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Kozani prefecture 2006 : Polymylos, Kleitos, Perdikkas, Mikrokastro, Aliakmon

• Καραμήτρου-Μεντεσίδη, Γεωργία

POLYMYLOSAfter a six-year break, we returned to Polymylos, where, in the period 1995-2000, due to the construction of a junction on the modem Via Egnatia, we had carried out a large rescue excavation over an area of 2.0 ha. and uncovered part of the ancient city, which we have identified with the ancient Macedonian Euia. In the Hellenistic and Early Roman settlement in the northern sector, the excavations had, amongst other things, uncovered houses with successive building phases, an organised water supply, a room for a household shrine, walls, and workshops for stone-carving (evidenced by chippings, a half-finished statue and stelae). Workshops for the production of pottery, terracotta figurines and building materials were also uncovered (indicated by the presence of eight kilns, six of which -three rectangular ones, two round ones and a pear-shaped one- were deemed worthy of preserving in situ), as were three cemeteries (from the Bronze Age and the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods). There is also evidence of prehistoric use of the site, with burial mounds and remains of dwellings from the Neolithic period and Bronze and Iron Ages.New requirements imposed by a new design for the road junction meant that radical changes had to be made to the conservation and preservation programme, which took into account the construction of an overhead bridge and the operation of a “roadside museum” to present the contents of the site. Thus, after five of the kilns were conserved in situ and then reburied, together with the remains of the buildings that surrounded them, the most monumental of the kilns was moved to Aiane. The changes also necessitated the excavation of a new area measuring 1500 sq. m. At one point sections of enclosure walls were uncovered, together with two later burials, and at another remains of dwellings from the Early Bronze Age and the Hellenistic era. Of particular interest is a 19m-long section of water main consisting of clay pipes (one of which bears the inscription ΝΙΚΑΝΟΡΟΣ), which forms part of a broader water supply network issuing from springs in the foothills of Mt. Vermion, and the remains of a room containing about 30 intact or broken pots preserved as a result of destruction and fire. Generally, the presence of storage and cooking vessels, 50 clay loom weights, a stone hand-mill and stone mortars indicate the existence of rooms for storage, food preparation and everyday living.KLEITOSIt is a well-known fact that during the 1980s, of the 14 prehistoric Settlements that had been located in the Lake Kitrini plain south of Ptolema'ida (today 31 are known to exist), five lay outside the boundaries of the mines belonging to the Public Electricity Corporation (DEI), while seven were excluded from the expansion zone for the Corporation’s lignite mines. Unfortunately, however, the settlement at Kleitos, which occupies an area of 8 ha., did not share the same fate as it is rich in lignite deposits and DEI’s failure to exploit them would have caused problems for the state’s energy programme. This year excavations were recommenced for the first time since 1995 with the aim of rescuing and presenting the antiquities whilst also ensuring the smooth operation of the lignite mines in the South Field. An area of 1600 sq. m. was excavated, revealing a small part of the settlement, which has been dated to the Early Bronze Age. The site was also found to have been inhabited from the Aeneolithic Era to the Late Bronze Age, as well as in Hellenistic and Roman times.PERDIKKASA small rescue excavation was carried out in the “Strana” locality following a request from DEI to instai a new pylon within the bounds of a Neolithic settlement. Of particular interest, although its age cannot be determined with certainty, is a small stone object brought here from another location which bears relief representations of figures on its four sides.RESEARCH ON THE SIATISTA-KRYSTALLOPIGI ROAD AXISThe construction along a new route of the Kozani-Kastoria highway that skirts Siatista and Neapoli near Mt. Boion necessitated excavations in two of the 15 locations that have been located along this axis. At Stavros Mikrokastrou, on a known archaeological site with a walled settlement that occupies a low hill, a small excavation was carried out in an area of 1025 sq. m., which revealed evidence of habitation during the Late Bronze Age.At Kryopigado Aliakmona archaeological strata from the Aeneolithic Era and Early Bronze Age were found on two hills, as well as remains of Macedonian matt-painted ware from the Late Bronze Age. On the same site three unlooted Roman pit-graves were unearthed containing glass grave goods, clay pots and 14 bronze coins. A pile-dwelling was also unearthed beneath a broad destruction layer, while remains of ceramics and vessels were gathered from a total area of 770 sq. m., together with 20 anchor-shaped figurines, stone and bone implements, loom weights and four spindle whorls.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

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