399-414

Via Egnatia : excavation on the prehistoric site of the Kremasti-Kilada tell, Kozani prefecture

• Χονδρογιάννη-Μετόκη, Αρετή

The excavation on the Kremasti-Kilada tell in the Kitrini Limni valley, Kozani prefecture, is a rescue dig being carried out by the Edessa-based 17th Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities on the route of the via Egnatia.Part of the NE boundary of the settlement was excavated, and all the finds confirm that this area was outside the residential space, where other activities, connected with the inhabitants’ economy, technology, and ideology, were carried out. The excavation revealed: i) up to 300 round pits, 0.50-3 m in diameter and 0.50-3 m deep; ii) almost the entire length (some 100 m) of one ditch with a T-shaped ground plan, V-shaped in section and 0.40-2 m wide, and part of another; iii) 10 small deposits, the contents of which connect them with cult practices; iv) 24 cremation burials, which are part of a cemetery.The pits (in which two chronological phases have been identified) and the ditch, which are the earliest structures, are dug out of the clayey bedrock, while the cremation burials are higher, all at the same level, and represent the last use of the space.The pits contained quantities of movable finds, one important find being two burials, with the bodies in a flexed position. The ditch yielded fewer finds.The question of why the pits and the ditch were dug remains unanswered. Although they were certainly used for refuse, this was probably a secondary purpose. Their original purpose was probably connected with the mining of clay, which is abundant in the area, but also with other activities associated with the economy of the settlement.By contrast, it is considered certain that the area was connected with cult practices, because the contents of the small deposits (deep miniature bowls, phiales with a high foot, altars, animal bones, and millstones) leave this in no doubt and strongly suggest that open areas were used for ceremonial purposes. This is unique and therefore a very important consideration for an approach to the ideology of the Neolithic age.The burials that were investigated confirm that the dead were customarily cremated and also attest a probable change in burial ideology. The burials are clustered, and the dead are accompanied by clay vessels or shell jewellery. This is the first cemetery to be found and explored in Western Macedonia.All the finds date to the pre-Dhiminian phases of the Late Neolithic.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

προϊστορία , Κοζάνη

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