Discoveries

The main objective of our research programm is to better understand the establishment and organization of the greek colonies on the northwestern coast of the Aegean sea by systematic excavation of Argilos. Some very important aspects of greek colonization in the 7th century B.C. in this region have yet to be studied. The exceptional quality of the remains brought to light at Argilos up to now give us the opportunity to study fundamental aspects linked to the cultural relations between Greeks and Thracians and the development of colonial urbanism. How does a city, founded on a territory which was probably not hostile but surely very different from the homeland, take birth ? What is the rythm of its development, what did condition it? What is the nature and how does the contacts and exchanges with the indigenous populations organize themselves ?

In order to answer these questions and others, the scholars working at Argilos have concentrated their efforts on three areas of the hill: along the sea coast, where excavations brought to light the earliest occupation levels of the town; on the southeast slope, where archaeologists excavated important public and domestic dwellings which give precious information about the architectural and urbanistic development of the city; and on the acropolis, where the buildings unearthed cover all the periods of the city’s existence, and notably those of the hellenistic period, built after the destruction caused by Philip II in 357 B.C.