The 2016–2018 Greek-Swedish Archaeological Project at Thessalian Vlochos, Greece
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SVENSKA INSTITUTEN I ATHEN OCH ROM INSTITUTUM ATHENIENSE ATQUE INSTITUTUM ROMANUM REGNI SUECIAE Opuscula Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 13 2020 STOCKHOLM Licensed to <[email protected]> EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Prof. Gunnel Ekroth, Uppsala, Chairman Dr Lena Sjögren, Stockholm, Vice-chairman Mrs Kristina Björksten Jersenius, Stockholm, Treasurer Dr Susanne Berndt, Stockholm, Secretary Prof. Christer Henriksén, Uppsala Prof. Anne-Marie Leander Touati, Lund Prof. Peter M. Fischer, Göteborg Dr David Westberg, Uppsala Dr Sabrina Norlander-Eliasson, Stockholm Dr Lewis Webb, Göteborg Dr Ulf R. Hansson, Rome Dr Jenny Wallensten, Athens EDITOR Dr Julia Habetzeder Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm [email protected] SECRETARY’S ADDRESS Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm [email protected] DISTRIBUTOR eddy.se ab Box 1310 SE-621 24 Visby For general information, see http://ecsi.se For subscriptions, prices and delivery, see http://ecsi.bokorder.se Published with the aid of a grant from The Swedish Research Council (2017-01912) The English text was revised by Rebecca Montague, Hindon, Salisbury, UK Opuscula is a peer reviewed journal. Contributions to Opuscula should be sent to the Secretary of the Editorial Committee before 1 November every year. Contributors are requested to include an abstract summarizing the main points and principal conclusions of their article. For style of references to be adopted, see http://ecsi.se. Books for review should be sent to the Secretary of the Editorial Committee. ISSN 2000-0898 ISBN 978-91-977799-2-0 © Svenska Institutet i Athen and Svenska Institutet i Rom Printed by TMG Sthlm, Sweden 2020 Cover illustrations from Aïopoulou et al. in this volume, p. 48. Licensed to <[email protected]> MARIA VAÏOPOULOU, HELENE WHITTAKER, ROBIN RÖNNLUND, FOTINI TSIOUKA, JOHAN KLANGE, DEREK PITMAN, RICH POTTER, LAWRENCE SHAW, JOSEPHINE HAGAN, ELLEN SILJEDAHL, MATILDA FORSSÉN, SUJATHA CHANDRASEKARAN, SOTIRIA DANDOU, VERONICA FORSBLOM LJUNGDAHL, ASTA PAVILIONYTĖ, HAYDEN SCOTT-PRATT, ELISABET SCHAGER & HARRY MANLEY The 2016–2018 Greek-Swedish archaeological project at Thessalian Vlochos, Greece Abstract Introduction The Vlochos Archaeological Project (2016–2018) was a Greek-Swedish In this paper we present the work of the Vlochos Archaeo- archaeological investigation of the remains of the ancient urban site at logical Project (henceforth VLAP) that took place at the ar- Vlochos in western Thessaly, Greece. Employing a wide array of non- chaeological site of Vlochos in Thessaly, Greece between 2016 invasive methods, the project succeeded in completely mapping the vis- and 2018. VLAP was a Greek-Swedish collaboration and in- ible remains, which had previously not been systematically investigated. cluded archaeologists and students from the Ephorate of An- The extensive remains of multi-period urban fortifications, a Classical- tiquities of Karditsa and the University of Gothenburg, with Hellenistic city, a Roman town, and a Late Antique fortress were identi- additional research personnel from Bournemouth Univer- fied, evidence of the long history of habitation on this site. Since com- sity and Arkeologikonsult Ltd. Maria Vaïopoulou (director, paratively little fieldwork has been conducted in the region, the results Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa) directed the Greek side significantly increase our knowledge of the history and archaeology of and Helene Whittaker (professor, Gothenburg University) Thessaly.* the Swedish side. Fieldwork was supervised by Fotini Tsiouka (Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa) and Robin Rönnlund Keywords: Thessaly,polis , non-invasive, architectural survey, fortifications, (University of Gothenburg). geophysical survey, aerial survey, multi-phase settlement One of the central aims of the project was to develop and implement a cost-effective digital methodology for investi- https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-13-02 gating large complex urban sites in Greece, with a focus on rapid and non-invasive methods. Because they are important archaeological landmarks in the landscape, urban sites are of- ten well-known. However, in many cases our knowledge about * The Vlochos Archaeological Project was funded by generous grants from their architectural layout, extent or even function is quite lim- Enboms donationsfond, Herbert och Karin Jacobssons stiftelse, Helge ited. Remoteness, dense vegetation, poor accessibility and dif- Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse, Gunvor och Josef Anérs stiftelse, and Kungliga Vitterhets- och Vetenskaps-Samhället i Göteborg. We are grateful to the ficult terrain, as well as factors such as