Culture
The oldest testimony for the Psara, stating the name of the island, is the Odyssey, where the island is called Psirii. The ancient writers considered the island barren and poor, since it could offer neither the necessary wine for the worship of Dionysus.Is attested as town by Strabo and port by Eustathio. Demosthenes mentions the island for the strong winds that blow in the area, blocking the sea navigation.
On the Southwest coasts of Psara, at the area "Archontiki », S. Charitonidis since 1961 has detected Mycenaean tombs near the sea, which dates from the LE IIIB period (1300-1190 B.C.). On the Black Hill Ridge he spotted shells of Geometric and Hellenistic period and in a short excavation he discovered residential remains of Hellenistic period.
At the area "Archontiki », the curator of the 20th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Aris Tsaravopoulos, in 1983-1984, along with a team of philologists researched 11 graves and the curator of Antiquities, Lillian Acheilara in 1985, brought to light a tomb of LE III A1-A2 (1400-1300 B.C.).
From 1997 to 2001 rescue excavations continued in "Archontiki " with funding of the Ministry of the Aegean, from the 20th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. A total of 162 graves were investigated, including a vaulted one attributed to a hero, whose worship was found a few meters further to the south. A Mycenaean settlement was discovered at a short distance from the necropolis.
Since 2002 operations for the emergence of the area began under the Regional Operational Programme of North Aegean , which were completed in 2008.
The oldest burial in “Archontiki”, in a simple hole-like tomb is dated to the Final Neolithic Period (end of the fourth Pre-Cristian Millennium ) and is furnished with oenochoes(wine jugs) which are saved fragmentarily.
The burials of Early Bronze Age are furnished with grave vases known from the Cyclades and the northern Aegean.
The extensive Mycenaean necropolis, dates from LE II B to LE III C period (1450-1100 BC) consists of graves of box shape , except few examples with burials in jars. The most important tomb of necropolis is the beehive tombs (tholos tombs. The dead burried there was worshipped as a hero by the early historians until the end of the fifth pre-cristian century . The worship included sacrifices of small animals and birds and generous offers in a low stone rectangle altar. The high quality pottery from Corinth, Chios, Lesvos, Asia Minor and Attiki which found in the applicator and dates between 8th to 5th century BC, attests the worship of the hero.
The use of the cemetery continued in the Protogeometric period.
The pottery of the necropolis is of a very good preservation and wide variety. The shapes are those known as located throughout the Mycenaean world. the Stirrup chalices ,stirrup cups, alabasters, wineskins, ladles, vases .
In addition to luxury and simple everyday appliances, prestigious objects accompanied the dead, bronze guns, swords, spears and knives. Impressive is the amount of signets from korneliti, steatite, faience and glass. Also great is the number with beads of faience, glass, korneliti, steatite and fewer are those of gold. Among the bronze artifacts are found bronze tools, needles, razors, sickles. Important as well are the figurines of the well-known formula Φ and Ψ and the dummies of ships and the matrix of steatite for making rings.
The extended settlement which developed along the coast, was built amphitheatrical on the hillside “Karagianni”. It spreads in lowland, which is formed in the Southeast of the massif, which reaches to the sea. It was organized with houses built in clusters and roads which have been run-in with stones from the beach. The development of the settlement follows the configuration of the soil. The eastern and central part of the settlement is located at a height of about four meters from the surface of the sea, while the lower at the sea level
The necropolis is inserted between them.
The houses of the village are elongated buildings ,as the type of the mansion, built next to each other, forming blocks at different levels that communicate with each other. For the strongbuilt walls of the foundation were used stones and for the substructure large earthen briquettes. The roof was supported by vertical wooden items, fixed in stone bases, found in place. Most important is a house with eight large jars in the warehouses.
The above information comes from texts of publications of the Ministry of culture K’ EPKA "Psara in antiquity", Athens 2001, A. Archontidoy, G. Deligiorgi and " Psara, A station in the District of Mycenaean World», Mytilini 2008, A. Argyris, A. Archontidoy, G. Babliakis, M. Grigoriadou, G. Deligiorgi, S. Aidonis, F. Lyroy, A. Panatsi, D. Royggoy, G. Mpirtsas, L. Soychleris.