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CONSTRUCTING THE ‘URBAN PROFILE’ OF AN ANCIENT GREEK CITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE OLYNTHOS PROJECT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2020

Lisa C. Nevett ,
E. Bettina Tsigarida ,
Zosia H. Archibald ,
David L. Stone ,
Bradley A. Ault ,
Nikos Akamatis ,
Elena Cuijpers ,
Jamieson C. Donati ,
Juan José García-Granero  and
Britt Hartenberger
...Show all authors
Lisa C. Nevett*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
E. Bettina Tsigarida
Affiliation:
Greek Archaeological Service
Zosia H. Archibald
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
David L. Stone
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Bradley A. Ault
Affiliation:
University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Nikos Akamatis
Affiliation:
International Hellenic University
Elena Cuijpers
Affiliation:
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Jamieson C. Donati
Affiliation:
IMS-FORTH
Juan José García-Granero
Affiliation:
IMF-CISC, Barcelona and University of Oxford
Britt Hartenberger
Affiliation:
Western Michigan University
Timothy Horsley
Affiliation:
Northern Illinois University
Carla Lancelotti
Affiliation:
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Evi Margaritis
Affiliation:
STARC, The Cyprus Institute
Jonas Alcaina-Mateos
Affiliation:
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Stratos Nanoglou
Affiliation:
Greek Archaeological Service
Anna Panti
Affiliation:
Greek Archaeological Service
Nikos Papadopoulos
Affiliation:
IMS-FORTH
Alessandra Pecci
Affiliation:
ERAAUB, University of Barcelona
Elina Salminen
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Apostolos Sarris
Affiliation:
IMS-FORTH and University of Cyprus
Susan M. Stallibrass
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Chavdar Tzochev
Affiliation:
British School at Athens
Chiara Valdambrini
Affiliation:
Museo Archeologico e d'Arte della Maremma, Grosseto
*
[email protected]
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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.

Σκιαγραφώντας το “αστικό προφίλ” μιας αρχαίας ελληνικής πόλης: στοιχεία από το ερευνητικό Πρόγραμμα της Ολύνθου

Το άρθρο υποστηρίζει ότι μια ολιστική προσέγγιση στην τεκμηρίωση και κατανόηση των υλικών καταλοίπων σε επίπεδο πόλεων θα μας βοηθούσε στην προσπάθειά μας να απαντήσουμε σημαντικά ερωτήματα σχετικά με τη διαδικασία της αστικοποίησης, τον αστικό τρόπο ζωής, τις πολιτισμικές ταυτότητες και τις οικονομικές διεργασίες στον αρχαίο κόσμο. Ταυτόχρονα θεωρούμε ότι η συγκρότηση πιο περιεκτικών συνόλων από δεδομένα που αφορούν αρχαίες ελληνικές πόλεις θα προσέφερε σημαντικά και στη διαπολιτισμική μελέτη της αστικής εξέλιξης και του αστικού τρόπου ζωής, η οποία έχει συχνά αγνοήσει τα σχετικά στοιχεία από την κλασική Ελλάδα. Ως παράδειγμα για την προσέγγιση που προτείνουμε προσφέρουμε μιαν αναλυτική συζήτηση των δεδομένων από την αρχαϊκή και κλασική πόλη της Ολύνθου στη Χαλκιδική. Ο συνδυασμός έξι περιόδων έρευνας πεδίου από το Πρόγραμμα της Ολύνθου και στοιχείων από τα αρχεία παλαιότερων προγραμμάτων της Αμερικανικής Σχολής Κλασικών Σπουδών στην Αθήνα και της Ελληνικής Αρχαιολογικής Υπηρεσίας καθιστά την Όλυνθο ένα από τα καλύτερα τεκμηριωμένα αστικά κέντρα του αρχαίου ελληνικού κόσμου που έχουν διασωθεί. Υποστηρίζουμε ότι το υλικό από τη θέση μάς δίνει τη δυνατότητα να σκιαγραφήσουμε ένα λεπτομερές «αστικό προφίλ», το οποίο αποτελείται από μια επισκόπηση της πρώιμης εξέλιξης της κοινότητας καθώς και μια σε βάθος απεικόνιση της οργάνωσης του οικισμού της κλασικής περιόδου. Η δυνατότητα ποσοτικοποίησης κάποιων παραμέτρων της αστικής υποδομής μάς επιτρέπει να προβούμε σε νέες εκτιμήσεις, για παράδειγμα σχετικά με τη δημογραφία. Το άρθρο προσφέρει ένα δείγμα του τύπου των διαθέσιμων δεδομένων και του είδους των ερωτημάτων που μπορεί να τεθούν στη σκιαγράφηση ενός τέτοιου προφίλ, βασισμένο σε μια περίληψη των προσωρινών αποτελεσμάτων από τις εργασίες πεδίου και τις αναλύσεις των δεδομένων που διενήργησε το Πρόγραμμα της Ολύνθου και με έμφαση στην έρευνα που διεξήχθη κατά το 2017, το 2018 και το 2019.

Type
Articles
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 115 , December 2020 , pp. 329 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens, 2020

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