over-silting and cultiva- Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports for granting us the permit to work tion have hindered archaeological research. Recent advances at the fantastic site of Vlochos. The project members also thank the present in technology, which allow for different approaches from the director of the Swedish Institute at Athens, Dr Jenny Wallensten, and the traditional excavation-centred methods, call for new strategies former director, Dr Arto Penttinen, for their inexhaustible support before, during, and after the completion of fieldwork. We thank the municipality in recording ancient Greek cities. of Palamas and especially its mayor Mr Giorgos Sakellariou for their in- With regard to central Thessaly and the north-eastern part valuable help: without the extensive mowing of thistles and weeds that he of the Karditsa plain, the fortified urban sites along the banks of and his colleagues organized in the Patoma area, we would never have been able to obtain the geophysical survey results that we did. We also thank the Pinios and Enipeas rivers appear to belong to a complex set- Mrs Evangelia Dozi of Vlochos for her great help with solving seemingly tlement network, which is yet not fully understood. To compre- insoluble tasks and for her most kind welcome to the site. Without the hend the role and function of this network of cities requires am- resourcefulness of Mr Angelos Davatzikos of Markos and his family, we bitious multi-method approaches that aim to understand each would never have managed to complete the project, and we remain for- ever in debt to them. Finally, we express our gratitude to the inhabitants of city and its countryside on its own terms. Our project focuses Vlochos and of the municipality of Palamas for their great hospitality and on the archaeology of Strongilovouni hill, near the modern vil- enthusiastic interest in our work. lage of Vlochos, and adjacent areas (Fig. 1). We documented Licensed to <[email protected]> 8 • MARIA VAÏOPOULOU ET AL. • THE 2016–2018 GREEK-SWEDISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT AT THESSALIAN VLOCHOS, GREECE Fig. 1. The location of the site at Vlochos within central Thessaly with surrounding modern settlements (red) and notable archaeological sites (black). Map by R. Rönnlund. and interpreted the ancient remains on the site through the de- Topography and site subdivision velopment and implementation of an integrative, non-invasive The archaeological site at Vlochos1 (Βλοχός) lies to the south digital survey programme. It is our hope that this method can of the eponymous village in the municipality of Palamas in the be emulated at other sites within the region in order to allow for peripheral administrative unit of Karditsa. It consists mainly detailed regional comparison of early urbanization and social of the sizeable hill of Strongilovouni (Στρογγυλοβούνι, nucleation in Thessaly and beyond. The method that we used, Fig. 2)2 and the flat area of Patoma (Πάτωμα, Figs. 3, 4) to which we describe below, has the potential to yield significant the south of it. Kuşaklı Dağ, the Turkish Ottoman name of and detailed information about the structural organization of the hill, means “belted mountain”,3 reflecting the appear- urban sites, their chronological development, and the overall ance of the fortification walls along the brow of the hill. The character of standing and buried remains. toponym Vlochos itself is probably derived from Medieval This ambitious programme necessitated a team of special- ists that included Classical archaeologists, landscape archae- ologists, surveyors, geophysicists, and heritage professionals. 1 The transliteration of modern Greek into Latin letters poses an in- The integration of this complex and varied skill set was crucial teresting problem. In this article, we have strived for a more “phonetic” to the method employed at Vlochos, which was centred on mode of transliterating toponyms, except in cases where the toponym is the mapping and characterization of the spatial articulation well-established in English. 2 Meaning “round mountain”, a suitable designation for this hill. of human activity and the spectrum of materialized impact on 3 Heuzey 1927, 75–76. The alternative Greek toponym is Zonaria the landscape. (Ζωνάρια), meaning “the belts”. Licensed to <[email protected]> THE 2016–2018 GREEK-SWEDISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT AT THESSALIAN VLOCHOS, GREECE • MARIA VAÏOPOULOU ET AL. • 9 Fig. 2. Strongilovouni hill, looking towards the north, with Makrivouni hill at right at back. The area of Patoma is visible as a green linear area immediately below the hill. Photograph by R. Rönnlund. Fig. 3. View of the area of Pato- ma from the southern slope of Strongilovouni, looking towards the south-east. Photograph by J. Klange. Greek Evlochos (Εὐλοχὸς), meaning “a location suitable for joined by its tributary