The most plausible explanation for this anomaly is, that it marks the remains of a massive fortification around the citadel, possibly indicating the outer margin of the settlement surrounding it. The 1995-data provided an excellent start from which the anomaly could be traced further. For this research a team of five to six experts was employed for approximately two weeks between July 21 and August 2, 1997. Field activities were limited to setting up a 10 m. grid and collecting measurements with the hand-held Overhauser magnetometer. The fieldwork was overseen by Eberhard Zangger, co-director of PRAP and head of natural scientific operations.
Investigations shed substantial light on the nature of the construction.
We were able to trace the anomaly further around the palace, sufficiently far to offer strong support to the hypothesis that it did once encircle the citadel on which the palace stood. The anomaly does not appear to have been a support wall for a building terrace, because it crosses contours and recent terraces. The likelihood that we have found the remains of a fortification wall is strengthed also by a report from Ms. Litsa Malapani, representative of the Olympia Ephoreia that in August 1996 excavations by OTE to lay a telephone cable uncovered a 3 m.-thick wall northwest of the Palace of Nestor. In the areas investigated by us, the anomaly eventually could not be traced further in any direction, either because its remains have been eroded or because they are buried too deeply to be detected by our instruments. A large approximately square structure was noted outside the perimeter defined by the anomaly.