PENTESKOUPHIA
Corinthia, Greece.
A hill
surmounted by a Frankish fort ca. 1200 m SW of Akrocorinth. In a ravine on the N slope of the hill, ca. 3 km
SW of ancient Corinth, over 1000 terracotta plaques
were illicitly excavated in 1879. Excavation and chance
finds at the site have increased the number of fragments
to ca. 1500. The plaques, which are in Berlin, Paris, and
the Corinth Museum, came from a nearby Corinthian
Sanctuary of Poseidon of which no architectural remains
have been found. Several plaques bear dedicatory inscriptions to Poseidon in the Corinthian epichoric alphabet and
representations of the god and of Amphitrite with marine
and equestrian attributes. Also depicted are scenes from
everyday life, potters at work with wheels and kilns,
woodcutters, ships, etc. Many plaques are pierced for suspension, perhaps from trees, and are painted on both sides. A few are as early as ca. 650 B.C. but the majority belong to the Late Corinthian black-figure style of ca.
570-500 B.C.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Furtwängler,
Vasensammlung in Antiquarium (1885) nos. 347-955, 3920-24; M. Fränkel,
AntDenk (1886-1901) I, pls. 7-8; II, pls. 23-24, 29-30,
39-40
I;
IG IV 210-345; E. Pernice,
JdI 12 (1897) 9-48
I; Helen Geagan,
JdI 85 (1970) Anz.
I.
R. STROUD
