During the archaeological season of 2008 continued the excavation of the southern half of the tower’s interior.
No evidence of abandonment is shown in the tower’s stratigraphy from late antiquity up to early-mid Byzantine period. During this phase the tower’s function changed from defensive to residential. The archaeological evidence indicates that at the turn of the 9th century the interior of tower was burned. This is best represented by deposit of charcoal black layer which was consistent throughout the interior, although with a higher concentration against the west wall and south-eastern corner. Occurring in a single event, the fire caused the collapsed of the 1st floor (a gritty mortar layer with fragments of tiles and 2nd floor (composed of tile bedding under a sticky reddish orange clay) levels, and the tile roof also above the ground floor (grayish clay).
In and within the 1st floor a unique assemblage of almost 15 complete vessels, among them a “chafing-dish”, placed alongside the southern and western part of the interior was found in situ, meanwhile two amphorae were found sitting on the ground floor. Given the rich contents found within the tower the functioned of each floor level can be postulated. The ground storey might have been used as a storage area; the 1st for daily domestic occupation, meanwhile the 2nd storey may have served as private area for living. Soon after the fire the tower was reoccupied and its collapsed roof was leveled up to create a new ground floor upon which mussel shells were processed. By this time most likely the tower had lost its residential function and it was used for nearby fishing activity.
A deposit of rubble, which lay upon the mussel shells, marks the end of the above mention activity carried out within the tower’s interior. Composed of limestones and infrequent tile fragments bonded with whitish mortar, the context which slopes strongly toward the western wall represents the collapse of the tower’s upper walls in a single event. A small hearth, composed of broken tiles and slightly sticky reddish clay, situated in the south-west corner of the interior indicates that after the collapsed the tower was abandoned. The construction technique on the eastern wall of the tower (the used of circular putlog holes in the outer and inner face of eastern wall) indicates that by mid 13th – early 14th cent the tower and the Western Defences as a whole were refortified, regaining its defensive function.
The Venetian occupation of the tower is represented by the blocking of the door that was used to retain the dumped deposits within the interior. Part of this blocking were made by incorporating large sections of a Roman wall which stands 2m to the exterior of the tower’s doorway. This activity redesigned the tower’s interior by raising its level c. 2m to create a new ground surface at 1st floor level used in the 15th – 16th cent. This phase marks the end of the tower’s occupation. There is no post 16th cent evidence for the occupation of the tower, thus suggesting its abandonment.