Rodafnidia is a low hill at the western foot of the Lisvori village, close to the hot springs of Ai-Giannis and only a kilometre from the southeastern shore of the Kalloni Gulf. Palaeolithic finds are recovered from the sub-surface in old fluvial deposits and the surface due to uplift – resulting from tectonic activity – and erosion of the deposits.
Ongoing excavation in different Lisvori localities and the study of the archaeological material reveal a complex depositional history. Distinctive events of deposition, transportation and redeposition of artefacts have been identified, starting at least half a million years ago. In Rodafnidia, archaeological finds are recovered from layers containing coarse-grained sediments, corresponding to depositions on the bed of the fluvial channels during the glacial periods. This is the result of redeposition of eroded older layers. Archaeological material embedded in these layers was carried away by water and redeposited in lower areas of an alluvial plain. The Acheulean tool-using groups lived around this alluvial plain opening into the large and shallow basin of the modern Kalloni Gulf. They created, used, and discarded stone tools on the banks of streams. These aquatic routes led to the Kalloni basin and to sheltered areas over the ignimbrite formations by the hot springs which must have acted as a landmark.
A 19th-century watermill is situated on the western side of the foothill. Remnants of the mill race in two adjacent fields indicate the westward migration of the nearby stream during the last century. To the east of the watermill, a fountain lies hidden under dense vegetation cover. An ignimbrite quarry to the south of the Hatzoglou property completes the record of monuments on the hill. Ignimbrite has been widely used as building material in traditional local architecture.
The toponym Rodafnidia refers to the oleanders (Nerium oleander), the characteristic plant that used to grow on the hill. Today Rodafnidia is a massive olive grove, and one of the olive-growing centres for the residents of Lisbori and Polichnitos. The flora of the hill includes a great variety of trees such as pistachio (Pistacia atlantica), almond-leaved pear (Pyrus spinosa), white oak (Quercus pubescens), kermes oak (Quercus coccifera) and chaste tree (Vitex agnus castus); bushes and brushwood such as mastic (Pistacia lentiscus), rockrose (Cistus incanus), topped lavender (Lavandula stoechas), wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius), osyris (Osyris alba), thorny burnet (Sarcopoterium spinosum); thistles (Carlina corymbosa, Centaurea solstitialis, Carthamus dentatus, Carthamus lanatus, Scolymus hispanicus); flowers such as curled-leaved St. John’s-wort (Hypericum triquetrifolium) and cephalaria (Cephalaria transylvanica). The hill is crossed and divided by a farm track running east to west. On either side of that route the land tenures are defined by low stone walls called ‘setia’ in the local dialect.