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2021 - Volume 4 - Number 1

The Mysteries of Lake Copais and the Island Fortress of Gla

Therese Ghembaza * therese.ghembaza@sfr.fr
Independent Researcher, Vigneux-sur-Seine, FRANCE

David Windell * davidwindell@yahoo.co.uk * ORCID: 0000-0002-2210-6936
Independent Researcher, Nafplio, GREECE

Open Journal for Studies in History, 2021, 4(1), 25-38 * https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojsh.0401.03025g
Received: 12 June 2021 ▪ Accepted: 30 July 2021 ▪ Published Online: 20 August 2021

LICENCE: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ARTICLE (Full Text - PDF)

ABSTRACT:
The Bronze Age drainage of Lake Copais, Boeotia, is unique within Europe as the largest and most complex work of engineering of the period. Comprising large dams, polder dykes, canals, massive levees, cuttings and tunnels, it made at least 95km² of drained lake bed available for agricultural production. The first polders were established in the Middle Helladic period with great extensions in the Late Helladic. During the latter period the largest of all the Mycenaean citadels was constructed at Gla which had been a rocky island in the lake prior to the drainage. But exactly what type of settlement it was still remains something of a mystery. This paper draws together the history of research on the citadel of Gla.

KEY WORDS: Gla, Ancient Boeotia, Mycenaean palaces, Mycenaean fortifications.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
David Windell, Independent Researcher, Nafplio, GREECE. E-mail: davidwindell@yahoo.co.uk.

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