We departed at 0730 as it rained for the first time this trip. Five weeks without precipitation made the showers into a refreshing novelty. We were greeted at Methone by Drs. Sarah Morris, John Papadopoulos, and John Tzifopoulos, all experts on various aspects of the site. The three seem to have a great working rapport that involves a lot of entertaining banter. Dr. Tzifopoulos was particularly vocal about not having enough inscriptions for the site. Still, there are extremely important early Greek inscriptions on some of the pottery from the 9th and 8th centuries BCE.
Looking across a field at Methone towards the site of the later Macedonian garrison.
One very important aspect of the site is the silting. Two rivers pour through the area, carrying with them silt and dirt. This constant process has pushed the shoreline hundreds of meters further into the Thermaikos Gulf than the ancient shore. This has created great expanses of wetlands near the site, which are a key part of the site’s conservation plan. The eventual goal is to buy the land of the site adjacent to the wetland and create an archaeological site connected to a park. The project is still in its infancy, but all three experts were hopeful.
A trench at Methone. The excavation was about to get underway when we were there.
Another really cool feature of the site is that there is no Hellenistic or Roman pottery anywhere. This is because in 354 BCE, Phillip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, besieged the city and upon his victory, burned the whole thing to the ground and forced the inhabitants to leave. Doing so cut off Athens from the rich timber resources in the north of Greece and also meant that the remains of the city could not be disturbed by later use. We were able to see the remains of a tunnel that was dug under the walls, probably for active defense and resupply during the siege.
The array of methods being used to study the site is broad. Among the various methods that Dr. Papadopoulous mentioned were old fashioned digging, multiple types of ground scanning, field walking, and core sampling. It's an exciting site with a lot still to be uncovered.
We walked back down the hill and headed for Dion. On the way, we stopped for a quick restroom and coffee break, where we purchased 30 peaches from a guy selling fruit. A few minutes later we were back on the road for Dion, where Dr. Tzifopoulos was waiting, having driven ahead of us.
Dion, as Dr. Tzifopoulos said, is Zeus’s town. Mount Olympus looms in a light haze close by, sending down rocks and silt and water during times of precipitation. That runoff creates one of the most puzzling issues for the site. A river runs through the sanctuary complex and has filled excavated ruins with mud more than once. However, as of right now, we don't have any evidence of large scale waterworks to control the river. When I asked him about possible core sampling in an array around the riverbank to find the ancient stream bed, he laughed and said that it would be ideal but the funding is just not there.
The very waterlogged Isis sanctuary.
We also encountered several teams from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki doing small excavations. Dr. Tzifopoulos explained that the school doesn't have the funding to do proper excavations and field schools as it once did. The current plan to make sure that students receive proper training is to do small, 1-2 week excavations on minimal budget. While the financial circumstances are pretty grave, the teams seemed happy to just be in the field and even let Luke swing a pick for a minute or two.
Luke swinging a pick. If one of us was going to do it, it was going to be him.
We moved to the more Roman part of the site and saw the baths, which have a gorgeous hypocaust system on display. We also saw the doctor’s quarters, which have inscriptions attesting the presence of a female doctor in the city. Not just a midwife, as was not uncommon, but a full doctor who would have been performing surgical operations. While little else is known about her, it's cool to learn about women in ancient times breaking social custom and doing non-conventional work.
We wrapped up our walkthrough of the site and moved on to the museum. We couldn't stay there for long though and grabbed a fast lunch after a too short visit. Luke and I split a small container ice cream with the flavor “Chocolate Orgy” displayed brazenly on the lid. I'll let you think of your own jokes.
The cap in question.
Taking our leave of Dion, we headed towards Farsala. Our route took us through the Vale of Tempe, a site where the Greeks gathered to battle the Persians in 480 BCE but withdrew soon after arriving because there are alternate routes around the Vale. What scenery I saw was nice, but I also took a killer bus nap to repair the damage to my sleep from this morning.
We kept rolling and eventually arrived in Farsala, which is near the site where Julius Caesar comprehensively defeated Pompey with a much smaller force in 48 BCE. Upon arriving and meeting Dr. Vasso Noula, we learned we were minor celebrities for the afternoon. The mayor had individually signed some very nice folders for us and we were supposed to meet him until he had something urgent come up. We also took group photos in several places to record our visit. We visited an exhibition about nearby excavations, an Archaic tholos tomb, and the Acropolis. That was a hike and a half. I ran most of the way up and most of the way down too. On top of the hill are fortifications that are a mix of Archaic and Byzantine construction, as well as the water infrastructure for the fort from both periods.
The gate of Farsala acropolis wall. Multiple eras of construction are visible.
After soaking in the views and the ruins, we headed down as quickly as possible. We hopped back on the bus and went hard for Makrinitsa. It was a two hour drive and also already 1900, so we had a ways to go. We made it with little delay and carried out the now familiar night time hotel routine.
Thanks for reading.
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