81-92

Polymylos : Kozani prefecture

• Καραμήτρου-Μεντεσίδη, Γεωργία
• Βατάλη, Μαρία

An extensive rescue excavation was carried out on a site which lies not only onthe planned route of the via Egnatia, but on what is to be an intersection. The siteis to the west of Polymylos (close to the village of Levendis) and on the left-handside of the existing Veria-Kozani road. Surface investigations suggest that the site isconnected with the settlement on the nearby hill, where there are clear remains offortifications on the plateau at the top.More specifically, in the east part of the north sector we uncovered thefoundations of a wall some 2.5 m wide and 36 m long, running north-east - southwest.The discovery of, mainly Late Bronze Age, hand-made pottery in the lowerlayers on the interior side of the wall is an indication of early habitation on the site.The overlying buildings belong chiefly to two construction phases. Although theground plans of the buildings are not yet complete, there appear to be threecomplexes in this sector.The walls, about 0.50 m wide, are built of undressed limestone blocks with mudas the binding agent. The floors of the rooms are not particularly well finished, incontrast to the walls, where areas of plaster survive. Interesting structures betraythe functions of some of the rooms: a round and a square hearth, a pear-shaped and around pottery kiln, and some stone hand mills and a round clay-plastered structureof rubble-masonry in the corner of a room, which had something to do with theprocessing of grain and the making of bread. Marble chippings and quite a numberof half-finished stone objects, the most noteworthy of which is a grave stele with anunfinished pedimented crown, bear witness to stonecutters' workshops.In the east part of the west sector, we found that, being very close to thesurface, the few building remains from the Hellenistic period had been disturbed bymechanised ploughing. We dug numerous trenches to a depth of 2.5 m and found torrent in the ancient period. We may therefore conclude that the absence ofbuildings just here is due, precisely, to the action of the torrent and to watererosion. This is supported by the discovery of the skeletons of an approximatelytwelve-year-old mare and a five- or six-year-old colt, which had evidently beenswept away by a flood and crushed. Nonetheless, we located a Late Bronze Agelayer in many places, at a depth of between 1.50 m and 2.50 m, which also yieldedpottery with matt-painted decoration, including two almost intact vessels (akyathos and a kantharos). In the rest of the west section, we located two principalphases of the Hellenistic period. A large dwelling with rooms and an interiorcourtyard measuring 17.5x12 m belongs to the second phase.The whole of the excavated area has yielded a rich trove of movable finds, suchas coins, clay vessels and figurines, moulds for figurines and relief vessels, and metalobjects.The water supply for the settlement came from springs on Bermion and wascarried along a conduit of clay pipes. A similar pipeline and a drainage channel,square in section, of stone slabs were uncovered on the excavation site.All these finds attest the existence of an organised, economically robust townwith a high standard of living and culture and a lifespan from the fourth to the firstcentury BC. Geographically speaking, it was in ancient Eordaia, and its location onthe major southern access point between Lower and Upper Macedonia makes itespecially interesting.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Κοζάνη, συνέδρια

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