New, important sections of Vergina’s defensive wall, which are the best preserved fortifications at Macedonia, have been revealed by an excavation team from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) under the Associate Professor Panayotis Faklaris. The excavation ended yesterday, Wednesday, November 25.
This is one of the most remarkable — in matters of its conservation — part of the wall of the ancient city in which the AUTH’s team investigating at Vergina. The NE section of the fortification, which is privately owned farm in Mpela, where the focus of the Associate Professor P. Faklaris’ team for the recent years. The wall has been revealed and preserved in excellent condition and has a significant height and 1.90m.
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With wall-towers reach the impressive thickness of 2.80m and have been aid by robust semi-circular and rectangular towers, the wall was clearly made with care to address threat from siege engines. Accessibility in the towers and battlements was available with stoned built stairs, five of which have been investigated.
Next to the towers, covered by a semicircular projection have been found small gates which have been used for outputs to surprise the enemy. Throughout the revealed part of the wall the construction material was a mix of integrated second hand building material coming from unknown public buildings of the ancient city.
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All the architectural features of the wall, but also the archaeological evidence, with the revealed stratified section of the wall, unanimously suggest that the construction goes back to the year of the reign of Cassander, particularly after the early 3 rd c. BC, a time when Macedonia was in a tumultuous period, with civil conflicts and external interventions. The location of the ancient city, on the driveways leading from the ports of Pydna and Methoni to Upper Macedonia, required its fortification in order to ensure and control this important crossing.
Apart from the discovery of this great monument, a number of various artifacts complemented the picture of the city’s civil life, especially during the 2 nd and 1 st c. BC. Particularly notable finding of this year’s season is a large set of charred seeds of legumes, cereals and olive stones, from food residues of the city.
Source: Naftemporiki, 26/11/2009
