Diane Shugart, who visited the island of Paros in 2002, also visited the town Naoussa and it's nearby hills. One of them is Koukounaries ("pine trees") Hill, on which a remarkable excavation has taken place from about 1974 until 1992. I spent two summers digging there under the supervision of Dr. D.U. Schilardi, who is mentioned as well by Shugart, in her review in the Athens News of October 4th, 2002, by the name of Dimitris Skilardis. The oldest finds on this excavation were Proto-Cycladic, the youngest finds date from the 4th century B.C. remarkable features have been found such as two small tholoi, supposedly from the Mycenean Era, an acropolis, with features as a "chieftain's house" (a long and narrow structure) and fortification structures, a temple with votive depot, dedicated to Athena and some housing structures on the same plateau.

Here is Diane Shugart's text:

"Known as Koukounaries, the site was discovered and excavated in the late Seventies by Dimitris Skilardis. Archaeologists speculate that Koukounaries, one of the few known settlements of the Mycenaean post-palatial period, was destroyed by fire, possibly sparked by an earthquake. Evidence supporting the theory includes valuables and the skeletons of trapped humans found in ground-level rooms.

The 50,000-square-metre citadel was enclosed by thick Cyclopean walls formed by boulders that lock together without binding material. The 13th-century BC settlement was likely to have been built by Mycenaean refugees who arrived on Paros from the mainland.

I take my time exploring the ruined citadel, but am interrupted by the insistent ringing of the cellular phone in my pocket. Seeing I haven't broken a leg yet, might I consider climbing down so we can go to lunch, my companion inquires.

I clamber down the hill, following the sound of bleating goats into a field, where I have to scale a low fence of stone and barbed wire. I reach the road still flushed with the excitement of what I have seen, but my mood doesn't touch my companion. Even after seven years, he is amused at my fascination with obscure ancient sites. Paros, he patiently explains with that look Greeks reserve for the unworthy hordes, is not about antiquities."

Tanaquil