Koiládhia

Anchored in the bay at Koiládhia we considered our options. We had intended to sail around to Porto Kheli where we knew that there were good shops to refill the fridge before we continued on towards the capes of the Pelopónnisos. However, La Perla and Alkira were both visiting (or planning to visit) Ástrous first to fill their water tanks. Tap water in the Argolic Gulf is generally not very good but the water at Ástrous, they told us, is apparently good enough to drink [Ed: and to want to have in your tanks!]. With the sea temperature at 17.5 degrees Celcius our watermaker output would be fairly low and filling our tanks would take several hours and so we too resolved to accept the slight detour and head for Ástrous first.

The entrance to the Franchthi Cave   

However, before we headed off we wanted to visit the Franchthi Cave. We had spotted the cave on the eastern entrance to the bay when we had arrived here last September but had ended up being too busy working on BV to visit the site.

So, on the morning of 11 April we took a trip over to the cave in our dinghy.

The Franchthi Cave turns out to be one of the most carefully studied sites from the stone age in southeastern Europe. It was occupied from around 40,000 BC until around 3,000 BC and is one of the few settlements which shows nearly continuous human occupation for such an extended period.

The cave has a useable area about 150m long with a width of 30-45m. The entrance now sits about 12 metres above sea level but when the cave was occupied the sea level was about 120 metres lower and the shoreline about 7 km further away than the present day.

This wide expanse of open ground was apparently a good hunting ground and the cave was initially used intermittently by hunting parties of around 30 people catching wild boar and red deer.

Later, around 8,000-7,000 years BC, there was a permanent settlement which stretched out in front of the cave entrance down below current sea level. There are still fresh water springs in this area and we could see swirls of fresh water bubbling up where we had moored our dinghy. During this period there is the first real evidence that the ocupants were accomplished seafarers. Amongst the extensive numbers of fish bones found there were lots of tuna bones, some from fish weighing up to 200kg, which suggests successful deep sea fishing. The careful archealogical studies of the site have also revealed that the inhabitents of the site had begun to practice agriculture and kept animals.

The detailed study of the cave took place between 1967 and 1976 but started almost by fluke. A one season look at the cave was expected to be a quick time filler task whilst permission to excavate a nearby site was negotiated. That the cave was studied so extensively for the following 10 years highlights what an important archaelogical site it turned out to be.

With the Franchthi Cave ticked off our list of things to do (much more fun than polishing stainless steel!) we headed back to BV to get her ready to go to sea.  At 1025hrs, with the dinghy stowed, covers removed and the engine fired up on the second turn of the key(!!!!?), we lifted anchor and headed out of the bay aiming for Ástrous.

Koiládhia, Greece