North of the lagoon of Aitoliko, in the area of Stamna and near the spring of Kefalovryso, an extensive and rich cemetery of the Early Historic period has come to light. Known since the 1960s, it was excavated mainly between 1994-2000 and 2011-2017 in the context of the construction of the Ionian Highway (Agrinio Bypass) and Paraionia Road, as well as the Kryoneri – Agrinio Railway Line. Small groups of graves have also been excavated on the occasions of private projects. The period of its use can be traced back to the Submycenaean period, but mainly belongs to the last phase of the Proto-Geometric period (about 1050-900 BC). The cemetery covers a total area of about 124 acres on the slopes of low hills. To date, around 750 graves have been excavated, organised in at least 30 separate clusters, extending over a total length of 4.5 km.
The large area of the burial site and the richness of the grave goods indicate the hierarchical structure of the society or societies there buried. At the same time, they show that the area was probably the administrative centre of a larger geographical unit (Proschion or Pylene?). To date, only a few house remains have been identified and the location of the corresponding settlement is not known. The necropolis included different types of funerary structures, such as cist and built tombs, burials in pithoi or other vessels and two burial mounds, while a Mycenaean tholos tomb was reused in this period. These burial remains are not open to visitors and do not constitute an archaeological site. Finds from the cemetery, including two bronze cauldrons which preserve rare remains of textiles, as well as reconstructions of typical graves, can be seen at the Xenokrateion Archaeological Museum.
Furthermore, between Stamna and Aitoliko, and in particular between the slope of Zygos and the eastern bank of the lagoon, there are remains of a fortification called by the locals Sideroporta, which has been considerably damaged by the construction of the railway. It had semi-circular towers and is identified by some with ancient Phana. On the top of the same heights was probably the city of Lysimachia or Lysimacheia. It was fortified and occupied a large area. It had already been destroyed by the time of Strabo.
