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The presence of the Thassians to the east of ancient Neapolis (modern Kavala)

• Νικολαΐδου-Πατέρα, Μαρία
• Πατέρα, Ιωάννα

While carrying out clearance work in 2005 in the fortifications that survive at the top of a fortified hill on the eastern boundary of the municipal ward of Nea Karvali, the 18th Inspectorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities uncovered part of the ancient town’s fortifying wall. The small-scale exploratory excavation that followed uncovered the outer face of the ancient wall with a tower that protected the gate at the end of its south side. Two defensive towers protected the fortified settlement’s north gate, which must have been its main point of access. The site of the ancient settlement is identified with the site of ancient Akontisma, which is mentioned in literary sources of the Roman period as a station on the Via Egnatia, 9 miles east of ancient Neapolis, modern Kavala. The so-called Egnatian Way, the great military and trade route that linked the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire with the capital, Rome, from the mid-2nd c., must have passed over the saddle of the hill not far from the point where the new Egnatia motorway has been built.According to the portable finds that hâve come to light -chiefly fragments of pointed amphoras from Thasos and bronze coins of Kassander (316-297 BC)- the original wall dates to the late 4th BC. In other words, during the period of conflict between Alexander the Great’s successors, Kassander apparently fortified this elevation in a bid to control the ancient road that predated the Via Egnatia and led from the East to Macedonia. Owing to its important position, the wall has undergone interventions at various times, the most apparent of which are those carried out in the Byzantine period and in the early 20th century when it was the outer side of an extensive trench of, probably, the First World War.At the same time, last autumn a small-scale exploratory excavation carried out on the hill to the west of Nea Karvali located another fortified coastal settlement. The portable finds (mainly pottery from workshops on Thasos and also in Attica) indicate that the settlement dates to the period between the late 6th and the mid-4th c. BC. It was probably one of the many trading stations established by the Thasians on the coast opposite their island in order to exploit the wealth of timber and minerals in the hinterland.The very important findings from our comparatively small investigation reveal that the presence of the Thasians in the area east of ancient Neapolis from the Late Archaic to the Early Hellenistic period was decisive.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

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