167-172

Dion excavation 1995

• Παντερμαλής, Δημήτριος

Excavations were carried out in the ancient city at the following locations:1. The sector of the hydraulis. Excavation was continued to the south and west. Many iron tools were brought to light, some of which come from a metal -working establishment. The two levels of the building, which have a difference in elevation of around 1,50 m., were found to be connected by means of a built slab stairway. Among the finds from that sector are a statuette of Asklepios of the familiar Asklepios Giustini type.2. Sector of the building block opposite the monument of the shields. In the excavation of 1976-77 a large hall with mosaic floor, marble toichobate and marble orthostatic had been discovered. This year’s excavation showed that this was the central hall of a large bathing establishment. The hypocaust system is arranged in the consecutive areas to the east.3. Sector of the central basilica. Here the heavy fill was removed from the north aisle. The lower layer contained bronzes and other small objects. Exploration of the atrium showed that there was probably no similar construction in the first building phase.4. Sector of the fortification walls. Supplementary exploration of the fortification circuit of the city was carried out, and extensive survey plans wiredrawn. A photogram metrical survey was made of the entire northern side of the wall. In the area of the sanctuaries the following work was carried out:1. In the sanctuary of Demeter sections of the fill were removed so that all of the large area excavated would be at the same level. To the east of the northernmost sacred building was found a built altar and a marble statue base with the inscription ΒΕΡΕΝΙΚΗ ΚΟΡΡΑΓΟ[Υ] ΙΕΡΗΤΕΥΣΑ[ΣΑ...].2. The ancient stadium, which was one of the main goals of the 1995excavation. Its location had already been noted at the beginning of the lastcentury by Leake. Unfortunately, however, after the war, fields and building lots were laid out and houses were built over its western embankment. With exceedingly careful excavation, the boundaries and course of the race-track were sought and found; in addition a flight of low earthen steps in the embankment, like the ones at Elis. Many coins were recovered from the fill in the stadium, the earliest of which belong to Alexander I. The stadium, just as the theatre of Dion, played an important part in the Olympic festival of Macedonia. Here Lucian proclaimed his «Ηρόδοτος ή Αετίων» before the Macedonians who had come together from all the cities of the domain.3. In the area north of the theatre of imperial times, where the excavations had revealed many finds connected with the sanctuary of Zeus Olympios, during the exploration of a heavy wall running N-S, a small slab was found bearing 16 lines of a royal letter. The sender of the letter was Antigonas (probably Gonatas), king of Macedonia, and the receiver was Agasikles, probably the royal epistatis of Dion. The subject of the letter is the publishing of a restraining boundary to the ownership of an area «between Asikos and the Pyrrolia lake», where a certain Noumenios had established his sons. The children were not to make any transactions without the consent of Nouminios. The inscription ends with an order to Agasikles to arrange for its publishing probably in the sanctuary of Zeus Olympios. It is very likely that this large property was on the plains of Pieria and that the Pyrrolia lake was the lake of the Kitros Salt Flats with its cloudy red water, as suggested by the etymology of the word.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Δίον, Πιερία, συνέδρια

Περιέχει σχέδια και εικόνες, Στην ανασκαφή του 1995 έλαβαν μέρος με ευθύνη ανασκαφικού τομέα η καθηγήτρια κ. Θ. Στεφανίδου-Τιβερίου, η αναπληρώτρια καθηγήτρια Σ. Πινγιάτογλου, ο επίκουρος καθηγητής Γ. Καραδέδος και οι αρχαιολόγοι Ε. Μπενάκη, Κ. Βαστέλλη, I. Βασιλειάδου, Μ. Ζαμπελάκη, Α. Πρίνου και Α. Μπισδρέμη.