Anghialos 2001 Overview

The Iron Age Settlement at the Double Table of Anghialos
Stefanos Jimatzidis

The aim of my study is the publication of the Iron Age settlement at the Double Table of Anghialos, near modern Sindos, 15 km. west from Thessaloniki (Macedonia), excavated by Prof. Dr. M. Tiverios (University of Thessaloniki) from 1990 to 1995 (fig. 1). This coastal site, which is identified with ancient Sindos, is one of the most important of the 26 settlements, that participated in the synoicism of Thessaloniki in the later 4`h century BC and was, finally, abandoned. The earliest human presence here dates from the Late Bronze Age, although some potsherds from the Late Neolithic Period have also been identified. However, the main interest is concentrated on the human activity during the so-called Iron Age, when monumental terraces of yellow mud were constructed in order to facilitate the erection of buildings of mud-brick walls. Large quantities of imported pottery (particularly Euboean) date these architectural remains to the Geometric period. Among other artifacts (such as hearths with brick spit-frames, large pithoi, which were found in situ in storehouses, tools made out of stone, bone and metal, spindle-whorls and loom-weights) the most notable finds were the large quantities of imported and local pottery. The greatest and most fundamental task will be the study of this pottery. Sindos seems to have been an important center, which developed an extensive pottery production. The local handmade and wheel-made wares with distribution beyond the limits of Macedonia (some categories are represented at Troad and Euboea) can help us trace the history of the territory long before the time of Macedonian occupation. Furthermore, the study of both local and imported pottery can help us define the contacts developed between the settlement of Sindos and many parts of the ancient world.