VLOCHOS, Greece, Dec. 13 (UPI) — Archaeologists thought the artifacts recovered within the vicinity of Vlochos, a small Greek village, were evidence of nothing more than an isolated settlement.
New findings indicate otherwise. Remnants of towers, walls and city gates suggest the rural Strongylovouni hill hides significant treasures.
“What used to be considered remains of some irrelevant settlement on a hill can now be upgraded to remains of a city of higher significance than previously thought, and this after only one season,” Robin Rönnlund, a postdoctoral student in classical archaeology and ancient history at the University of Gothenburg, said in a news release.
Rönnlund led a series of field surveys near Vlochos during September.
“A colleague and I came across the site in connection with another project last year, and we realised the great potential right away,” Rönnlund said. “The fact that nobody has ever explored the hill before is a mystery.”
Field work by the team of Swedish and Greek archaeologists involved little digging. Mostly, researchers relied on aerial radar to reveal buried structures.
“We found a town square and a street grid that indicate that we are dealing with quite a large city. The area inside the city wall measures over 40 hectares,” Rönnlund said.
Limited excavations produced coins and pottery. The oldest artifacts date to 500 B.C.
“The city seems to have flourished mainly from the fourth to the third century B.C. before it was abandoned for some reason, maybe in connection with the Roman conquest of the area,” Rönnlund explained.
The plains of western Thessaly have been ignored by archaeologists. Rönnlund thinks the latest discovery will change that.
“Our project therefore fills an important gap in the knowledge about the area and shows that a lot remains to be discovered in the Greek soil,” Rönnlund concluded.
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