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Archaeological research at Ossa

• Αδάμ - Βελένη, Πολυξένη

A short trial excavation on the covered with oak-trees hill north-west from the modern village of Ossa yielded significant evidence for the small Hellenistic settlement, unrecorded by the sources or the early travellers. Architectural remains of houses were found in the first trial trench. Three subsequent rooms with pithoi were found identifying the use of these rooms. Abronze coin of Philippoi of the 2nd century B.C. was found on the flor of one room, while a second architectural phase was discovered in another room. A second trench was carried out in the northern part of the highest plateau and yielded a wall (2 m. thick and 9 m. long); the two faces of the wall were made of stones and mud, while stones together with a bronze coin of Thessaloniki also imply a dating to the 2nd century B.C. The small Hellenistic settlement is located on the western foot of Mt. Bertiskosand the western area of ancient Bisaltia. The Bisaltians were a Thracian tribe Hellenized already in the 7th century B.C., although they preserved their unity as a nation until the Roman period. The lack of sources or inscriptions constitute the identification of this settlement difficult. The small size of the settlement together with its location on the northern and north western part of the hill, may suggest that it was used during spring and summer by groups of cattle-raisers who moved there in summer and down to the pasture-lands of the Langada plain in winter. We do not know anything about the life and urban organization of the peoples, known as "phyla” (tribes), surviving down to the latest period in Macedonia. Thus, the settlement of Ossa is very important, since its future excavation may illuminate problems about the population of the area and also certain aspects of the social structure in the post - Alexandrine period.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Όσσα, Λαγκαδάς, Θεσσαλονίκη, συνέδρια

Περιέχει σχέδια και εικόνες