The Olynthos Project 2014-2019: Season 2015
Excavation: Research excavation
Excavation, using modern scientific techniques designed to reveal the organisation of domestic activity and aspects of the domestic economy, including subsistence practices, of two individual houses, one on each of the city’s two hills. This season saw excavations reveal significant parts of the domestic quarters of a house termed (following Robinson’s nomenclature) B ix 6. There is clear evidence for alterations made to the living environment of the house during its period of occupation and to distinguish between activities taking place in the upper and lower storeys. This provides exciting new evidence for beginning to study separately the uses of the upper and lower storey rooms in a Classical house. Investigation of parts of two ‘flues’ provides fresh insights into the role played by this type of space: the mix of artefacts found here, together with the ash, suggest that not only did this space contain debris from fires which may have been used for heating and/or cooking, but also that it was probably used for refuse disposal, thus offering the opportunity to study rubbish disposal practices. At the same time the preservation of bone in these areas also provides a rich source of evidence about diet and subsistence practices. Material located in the narrow space behind house B ix 6 raises the possibility that as well as serving for drainage, this space may also have been used for other purposes by the residents of adjacent houses, perhaps rubbish disposal, agricultural activity, storage, or all three.
Active in 2015.