481-502

Polymylos, Kozani prefecture, 1998

• Καραμήτρου-Μεντεσίδη, Γεωργία
• Βατάλη, Μαρία

The settlement, which is being excavated to the W of the village of Polymylos in a lownatural col between hills, occupies the main S passage in the Vermio range between Upper andLower Macedonia. This accounts for its continuity from prehistoric times (Bronze Age) to theMiddle Byzantine period. Karamitrou has asserted that the settlement was within the boundariesof Elimiotis and near the border with Eordaia, and has also identified it as Euia, following thediscovery in Veria (Beroia) of an inscription with the words άπο τής Εύιαστικής πύλης.In the N sector widespread evidence has been found that the site was used in prehistorictimes for habitation and burial, and 3 tumuli of the Late Bronze Age have been excavated.These are circular structures, the first two measuring 7 m across and the third 4-6 m. They aremarked off by a base, consisting of two to seven courses of large rough stones, about 0.80 mhigh, and were covered with thick courses of similar, smaller stones. After the removal ofextensive heaps of stones and fill 1 m deep, 2, 3, and 1 burials were discovered respectively,with a handmade pot as a burial offering.In the 3rd tumulus, there were also 2 burials of the Hellenistic period with grave goods inthe form of 4 and 5 pottery vessels. A grave stela is connected with the Hellenistic cemetery tothe S of the tumuli and bears the inscription Δειφίλω | ’Αντιγόνου | ήρωι.The movable finds suggest that the settlement dates to between the 3rd and the 1st centuryBC. A workshop area was located in the SE part of the settlement, with 3 rectangular, brick-builtpottery kilns. Only the firing chambers survive, though part of the grille survives in the 3rd kiln.The walls, 3 in the 1st kiln and 4 in the other two, were constructed with rows of bricks and laidathwart the lengthwise axis of the kilns, supporting the grille. In the middle is an arched passageintegrated with the vaulted opening. The roof tiles found inside the 3rd kiln indicate that thekilns were used to fire building materials and date to the Late Hellenistic and Early Romanperiod.The site was also used in the Middle Byzantine period, because an organised cemetery ofthis period was uncovered on the NE edge of the N sector, but on a site into which the habitationremains do not extend. A total of 111 pit graves were excavated; 42 of them containing childburials, with burial offerings of clay pots; the grave goods in the women’s graves were bronzeand iron finger-rings and earrings and necklaces of glass and amber beads. Bronze belt buckles,a large number of iron daggers and axes, and a few iron spearheads and arrowheads were alsofound.In the S sector of the excavation, on the right-hand side of the Kozani-Veria road, thehabitation remains belong to a settlement of the Late Roman period. That habitation was relocatedsouth-eastwards and the area in between remained uninhabited is explained by the factthat the water running down the hillsides on either side pooled here, making the area unsuitablefor habitation. A building with buttresses was unearthed to the NE measuring 11.5x8.5 m,which may be firmly dated to the 3rd-4th century AD by the pottery and by 5 coins of TrajanDecius (249-251) and Volusian (251-253). An immured, section of a stela of the 3rd century BCwas the grave monument of a slave or freedwoman ([τφ - θ]ρέψαντι) named Ariston. Anotherbuilding was uncovered to the sw, measuring 12x8.5 m, and a water conduit of clay pipes.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

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