332-336

Town building problem of ancient Ambrakia

Αρχαιολογικά χρονικά

• Βοκοτοπούλου, Ιουλία Π.

Two properties in Arta have recently yielded important parts of streets of the Ancient Ambrakia. The first (fig. 1 ) lies on Kilkis Square, some 50 m. SW of the late archaic temple ( AAA II ( 1969 ), p. 39 - 43 ) ; the second (fig. 2 ) is 400 m. further North, on Zerva’s Square. The two have striking similarities : their direction is NW - SE and they were most probably parallel; they have the same width of 4.70 m. having pavements and gutters of stone slabs. Right angled houses border them and there is a well near each of them. The hnds date both streets to the classical period.All these similarities prove that there must have been a town building plan in 5th century B.G. Ambrakia, with large streets following a right-angled grid.In the property of Kilkis Square most interesting is the well (fig· 3 ), now rebuilt in the court of the Arta Museum.In Zerva’s Square street, the walls of the houses have with certainty been ascribed to the archaic period and the 5th century B.C.; the latter through the finding of three Corinthian and Ambrakiot silver staters (figs. 4 - 5 ). Most interesting is the lower stratum, containing Corinthian Geometric sherds together with local hand-made and matt-painted ware of the NW Macedonian type. We deduce that Ambrakia was open to the Corinthians some 2 */2 centuries before its official foundation by the Cypselid Gorgus ( 625 B.C. ) and that it was already occupied by the Dry opes, an Epirotan tribe, to which belongs the hand made pottery. This pottery confirms the assumption that the name of Ambrakia is local ( N. Hammond, Epirus, p. 425 ) ; the Corinthian colony received it from the native population living on the site of Ambrakia and using the same hand-made Geometric pottery found already at Dodona, Kastritsa and Vitsa, district of Yan- nina.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

πολεοδομία, Ήπειρος

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