Ανασκαφική έρευνα στην Πέλλα το 2006
Part of : Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Μακεδονία και στη Θράκη ; Vol.20, No.1, 2006, pages 591-614
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591-614
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Excavation work at Pella in 2006
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The central element of the scheme to enhance the archaeological site at Pella is the unification of the site through the closure of two public highways that currently dissect it into four parts. In future entry to the site will -as in antiquity- be gained from the south, where the ancient city’s harbour was once situated. In order to provide visitor access through this new point of entry, a bypass is being constructed to the south of the large modem irrigation channel that exists in this area. The bypass will begin at the city’s eastern boundary (where, in fact, the main entrance to the present-day settlement lies) and terminate on the western side, a little before Nea Pella. In 2006, as part of the road construction programme, a salvage excavation was carried out along the route of the new road which brought to light some very interesting new evidence about the life of the ancient city.The exact positions of the city’s east and west walls were determined, and light was thrown on various problems relating to the form and dimensions of the last row of the city’s outermost insulae. The most important find, however, was the discovery -for the first time in the excavations at Pella- of architectural remains from the Early Christian period (lst-4th cent. AD) in the southern part of the city. These consist of remains of buildings that occupy an area approx. 520 m. long on the city’s E-W axis, The remains belong to large building complexes that are fully integrated into the city’s urban plan, which appears to have survived into the Roman period. There is evidence, therefore, that Pella was not abandoned once and for all after the destructive earthquake of 90 BC but continued to be inhabited, at least in its southern sector.One of the buildings that was investigated is a Roman bath-house with three rooms with hypocausts for hot baths, a room with a bath for warm baths, and very likely a room for cold baths. In the outdoor area to the south of the bath-house there was a swimming-pool with a well-preserved water supply and drainage system and a platform, while to the west a square cistern was unearthed. The adornment of the buildings with mosaic floors (which are unfortunately in a poor state of preservation), opus sectile decoration and coloured mortars, together with the wealth of portable finds (clay, glass and marble vessels, large numbers of coins, etc.) attests to the high living standards of the people who used these areas. It should also be noted that this is the first time that a Roman-type bath-house has been uncovered at Pella -one that survived from the 1 st to the 4th cent. AD-, thus enriching our knowledge not only of the building activity in the southern part of the old Macedonian capital during the Roman period but also the living conditions of its inhabitants, over a period of habitation that is now known to have lasted from the late 5th cent. BC until the 4th cent. AD.
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Πέλλα
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