Palaiospitia lies on the crest and E slopes of a ridge immediately N of the asphalt road leading from Ayioi Apostoloi to Milioti, ca. 200 m. SW of the cemetery church of Ayios Yeoryios and ca. 700 m. W of Milioti[092.25]. The three fields that comprise the site are separated by 1.0-1.5 m. H. rubble walls covered with brush and are separated from the road by a similar wall; they are planted with very young to mature olives[092.19]. In the westernmost field animal bones, pieces of glass, large tile sections and fragments of fine wares were densely concentrated in four patches of deeply plowed soil, around recently planted young olives. In 1995, the westernmost of the three fields was covered with stubble and visibility was poor.

To the NW of the site is a knoll densely overgrown with mature tree cover. On the top of this knoll are the foundations of at least two (probably three) well-preserved buildings[092.22]; the best preserved wall is 8.7 m. L. with a return of 4 m. L. (max. pres.). The walls of these buildings are thick (ca. 0.5-1.0 m. W.) and are constructed of small, roughly worked blocks (ca. 0.6 m. L. x 0.18 m. W. x 0.5 m. H.) laid in a polygonal style; no signs of brick, cement or mortar were visible, nor was any tile found in the walls or nearby. These structures are presumably the "Palaiospitia" that have given their name to the area.

Material from the site spanned a broad chronological range, from HL to Mod. However, HL and ER material had the narrowest spatial distribution, being confined almost exclusively to the W one-third of the site, immediately S of the overgrown knoll. These finds had been revealed by deep plowing for newly-planted olives and were generally well-preserved. They included fine, plain, and cooking wares, including non-local ceramics, and some painted tile. Material of later historical periods-pottery and tile-was less well preserved and more widely distributed across the whole site. No diagnostic material was collected among the structures on the overgrown knoll to the N.

The chronological range of collected ceramics is Hellenistic to Modern. Within this broad range, diagnostic ceramics are found from the following periods: Late Hellenistic, Late Hellenistic-Early Roman, Early Roman, Late Roman, Middle Byzantine, Turkish, Turkish-Venetian, and Early Modern.These broad designations are indicative of the lack of securely-dated comparative material for some periods in Messenia. Ceramic material of most periods includes fine wares, cooking wares, and coarse wares in a variety of shapes and fabrics.

Differences in field conditions affected the preservation of the pottery. Material from recently plowed areas contained profiled fragments, preserved surfaces, and joining sherds. [Grid squares 121, 131, 421, and 432] all contained well-preserved sherds. These sherds were collected from grid squares that showed evidence of recent agricultural intervention. Hellenistic and Early Roman ceramics were collected primarily from discrete areas within grid squares. Post-Roman ceramics were collected from the entire site.

Hellenistic material is found [in grid squares 121, 122, 211, 432 and in tract 479]. Both local and imported fabrics occur, including a fragment of Pompeian Red Ware. Diagnostic material consists of fine, plain, and cooking wares. The majority of the identifiable Roman sherds date to the Early Roman period. The few sherds identified here as Middle and Late Roman are less well-preserved and their fabric is not distinctive; hence, their identification is less secure. Early Roman diagnostic sherds, including fine wares and cooking wares, were found [in grid squares 121, 211, 431, and tract 477], closely following the distribution pattern established with the Hellenistic sherds. Roman pottery includes wares made of local fabric as well as clear imports (see 97121-12). Some locally made vessels are patterned after imported types, such as 97431-1, an imitation of an Arretine shape. In addition to clearly diagnostic Early Roman shapes, it is also possible that some Late Hellenistic table wares continued to be produced in Early Roman times. In western Messenia, far from major pottery production centers, ceramic innovations may have been delayed (see text chapter).

In general, sherds from the post-Roman period were too abraded to be narrowly dated. Byzantine sherds included table wares of local fabric, cooking wares and coarse wares. These sherds were evenly distributed over the entire POSI, although they were found in greater concentrations [in grid squares 111, 121, 211, 212, 221, 222, 231, 232, 311]. The Middle Byzantine period is represented by two sherds. Other ceramic examples were dated more broadly as Byzantine or Byzantine-Turkish. This broad dating was especially used for cooking wares and for ring-footed bowls that had lost all traces of glaze but had preserved traces of white slip. The difficulty in distinguishing between Late Byzantine and Turkish pottery of local fabric is exacerbated by the lack of published, stratified ceramic finds from this period in Messenia. As such, these dates must be used with caution. Table wares of the Turkish/Venetian period continue the shapes and fabrics known from the Byzantine period, although with different decoration and color selection in both glaze and interior painting. No identifiable imported wares were collected. Diagnostic pottery was found [in grid squares 122, 211, 212, 221].

Painted tiles were found in plowed areas. Historic tiles were found in all lots. In the case of the later material, tiles were often too fragmentary to provide a secure date. In only one case (97131-1) was a tile diagnostically Medieval/Byzantine on the basis of size, fabric, and decoration. Based on this tile, other similar samples were characterized as medieval.