187-194

The excavations at Dion

• Παντερμαλής, Δημήτριος

The excavations began in June concurrently with drainage work in the temple ofIsis (Fig. 1). A deep ditch was dug all around the precinct, to receive the water as it drained away from the temple. Sections and cleaning of the ceremonial way leading to the altar disclosed new data for the reconstruction of the façade of the east entrance. Excavations of the Villa of Dionysus (Fig. 2) continued northwards, uncovering two atria surrounded by porticoes and rooms (Fig. 3). Unfinished marble blocks, andarchitectural members and sculptures incorporated in the masonry attest later interventions. A large floor mosaic must have been coated with pebbles (Fig. 4, 5) during the final construction stage. These new digs brought to light a number of fragments of sculptures, including a small marble head of Dionysus crowned with ivy stems. The fragments of one particular marble sculpture are exceptionally interesting: they are the right hand, loosely holding the upper edge of an object ending in a loop, and the left hand, holding an object which is circular in section and is continued, with a change of shape, by another fragment, which somewhat resembles a thick, slightly curved, ribbed blade. The object held in these two youthful hands is a bow, which the figure is bending by pulling it from the middle towards himself. A careful examination of the fragments leaves no doubt that this is the most fragile part of a statue of the Imperial period, a copy of Lysippus’ masterly Eros with a Bow. The new find considerably assists an interpretation of the classical masterpiece. Deep sections behind and to the south of the Shield Monument have disclosed walls of porous stone from various construction phases between the 4th and 2nd cc.BC. They are walls of public buildings which were probably connected with Dion’s Hellenistic agora (Fig. 6). Upon them rest the foundations of the buildings of the Imperial period, whose floors are some 3 m higher. Some of the main walls of the later buildings closely follow the lines of the older walls. The excavation of the Sanctuary of Demeter (Fig. 7) brought to light the foundation of the altar in front of the temple’s east front, where the head of the goddess was found in 1973.The Odeion of the Thermae complex was excavated in a search for data which would assist the full reconstruction of the ground plan and solve some problems of chronology. As expected, the walls have deep foundations and the lower strata contained sherds from the Classical period. Stratigraphical investigations were also conducted with interesting results inside the tower in the south-west corner of the fortification (Fig. 8). And a search was made for a gate in the south wall in the corresponding position to the recently discovered gatein the north wall. Finally, two tombs were excavated in the atrium of the cemetery basilica. One of them is a barrel-vaulted structure, with a frieze along all four interior sides depicting birds of paradise and clusters of plants on either side of large purple crosses (Fig. 9).The following people took part in the 1990 excavations, each in charge of anarchaeological sector: Th. Stefanidou-Tiveriou, Associate Professor, S. Pinyatoglou, Assistant Professor, G. Karadedos, Lecturer in Architecture, A. Mendzos, Lecturer and E. Benaki, and K. Vastelli, Archaeologists. The excavations were also conducted in association with the archaeologists M. Karabatea, P. Christodoulou, S. Tambaki,and A. Prinou.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Δίον, Πιερία, συνέδρια

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