Editing Mount Lykaion (section)

==Hippodrome ==
{{Main|Mount Lykaion Hippodrome}}

The hippodrome at Mount Lykaion, located in a valley below and to the north of the altar, is the only extant hippodrome from Greek antiquity, and is therefore crucial to our understanding of Greek athletic festivals. The hippodrome was constructed on roughly a north-south orientation with a retaining wall of about 140 meters along the eastern side curving around the northern end. Modern excavations have discovered portions tapering column drums that may belonged to the turning posts at either end of the race-course, from whose location it appears that the hippodrome could have had a length of 320 meters and a width of 140. A bath building is being excavated about 35 meters to the northeast of the hippodrome; a large portion of it appears to have been dedicated to a cistern, and large stone basins from the middle of the structure have been uncovered.<ref name="Romano1"/>{{rp|386ff}}

The Lykaian hippodrome is further unique in apparently having encompassed the stadium racecourse. The early 20th century excavator of Lykaion, Kouriouniotis discovered stone blocks in the middle of the hippodrome that would have formed the starting line of the stadium. The topological survey of 1996 confirmed 6 starting line blocks, four of which were grouped together and were thus possibly found near their original orientation and position. From this, archaeologist David Romano speculated that a stadium racecourse of 170–180 meters would have been enclosed within the hippodrome. The apparently double-use of the space is particularly interesting because inscriptional evidence concerning the Lykaian Games of the 4th century BCE indicates that horse and foot-races were held during the same festivals, and possibly on the same day.<ref name="Romano1"/>{{rp|387ff}}

Two inscriptions were uncovered in the excavations of Kouriouniotis that give the names of winning athletes in the various contests of the Lykaian Games that were held every four years between 320 and 304 BCE. These contests included footraces for men and for boys, various chariot races with teams of adult and juvenile horses, boxing, wrestling, and a [[pentathlon]].<ref>Inscriptiones Graece V 549 and 550</ref>

===Ash altar ===

A circular altar of blackened earth about 1.5 meters in height and 30 meters in diameter seems to date from before the migration of Indo-European peoples into the area. The excavations of Kourouniotes in 1903 of the altar and its nearby ''[[temenos]]'' determined definite cult activity at the Lykaion altar from the late 7th century b.c.e, including animals bones, miniature tripods, knives, and statuettes of [[Zeus]] holding an eagle and a lightning bolt. These objects were primarily found in the ''temenos''.<ref name="Kour4">(1904) ''ArchEph'' pp. 153ff</ref> The earth-altar may correspond to a [[Linear B]] mention of an "open-fire altar"; Linear B (14th–13th centuries BCE) inscriptions also give the first mentions of offerings to Zeus and of the sacred precinct (temenos) near the altar, such as has been excavated at Lykaion.<ref name="SciDaily1">{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202175200.htm |access-date=2011-02-17|website=Science Daily|title=New Evidence From Excavations In Arcadia, Greece, Supports Theory Of 'Birth Of Zeus'}}</ref>

An excavation in 2007 revealed pottery fragments and signs of activity in the ash altar believed to have been used as early as 3000 BCE.<ref name="DavisDig">Davis, Heather A. (2008) [http://www.huliq.com/55822/dig-turns-surprises-and-questions-ancient-greece ''Dig turns up surprises and questions from ancient Greece'']. Retrieved 2008-04-08.</ref> Nearby [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] (only 22 miles away) has a similar ash altar, and both settlements held ancient athletic games. The extremely early date of activity at Lykaion could suggest that these customs originated there.<ref name="DavisDig"/> Stratigraphic analysis from the most recent excavations showed prehistoric human activity at the altar site, which seems to have been in continuous use from the Late Neolithic period through to the Hellenistic era.<ref name="LykProj"/> A number of drinking vessels and bones of sheep and goats from the [[Late Helladic]] period indicates that the altar was the site of Mycenean drinking and feasting rituals, probably in honor of Zeus.<ref name="SciDaily1"/> An especially interesting discovery was a seal ring from the Late Minoan period (1500–1400 BCE), which could indicate some interaction between Mt. Lykaion and Crete, both of which are given as the birthplace of Zeus by ancient sources.<ref name="archtrench">{{cite web|title=Surprise Finds on Wolf Mountain|url=http://archive.archaeology.org/0805/trenches/zeus.html|access-date=1 October 2013}}</ref>

In 2016, excavations of the ash altar revealed a 3000-year-old skeleton of an adolescent boy thought to be a human sacrifice.<ref name="h960">{{cite web | title=Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project Report of Activities, Summer 2016 |last= Romano  |first=D.G. |date= 2016 | url=https://www.lykaionexcavation.org/documents/49/MTL_ROA_2016.pdf | access-date=2024-06-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bones may belong to teen sacrificed to Zeus |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/08/14/teen-sacrifice-greece-newser/88718676/ |website=usatoday.com |access-date=29 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chilling mountaintop find may confirm dark Greek legend |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2016/08/10/chilling-mountaintop-find-may-confirm-dark-greek-legend/clcyEUP3JO2lcIaQVTSFyN/story.html |website=bostonglobe.com |access-date=29 November 2023}}</ref> The researchers explained it is not a cemetery, and the skeleton was lined with stones, showing that it was not a typical human burial. Plato and other ancient writers linked Mount Lykaion specifically to human sacrifices to Zeus—the legends say a sacrificed boy would be cooked with sacrificed animal meat and those who consumed the  human  portion would become a wolf for 9 years.