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In the third trench, where we had exposed the temple during the 2014 season, we expanded the excavation by 2 m towards the west so that we can better explore the relation of the temple with the bedrock that had partly appeared last year, and so that we can continue excavating the layer of the ceramic deposit of the Hellenistic period (Context 2538). The surface layer (Context 2546), 0.70 m of maximum depth and empty of artifacts, was removed with the help of a small backhoe. The underlying layer (Context 2548), 0.50 m of maximum depth, is a natural fill from the erosion of the slope containing mixed pottery dating from Classical to Early Roman times with a few later sherds (even of the modern era). The lower layers down to bedrock (Contexts 2551, 2552, 2554, 2555) yielded pottery of the same periods, but the Hellenistic sherds were more in number. In Context 2552 we had a distinct concentration of tiles and fine wares including kantharoi and echinus bowls, together with animal bones some of which bear traces of burning. It is possible that this context is a layer of refuse related to the temple, namely remains of sacrificial acts.
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Inside the temple, our limited amount of time allowed us to remove only one “pass” from the west room (opisthodomos). The soil was hard, with pebbles and gravel, and contained no pottery. We must dig deeper in search of possible foundation trenches for the toichobate and so that we recover more secure evidence for dating the erection of the temple.
