Panel 2.4 – The Riverlands of Aegean Thrace: Production, Consumption and Exploitation of the Natural and Cultural Landscapes


Organisation/Vorsitz:

  • Eurydice Kefalidou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

Vortragende:

Panel abstract

Rivers were (and still are) a rather defining feature of the geography of Aegean Thrace, both the large ones like the Hebros, the Lissos and the Nestos and the smaller ones like the Kosynthos, the Kompsatos and the Travos. All of them run, more or less, from North to South, i.e. from the Rhodope mountain range via the fertile coastal Thracian plain to the Aegean Sea or (the smaller ones) to lake Bistonis. Their routes, deltas, marshlands, wetlands, dunes and lagoons form a rather complex natural environment which influenced all aspects of life in antiquity, in both positive and negative ways.

For the most part these rivers were vital supports for people and economies. They provided water for people and animals, irrigated the land, facilitated trade and commerce through small vessels that navigated the larger rivers, aided industrial activities, formed a rich area for fishermen and hunters, and offered raw materials such as sand and gravel. At the same time, their deltas and marshlands, especially in periods of flood, created an unhospitable environment, often unsuitable for habitation, causing illnesses like malaria that affected the local population in a variety of ways. Furthermore, these rivers connected the sea and the littoral zone with the hinterland, and thus they allowed the interaction between the Greek colonies on the Aegean coast with the local Thracian tribes, which inhabited the inland part of this region.

Recent research in Aegean Thrace includes two systematic surveys in the deltas of the Nestos and the Lissos, a rescue excavation in the city of Doriskos near Hebros, a project on the harbour city of Ainos on the Hebros delta and a project utilizing spatial technology along river courses. They all adopt a variety of approaches and methodologies: collecting and studying archaeological material, utilizing satellite images, conducting geophysical surveys, employing geoarchaeology and geoinformatics, etc. All projects aim at defining the character of various ancient riverside sites, integrating them into their broader landscape and understanding aspects of exploitation, production, consumption, communication and trade.

Some of the topics that will be addressed are: (a) The reconfiguration of ancient river routes and the settlement patterns that were formed around them; (b) The boundaries of the chora of various cities, towns, villages farmsteads, etc.; (c) The various uses of land and the means of exploitation through time; (d) The density of population in various landscape settings and the movements of (or tensions between) different groups that moved or expanded beyond their original habitation zone due to environmental and economic reasons.

Paper abstracts

1. Constantina Kallintzi (Ephorate of Antiquities of Xanthi) / Merkourios Georgiadis (University of Nottingham) / Eurydice Kefalidou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) / Kyriaki Chatziprokopiou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Xanthi)

Archaic and Classical Abdera: Economy and Wealth by the Nestos Riverside
The Ionic colony of Abdera was founded in the mid-7th century BC by the Nestos riverside on a hill peninsula that provided a good anchorage. The landscape has been dominated by river Nestos and its courses and marshlands that divided the land and connected it with the Thracian mountainous hinterland. The river provided a fertile land for cultivations and at the same time it caused several destructive alluviation episodes, while its marshes affected the Greek colonists by inflicting them with malaria. Despite those drawbacks the colonists persisted on this location due to its strategic and landscape advantages. Another colonisation episode in the mid-6th century BC brought new economic exploitation conditions. The chora was expanded and coins were struck. Large pithoi and transport amphoras demonstrated that trade was conducted across the northern and eastern Aegean. Stone quarrying and metalworking were important economic activities; iron and bronze had been coming from the inland areas controlled by the Thracian tribes possibly through the river route. The domestic economy included the processing of grain and textile production. The appearance of farmsteads in the Classical period reveals a new economic model of exploring the landscape. The same applies for the cemeteries from the late Archaic period onwards, that expanded in space and provided a new way of promoting personal and family wealth and status within the Greek polis.

"Archaic and Classical Abdera: Economy and Wealth by the Nestos Riverside" (Fulltext)

 

2. Nathan Arrington und Domna Terzopoulou (Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki) / Marina Tasaklaki (Ephorate of Antiquitis of Rhodope) / Thomas Tartaron (University of Pennsylvania) / Eli Weaverdyck (University of Freiburg)

The Classical City on the Molyvoti Peninsula (Aegean Thrace): Landscape, Urban Development, and Economic Networks
The Molyvoti, Thrace Archaeological Project (MTAP) investigates the walled settlement situated on the Molyvoti Peninsula , which was occupied most intensively in the Classical period. The river Philiouri, identified as the ancient river Lissos, runs between Molyvoti and Maroneia. In the past the city in Molyvoti Peninsula was identified as Ancient Stryme, a colony of Thasos, described by ancient sources as both a polis and an emporion. The first phase of MTAP established the dimensions of the city and its grid plan, identified harbors, and tracked how the coastline and the course of the river have changed. It provided a new chronology of the site, with evidence for activity down into the early 3rd cen. BC and again in the Late Roman period. The surface survey has provided data on the differential use of space within the city walls and it has also demonstrated the changing relationship between the city and its chora. It is now evident that the settlement was oriented predominantly towards trade within a regional network. But there are indications that the city was more widely interconnected .This observation should be correlated with the shifting dynamics across the region, including developments in inland Thrace. Archaeological data from the city of Molyvoti and from a settlement located in the foothills of Rhodope mountains, suggest a type of connectivity with the Thracian hinterland similar to the one testified by the Pistiros inscription.

