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The archaeological site of Diomedeia, prefecture of Xanthi

• Καλλιντζή, Κωνσταντίνα
• Παπαδόπουλος, Στρατής

The archaeological site of Diomedeia (Diomidia) is in the southern part of the Prefecture of Xanthi, in a level plain between the sea and the Rhodopi Mountains. It covered an area of about 700 stremmata (-175 acres), at the center of which was a five-meter- high Toumba.Diomedeia’s Prehistoric phases are known through surface surveys and the excavation of two pits. It was a large agricultural settlement. Its Neolithic pottery is a dark burnished ware, frequently black-topped, with the most prominent types being storage pithoi, prochoi, four-footed lekanai, and tripod tables. There are some painted classes of Late Neolithic, such as pottery decorated with dark gray and “black-on-red” wares. Life in Diomedeia extended from the mid-6th to the late 5th millennium. The Toumba was re-inhabited during the 3rd millennium, as shown by illicit excavation at its summit, which yielded Early Bronze Age pottery.The following habitation phase may be detected in the late 5th century B.C., when the area belonged to the chora of Abdera. Our knowledge here is based exclusively on surface investigation. A settlement had grown up at Diomedeia that may have been in the nature of a village. The finds (pottery, coins, minor objects) confirming ongoing use of the area during the historical period for a very long time, since its chronological bounds extend as far as the 4th-5th century A.D. There were installations on the outskirts of the archaeological site during the Post-Byzantine period.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

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