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The Cemetery of Thermi (formerly Sedes), Thessaloniki : 20 years of excavation

• Σκαρλατίδου, Ευδοκία

The ongoing rescue excavations on both private lots and streets in the town of Thermi since 1987 have led to the discovery of an extensive cemetery. By 2006, approximately 4200 of its graves had been excavated, a number steadily increasing. The cemetery first functioned in the Iron Age (8th-7th c. B.C.), and grew to a high density during the 6th, 5th, and 4thc. B.C. Its use diminished later, but it can be attested as late as the middle of the 2nd c. B.C., and even in the 1st c. B.C.-lst c. A.D. After a long hiatus, the space was re-used as a cemetery in the post-Byzantine period (16th-18th c. B.C.), and even later, during the early 20th c.During the Iron Age, deceased were buried in shallow or deep, narrow pits, often covered with slabs of schist, and more rarely in large pots (enchytrismoi). The pit graves also predominated during the Archaic Age, but now they were either simple rectangles or ovals, or were dug in the bottom of larger pits often delimited by enclosures of various shapes, constructed out of pebbles or other, unworked stones. Cist graves were also popular in this period, constructed out of long slabs of porous or, less frequently, schist. They were often surmounted by small cairns. Toward the end of this period, a type of clay-built pit grave appeared which would survive throughout the entire 5th c. B.C. During the Archaic Age, the custom of cremation was imported, accompanied by the collection of the funerary ashes in large bronze or clay vases. Pit graves like those found in the Archaic Age were used in the 5th c. B.C., with cist graves also maintaining a small presence, and there were even a few instances of sarcophagi burials. During the 4th c. B.C., pit graves were dug in large rectangular cavities delimited by pebble enclosures, while their side walls often bear the marks of graduated construction. The Hellenistic burials were usually tile-covered, and tile-covered cinerary pits were also used during the Early Roman Age. Christian burials of the post-Byzantine period and later were shallow uncovered pits with a strict east-west orientation.Although many of the burials contained no grave goods, or had been plundered of their gold and silver jewelry in antiquity, the contents of the remaining burials were nevertheless sufficient to provide a relatively complete and clear picture of the economic, social, political and religious life of the residents of this ancient town.Women were normally buried with their jewelry (bronze, silver, gold), while men were accompanied by their weapons, but in many cases male burials also contained jewelry, along with bronze vases and symposium vessels. Clay figurines of animals and human figures were found in the burials of women and, chiefly, of children. Yet the most common grave good of all was pottery, representative of its period of origin. During the Iron Age, the populations needs for pottery were covered by local production, while the jewelry was bronze, of the “Macedonian type.” The next period, from the mid-6th c. B.C. and throughout the 5th c. B.C., a period of economic growth and increased trade relations for the settlement, is notable for a particularly large increase in imported vessels, especially from Corinthian and Attic workshops. Local pottery production shrank significantly, and to the extent that it continued, it began to imitate imported wares. Many types of bronze jewelry survived and continued to evolve, but the presence of gold and silver jewelry was also notable. Clay figurines and plastic vessels from Ionia were also quite common. The burials of the 4th c. B.C. were similar (Attic vessels, gold and silver jewelry, clay figurines, etc.), and also contained bronze coinage. The most common grave good found in the cinerary pits of the Early Roman Age consisted of clay perfume vases. Finally, the post- Byzantine burials, which like the above are to be connected with some temporary habitation in the region, contained bronze jewelry and glazed pottery. As for the early-20th century graves, they contained jewelry and other objects allowing us to connect this population with the first refugees from Eastern Romulia (Northern Thrace), who settled in Sedes during this period.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

νεκροταφεία, Θεσσαλονίκη

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