In July 2013 the excavation team of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki completed 20 years of continuous presence in Karabournaki. The archaeological data and material revealed during the course of the excavations in the ancient settlement have proved to be inversely proportional to the limited extent of the area excavated.
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Ceramic finds from the ancient settlement in Karabournaki
[Credit: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki] |
According to the researchers last year the pottery recovered from the semi-subterranean beehive-shaped structures (yposkapta) in an older excavation trench has been reconstructed and examined. The pottery presents a wide variety of forms and is dated to the Archaic period (second half of the 7th and first half of the 6th century BC).
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Amphora found in the ancient settlement in Karabournaki
[Credit: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki] |
"In the debris of the yposkapta were found mainly local domestic utensils and some imported examples," says the announcement. "The local wares includes 'egg-shelled' (ookelypha) grey clay cooking vessels, oinochoe, mortars and pithoi. Among the imported wares are Ionian kylikes, a fruitstand (karpodochi) and a cauldron from eastern Greece. Some Corinthian sherds were also found. Of particular interest are the trade amphorae from Attica ('SOS' type), Chios, Samos, Klazomenai and Corinth."
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Amphora found in the ancient settlement in Karabournaki
[Credit: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki] |
"The main type found in the debris of the other trench investigated was the pointed trade amphora, some of which were almost completely reconstructed. Large fragments of at least ten amphorae, including one from Samos, some of the southeastern Aegean ('Mendes' type) and the Northeastern Aegean, all from the Late Archaic period (ie., end of the 6th, beginning of the 5th century BC), were also found."
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Technicians reassembling the pottery finds from the ancient settlement of Karabournaki
[Credit: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki] |
“We believe that the work of the team in Karabournaki will continue in the next years stressing our university’s contribution to the research and enhancement of one of the most important sites of archaeological and historical memory, as well as to the development of a park serving as a green lung for the broader area of Thessaloniki.”
The archaeologists will present the results of the 2013 excavational season at Karabournaki on Friday, March 14, 2014, at 1.00 p.m., at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki as part of the framework of the conference about the Archaeological Work in Macedonia and Thrace. Their paper is titled “Karabournaki 2013: Conservation and study of the excavational material from the ancient settlement.”
Source: To Vima via Archaiologia Online [March 10, 2014]
