559-574

Excavations on the route of the Egnatia motorway : investigations in the areas of Lefkopetra and Mikri Sanda

• Στεφανή, Ευαγγελία

In 2001, archaeological inspections continued along the route of the Egnatia motorway in Imathia prefecture. Excavations in the areas of Lefkopetra and Mikri Sanda yielded antiquities which furnish plenty of important information about the topography of these areas of Vermio that are so difficult of access.The site of Kallipetra near Lefkopetra, which is about 700 m from the sanctuary of the Autochthonous Mother of the Gods, was occupied continuously, for habitation layers and burials have been explored from all periods from the 4th millennium BC to the 3rd century AD. The excavation concentrated on three areas: the first on a flat expanse at the foot of a hill, which yielded well-preserved architectural remains of a complex of buildings of the Hellenistic period. So far, 20 rooms have been entirely or partially uncovered, producing an abundance of finds: a large number of entire vessels and bronze and silver coins, small objects of metal and bone, and iron tools. Inside the rooms were found clay and stone structures of a domestic or industrial nature. It is worth noting the discovery of numerous clay figurines, some of which had been placed on clay benches in the comers of rooms together with other objects of a ritual nature, such as incense burners and little altars, which indicate that one or more sanctuaries were operating on the site. The main phase of the complex, which was destroyed by fire, dates to the mid-2nd century BC, though there is clear evidence of earlier phases. The second excavational area is on the edge of a plateau above a stream. Habitation layers were uncovered here, with finds dating to the Middle and Late Bronze Age (2nd millennium) and the Early Iron Age; and extensive remains of five buildings were also uncovered, with at least two construction phases, of the 7th to the 6th century BC. After the buildings had been destroyed by an earthquake, probably at the end of the 5th century BC, the area was extensively paved with stone and a stone enclosure was built. During the 4th century and possibly until the beginning of the 3rd century BC, workshops were operating here, as is indicated by the presence of the kilns. The last evidence of human presence here comes from two burials of the mid-2nd century BC. The third excavational area lies to the W of the previous one (on the other side of the stream), where earthfill was investigated with movable finds from the end of the Late Neolithic (4th millennium BC) to the Hellenistic period. Fourteen pit-graves and two tile-graves also came to light, covering an extensive period from the last quarter of the 4th millennium to the 3rd century AD. The graves that were excavated constitute a small part of the extensive cemetery of the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods, which extended over the gentle slopes to the N and NE of the excavated site.At Arapi near Mikri Sanda a complex of buildings was excavated which consisted of six structures. Taken as a whole, the excavational data indicate that this was a seasonal stock- breeding establishment, a farm, which was inhabited from the third quarter of the 4th century BC to the first quarter of the 3rd centuiy BC.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

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