a large apsidal building from the tenth century, identified as a hero's grave, which contained luxuries and artifacts from various cultures, suggesting a blending of influences. Additionally, a foundry site points to advanced metalworking techniques in the area. However, after a period of significant activity, burials ceased around 865 BC, possibly linked to the Lelantine War between Chalcis and Eretria. This cessation of burials may imply a shift in the population towards a new settlement, later acknowledged as Eretria. Overall, Lelanton/Lefkandi represents a fascinating window into ancient Greek civilization and its interactions with neighboring cultures.
Subject Terms
Lelanton
Lelantium (?)—the possible ancient name for the modern village of Lefkandi; though an alternative identification of Lelanton with Old Eretria (see Eretria [link: http://www.credoreference.com/entry.do?id=5073245]) must not be discounted
Lefkandi was a city between Chalcis and Eretria on the island of Euboea, in the central part of the island's west coast (beside the strait), with the Lelantine Plain as its hinterland. The township was flourishing in the mid-twelfth century BC (when a late Mycenaean settlement on the Xeropolis ridge faced the mainland) and then attained an unusual degree of prosperity during the transitional period following the Mycenaean epoch, the so-called Dark Age of Greek history on which recent excavations at Lefkandi have cast exceptional light. It was one of the first places in Greece to obtain luxury goods from the Near East; beads of faience, glass and blue frit (a material for glassmaking) are found with tenth-century cremations.
Also of tenth-, and early ninth-, century date are important burials at Toumba, a prominent hillock overlooking the sea to the west and the Lelantine Plain to the north. Numerous burial grounds located in the area include a particularly rich site (only partially saved from modern bulldozers) that has yielded gold jewelry, imports from Attica, and Near Eastern products, including an Egyptian ring (exceptional at this period). Close by is a sophisticated apsidal building of the later tenth century, of most unusual size—36 by 149 feet. Constructed of mud-brick on a stone foundation, it overlaid two very richly furnished tombs, of which one proves to be the hero's grave (heroon), in Homeric style, of a warrior whose bones and ashes (wrapped in strips of cloth which are remarkably well preserved) were buried in an amphora, decorated with reliefs. The other grave contained the remains of a woman laden with gold jewelry, and the skeletons of three or four horses.
A foundry (indicating expertise in Near Eastern metalworking techniques) dates from c 900. Thereafter cemetery offerings become increasingly rich in gold and other imported luxuries, profiting, it may be supposed, from (still unidentified) Euboean markets in northern Syria, the forerunners of Al Mina and Posidium (Ras-al-Bassit). Those two settlements were founded c 865, and it was at just about that time, for reasons that are not clear, that burials abruptly cease at Lefkandi: though life of a kind continued there until its destruction c 700, which may have been an outcome of the Lelantine War between Chalcis and Eretria (sse Lelantine Plain). Perhaps Lefkandi may be the `Old Eretria’ referred to by Strabo, and in this case it is possible to conjecture that its inhabitants evacuated their site at this juncture in order to move to `New Eretria’. See alsoEretria, Lelantine Plain.