107-118

The “Maison des Fauves ” in Philippi : new excavations (2001-2002)

• Provost, Samuel
• Foschia, Laurence

Locateci in the S.W. part of Philippi, the “Maison des Fauves” (House of the Wild Animals) - previously called “Thermes Sud” and “Edifice avec bains”- is a monumental building measuring 55x42 m. which had firstly been excavated in 1934-37 by M. Feyel, and then, in 1978-79, by P. Aupert, both members of the French School of Archaeology in Athens. The new excavations, conducted by S. Provost since 2001, aim at defining the building function. Their focus has been the East wing (C) as it offers the best-preserved stratigraphic sequence.The main occupation of the building consisted in several successive phases of which three have been identified: the first one, which began from the middle of the 3rd c. AD was put in evidence in rooms C6, C5, C2 and Cl where comparable levels of occupation were discovered. The second phase coincides with the installation of a mosaic in CIO, dated to the first part of the 5th c. During a third phase -middle of the 5th c - various transformations were undertaken in the entire wing and several doors were sealed.The existence of a previous building on the very site of the House had firstly been highlighted by M. Feyel who showed that in the West wing (A), the North side was, for its major part, established on foundations from an older structure. If its existence was confirmed during the last two campaigns, we are still unable to precise its chronology, either Hellenistic or Roman, as well as its function.To the other end of the site’s history, the new excavations also provided elements related to the last phases of occupation. Thus in CIO were unearthed 21 post holes revealing the existence of a small oval-shaped hut; the finds from the hearth discovered in its center hint at a date between the 7th and the 10th c. No trace of a later occupation was here noticed contrary to what we observed in C2. There indeed, a pit -perhaps an hearth- revealed ceramics from the 11 th/12th c. and a cross-reliquary (enkolpion) with the same chronology. Such elements confirm the sporadic occupation of the House in the Middle Byzantine period.While the Middle Age occupation of the House of the Wild Animals remains to be precisely described, next campaigns will focus on the identification of the main phase of occupation and on the transformations that followed in Late Antiquity.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Φίλιπποι, συνέδρια

Περιέχει εικόνες και κατόψεις, Η μετάφραση του κειμένου της ανακοίνωσης αυτής οφείλεται στον καθηγητή Β. Αραβαντινό, Διευθυντή της Θ' Εφορείας Προϊστορικών και Κλασικών Αρχαιοτήτων