Constructing the ‘Urban Profile’ of an Ancient Greek City: Evidence From the Olynthos Project

Abstract

This article argues that a holistic approach to documenting and understanding the physical evidence for individual cities would enhance our ability to address major questions about urbanisation, urbanism, cultural identities and economic processes. At the same time we suggest that providing more comprehensive data-sets concerning Greek cities would represent an important contribution to cross-cultural studies of urban development and urbanism, which have often overlooked relevant evidence from Classical Greece. As an example of the approach we are advocating, we offer detailed discussion of data from the Archaic and Classical city of Olynthos, in the Halkidiki. Six seasons of fieldwork here by the Olynthos Project, together with legacy data from earlier projects by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and by the Greek Archaeological Service, combine to make this one of the best-documented urban centres surviving from the Greek world. We suggest that the material from the site offers the potential to build up a detailed ‘urban profile’, consisting of an overview of the early development of the community as well as an in-depth picture of the organisation of the Classical settlement. Some aspects of the urban infrastructure can also be quantified, allowing a new assessment of (for example) its demography. This article offers a sample of the kinds of data available and the sorts of questions that can be addressed in constructing such a profile, based on a brief summary of the interim results of fieldwork and data analysis carried out by the Olynthos Project, with a focus on research undertaken during the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.

What’s new during the first millennium BCE in Greece? Archaeobotanical results from Olynthos and Sikyon

“…Hopefully, further studies will determine the role (function) of the building. While until now it was considered a 'house' (Nevett et al, 2017(Nevett et al, , 2020, the occurrence of sesame in a 'domestic space' would contrast with other finds. Indeed, as already mentioned above (section 4.2.3), sesame was also identified at Thessaloniki and Krania (building Δ), in both cases public spaces.…”

“…The discovery of four post holes in the street, against the façade of the house, suggested the existence of a wooden structure. The investigation of TT23 trench was restricted to the northern part, the area of the paved street (Nevett et al, 2020). The archaeobotanical assemblage of sesame de-rives from a pit, located in that area.…”

“…In 2014, a new excavation and research project (Fig. 2) was initiated, with the aim of obtaining as much as information at intra-site level (houses) and of contextualising the place of Olynthos in the region (Nevett et al, 2017(Nevett et al, , 2020. The well preserved residential units offer the opportunity to investigate household activities, urban economy and social interaction within the peninsula and to a larger extent, in the Aegean region (Nevett et al, 2017(Nevett et al, , 2020.…”

“…2) was initiated, with the aim of obtaining as much as information at intra-site level (houses) and of contextualising the place of Olynthos in the region (Nevett et al, 2017(Nevett et al, , 2020. The well preserved residential units offer the opportunity to investigate household activities, urban economy and social interaction within the peninsula and to a larger extent, in the Aegean region (Nevett et al, 2017(Nevett et al, , 2020. To this end, an interdisciplinary approach was applied and an extensive sampling strategy for archaeozoology, archaeobotany, phytoliths, geochemistry and micromorphology was undertaken.…”

“…(b) Plan of the house Bix6, on the North hill. (c) Plan of trench TT23, on the South Hill(Nevett et al, 2017(Nevett et al, , 2020.…”