







The Olynthos Project 2014-2019: Season 2019
Excavation: Research excavation
The project’s goals for its final season were: on the North Hill, to complete investigation of house B.ix.6 and to clarify the nature of the structure(s) at the northern tip of the hill, and their relationship to the residential zones; on the South Hill, to investigate the potential date at which the grid may have been established; in the Lower City and wider study area, to continue investigation of the varying character and density of settlement within the permit area, including any evidence for non-residential activity (industrial, mortuary, ritual, etc.). The picture of the layout of house B.ix.6 in its final phase of occupation has been extended and the understanding of its stratigraphy and phasing improved. The anomalous area at the northern tip of the hill was explored in 2019 by enlarging the excavation to the west, south and east. Partially preserved, partially collapsed walls, together with a small but persistent scatter of metallurgical waste fragments, reveal what appear to be non-residential, perhaps industrial activities. Investigations yielded evidence indicating that the habitation of the South Hill started in the Early Iron Age and continued until the middle of the 4th century BC, and material remains suggest dense settlement across the hill in antiquity. There was probable evidence of the Persian destruction in 480 BC and the deepest level revealed Early Iron Age and prehistoric (possibly Neolithic) ceramics.
Active in 2019.