"The Classical City on the Molyvoti Peninsula (Aegean Thrace): Landscape, Urban Development, and Economic Networks" (Fulltext)

 

3. Chryssa Karadima (Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sports. Ephorate of Antiquities of Rhodope)

Doriskos. "Aἰγιαλός καì πεδίον μέγα". A Harbour on the West Side of the Hebros River
Doriskos is reported by the ancient writer Skylax as a “defensive wall” (teichos) and by Herodotus as a “seashore” and “the great plain” of Thrace, but also as an important fortified post (royal wall) of the Persians, where a permanent garrison was installed following Darius I’s campaign against the Scythians in 514 BC. In 480 BC, it served as a place of inspection and deployment for Xerxes’ troops. It also had great strategic importance, being located on the overland corridor that connects Asia with Europe and the Aegean coast with the Thracian interior through the Hebros River, wich was navigable.
The Ephorate of Antiquities of Rhodope, in conjunction with the Geophysics Division of the Department of Geology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in collaboration with Prof. Gr. Tsokas, has carried out two consecutive seasons of geophysical survey (2005-2006) on the site of Doriskos. These surveys have provided clear indications for the existence of ancient residential remains. Two excavation campaigns in 2007 and 2010 revealed part of the fortification wall and urban landscape of the Hellenistic city confirming the results of the geophysical surveys. The archaeological evidence provides the image of a small fortified settlement, whose inhabitants made their living through cereal cultivation, textile production, fishing and trade.

"Doriskos. "Aἰγιαλός καì πεδίον μέγα". A Harbour on the West Side of the Hebros River" (Fulltext)

 

4. Thomas Schmidts (Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum)

Ainos. A hub between sea and island
Due to a siltation process Ainos, today Enez (TR), is now four kilometres distant from the sea. The banks of the river Hebros (modern Evros or Meriç) mark the area north of the city which had been a bay of the North Aegean Sea next to the mouth of the river in the past. So, Ainos became a hub between the Sea and the inland of Thrace. Byzantine sources convey that lager vessels could go up to Hadrianopolis (Edirne) and smaller ones even up to Philippopolis (Plovdiv). This is a remarkable distance for a river that ends in the Aegean Sea. If we presume similar conditions for antiquity Ainos was predestined for the role of as a hub. The city was founded as a Greek colony. Its importance in Archaic and classical times is obvious and can be proved by written sources as well as by archaeological evidence; also the Late Roman and Byzantine periods seem to be periods of wealth. In contrast, the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial eras were considered as times of decline.
The paper intends to show the development of ancient Ainos as a harbour city based on the results of a research project, financed by the German Research Foundation, which investigates the topography and environment of the ancient and Byzantine harbour city. The role of Ainos as a hub from the Archaic to Late Roman times will be discussed.

"Ainos. A hub between sea and island" (Fulltext)

 

5. Despoina Tsiafaki und Vasilis Evangelidis ("Athena" Research Center)

Exploring rivers and ancient settlements in Aegean Thrace through spatial technology
Settlements are not developed through an empty and neutral space but, similarly to other human built features, were influenced by environmental and cultural variables. Natural geography and ecological factors shaped the dynamics of human settlement. Especially in the Aegean Thrace the presence of rivers seems to have played a determinant role in the habitation patterns and the development of settlements in an area where different cultural contexts coexisted. Although relatively small for navigation, the valleys of these rivers were important corridors of communication, invasion and trade between the coastal Aegean zone and the interior of the Balkans. In a region where mountains are omnipresent, arable land is mostly restricted along these river valleys or in small alluvial coastal plains. Aim of the paper is to track through spatial technology the long-term shifts in settlement patterns along the course of the rivers (Nestos, Hebros) that cross the coastal Thrace. Therefore we address a number of issues
1. How and when did settlement change along the drainage?
2. How does that relate to changes in water and land management?
3. Why did these changes occur or what is the cultural context behind these changes?
GeoSpatial technology (open access GIS) in combination with geological and hydrological evidence will be used as a tool to allow us to contextualise the relationship between site and environment and detect changes in settlement patterns over an extended period of time.

"Exploring rivers and ancient settlements in Aegean Thrace through spatial technology" (Fulltext)