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Articles

• Coucouzeli, Alexandra

A unique lead seal from the well-known eighth century B.C. settlement of Zagora on the island ofAndros dramatically confirms and expands our knowledge of the town planning identified at the siteand constituting the earliest example of an orthogonal grid plan in the Greek world.The seal in question is decorated with a symbolic design that constitutes a rare representation of theDioskouroi as part of the constellation Gemini. This design appears to have acted as a cryptograph encipheringthe basic mathematical and astronomical principles behind the planning of Zagora. Besidesoffering us new insights into early Greek settlement planning, the cryptograph seems to reveal anadvanced practical competence in mathematics and celestial observation, which was hitherto unsuspectedfor such an early period.The Zagora cryptograph also suggests that astronomy and mathematics played a crucial role in thestrengthening of the ruling élite 's power at Zagora in the framework of the rising city-state or polis. Thetight interweaving of astronomical, mathematical, architectural and social considerations in the planningof Zagora is an entirely new discovery for Greece, whose implications are far-reaching.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

Orthogonal grid plan, Golden Section, Sacred universe or cosmos, Dioskouroi, Constellation Gemini