The Cyclopean Wall: Why the salient?

In Simpson [1981] we read the following 

"The wall ... is sited wherever possible in such a manner as to force attackers from the north to approach over steeply  sloping ground.  Indeed a very wide (and expensive) loop was made in the central part of its preserved length ..., adding about 2 kilometres of "extra" walling, obviously in order  to maintain the desired elevation and to take advantage of the steep slopes." [1]

Dr. Simpson is quite mistaken about this.  Section Pe does sit on the top north edge of the Mytika plateau but segment Sp, the very next segment and some 230 m to the S of Pe, sits some 26 m. below the top of the ridge.  In 230 m, therefore, this 'defensive' wall has descended the height of an 8-story building from Pe.  That is clear in the next picture:

Segments Pe, Sp, and Zo.  Facing SE.
The blue 'fence' is a reconstruction of the route of the supposed wall.

The descent from Pe to Sp is clear in this picture.  The fact that a steep ridge sits immediately behind and above Sp and that Sp is actually embedded in the ridge makes it impossible that this segment was ever part of a defensive wall.  

Segment Sp.  A steep ridge (in which Sp is embedded) rises just behind
and makes it impossible to defend.

The very next segment, Zo, is at the same elevation as Sp but, because of the ground, sits on a level plain easily approachable to any 'attacker' coming up the valley.  

Simpson is correct that the southern salient (and the extra 1800 m of walling) requires an explanation.  An attempt 'to maintain the desired elevation and to take advantage of the steep slopes' is not that explanation.

Footnotes

[1] Simpson [1981] 35, 'A 61 Isthmia'.

Bibliography

Simpson [1981] : Simpson, Richard Hope. Mycenaean Greece.  Noyes  Press.  1981. ISBN: 0-8155-5061-8.

Some new photographs of Segment Sp in the Isthmian 'Mycenaean' wall

 

An associate, Dr. Hajo Becker, has travelled to Greece just this  month and was kind enough to take some pictures of known segments of the 'Mycenaean' wall. [1]  In this post I wanted to show a couple of his new pictures of segment Sp (C7769 in my Atlas).  First is the image available in Google Earth.  The letters alpha and beta key to the corresponding letters in Becker's photos.  Dr. Becker's photos were post-processed by me in Photoshop.  I will have some more of Dr. Becker's photos in subsequent posts.

Google Earth image.  The letters alpha and beta
correspond to the same stone in Becker's photos, below.

Center of the wall segment Sp.

The work of Dr. Hajo Becker, all rights reserved.

North end of the wall segment Sp.
The work of Dr. Hajo Becker, all rights reserved.

This reminds me of Greece: the cyclamen.

Footnotes

[1] Broneer [1966] 351; Kardara [1971] 85; Morgan [1999] 443.

Bibliography

Broneer [1966]:  Broneer, Oscar. ‘The Cyclopean Wall on the Isthmus of Corinth and Its Bearing on Late Bronze Age Chronology’, Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (35:4), pp. 346-352, 'As we proceed westward the wall ... ', pg. 351. Online here.

Kardara [1971] : Kardara, Chrysoula, “The Isthmian Wall (A retaining wall for a road?),” AAA, 4:1 (1971) 85-89.

Morgan [1999] : Morgan, Catherine.  Isthmia VIII; The Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens.  Princeton, New Jersey.  USA.  1999.  ISBN: 0-87661-938-3.