Stelida: Flint Source and Summit Sanctuary

Stelida is archaeologically distinguished by an unusually long prehistory. The flint source, a summit sanctuary, and the finds discovered there offer several perspectives on the site’s past. Particularly striking is the change in scale: from use spanning thousands of years to the specific dimensions of a building and individual objects. Stelida’s archaeological profile can thus be explored through its timespan, architecture, and find context.

A Long Prehistory

The flint source was used from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic, approximately from 250,000 to 7000 BC. This timespan connects two widely separated periods of prehistory. A further perspective reaches back to the cold periods of the Pleistocene: there is strong evidence of repeated visits by early pre-Sapiens species. Thus, the source’s long period of use and the repeated visits stand side by side as two distinct archaeological themes.

The Summit Sanctuary: Materials and Dimensions

The building of the summit sanctuary is made of local flint, or chert, nodules and measures 7 × 6 m. Flint thus appears in two archaeological contexts: as the name of the source and as the local building material of the sanctuary. The dimensions give the structure a tangible scale; together with the material, they make its architectural character easier to grasp.

Excavations at the summit sanctuary uncovered ritual deposits of conical cups and pebbles, as well as food remains, at their original findspots. The cups are described as conical; pebbles and food remains add other types of finds to the deposits. Because the finds were discovered at their original findspots, their locations are also part of the archaeological evidence. The objects and their find context are two aspects that belong together here.

Objects and Their Interpretation

Objects used for cultic purposes or as votive offerings included a stone ladle, bronze anthropomorphic figures, and a bronze foot image. Anthropomorphic means human-like and helps distinguish the figures as a separate group of objects from the foot image. The objects were discovered in or around the summit sanctuary building; they had fallen down the slope. Material, form, and find location are thus among the details of these finds.

The summit sanctuary of Stelida belongs to the small group of Minoan summit sanctuaries outside Crete. This classification adds a broader context to the view of the individual building. The sanctuary can therefore be considered both in terms of its own dimensions and finds and in terms of its membership in this small group.

An Archaeological Highlight for Planning Your Trip

If you also take prehistoric sites into account when choosing your holiday destination, Stelida offers a clear point of reference: its archaeological profile ranges from the long-term use of the flint source to a summit sanctuary with specific finds and its own distinct classification. When looking for a holiday apartment, you can therefore consider Stelida as a destination with a strong cultural and historical focus.

Discover more destinations: Plaka, Agkidia, Aghios Prokopios, Donousa, Kalantos, Ano Potamia, Agia Anna, Schinoussa.

Go to the main travel overview: Naxos.