Ancient Greeks in the Land of Dionysos – Excavation of Emporion Pistiros, Thrace, 2027 (Balkan Heritage Field School)

The Site and the Excavation Project

The ruins of an Ancient Greek trade center (emporion) in the heart of Thrace – on the left bank of Maritsa River (ancient Hebros), between the towns of Vetren and Septemvri, were discovered by Prof. M. Domaradzki in 1988. He started regular excavations and in 1990, his team found a stone inscription (known as “Vetren inscription”) that helped the scholars identify the site as the Ancient Greek emporion named Pistiros. Merchants from Greek coastal cities of Maroneia, Thassos and Apollonia lived and traded there with their Thracian neighbors under the supreme protection of the Thracian Odrysian kings (the biggest and mightiest Thracian Kingdom at that time). Up to the moment Pistiros is the only certainly identified emporion in the heart of Thrace. That is why excavation of the site are significant source of information for the political, economical and cultural history of the Odrysian kingdom and Thrace in this period.

The emporion was also a major metallurgical center and a key harbor for export of metals and metal products from Thrace to Greece in the Classical and Early Hellenistic periods (from the middle of the 5th to the beginning of the 3rd century BCE). The trade contacts of the emporion are evident through finds of numerous imports such as Attic red-figured and black-slip pottery, amphorae (mainly Thassian) and coins (e.g. several hoards of copper, silver and gold coins found during the excavations – they represent the coinage of different Odrysian kings (e.g. Amatokos I, Bergaios, Kotys I, Amatokos II, Teres II, Kersebleptes, Teres II), Greek cities (Thassos, Maroneia, Parion, Thracian Chersonese, Enos, Apollonia, Messabria etc.) and Macedonian rulers (Philip II, Alexander the Great, Kassandros, Demetrios Poliokretes, Lysimachos etc.).

Most of the ancient authors and the majority of the modern scholars consider the cult of Dionysos rooted in Thrace. Apparently, it played a very important role in the emporion’s religious life. For instance the Vetren inscription informs about the oath taken in the name of Dionysos by the Odrysian king: Kotys I (383-359 BCE) and his successor from the citizens of Pistiros – this is how they guaranteed the integrity of their lives, properties and activities in their town under the sovereignty of the Thracian kings.

The Field School

The BHF field school at Pistiros was concentrated in the southeastern sector, located next to the fortification wall in the past 10 years (2013-2023). The excavations there are focused on defining the chronology of the site’s building phases. The excavations uncovered paved streets, remains of houses, pits, and a well, which belong to the latest phase of the site’s existence, dated approx. to the first quarter of the 3rd century BCE, before the Celtic invasion in the Balkans, which caused serious damage to most cities in Thrace and Macedonia. An earlier building’s phase, located below the street level, is represented by a horizon of so-called “negative features”, dated around the second half of the 4th CBC. According to parallels with some similar dugouts discovered in the Greek apoikias on the Black Sea coast, the team suggests that these are remains of similar structures. Unfortunately, in the past, the biggest part of the emporion was flooded by the nearby flowing Maritza River, which led to serious destruction. This is the reason that makes the reconstruction attempts of the above-ground structures of these buildings very difficult. Presumably, the houses used to have mud brick walls, which have completely melted. Their compaction and color are almost the same as the natural soil. Remains of fired plaster with imprints of wooden beams suggest wooden roof construction but we still do not have clear evidence for its exact structure. The discovered wattle and daub pieces were probably parts of some dividing walls. Up to the current moment, there are six partially excavated structures of this kind located in the field school sector. Their fill is very soft soil with a grayish color, presumably a result of the decayed organic materials. The materials discovered in all the above-mentioned features consist of fragments and intact vessels, both locally handmade and wheel-made, as well as imported; a large number of loom weights; handmade clay figurines, amphora fragments, animal bones, and pieces of wattle and daub. The excavation in the northwestern sector of the site was conducted for the first time in 2023. The goal of the investigations there is to trace the remains of the fortification wall in а NW direction and uncover any additional structures both inside and outside the fortified area. The efforts revealed the foundations of the fortification wall as well as one of the two street levels documented in adjacent squares on the site.

The participants in 2027 in the Ancient Greeks in the Land of Dionysos – Excavation of Emporion Pistiros will be included in the further excavation of the same sectors. 

The field school in 2026 includes the following three modules:

• Fieldwork including excavation, maintaining a field journal daily, filling context sheets and labels, drawing an elevation plan / a ground plan/ a cross-section, 3D positioning of finds, taking coordinates and photographs at the site;
• Lectures, workshops and field training in Classical and Field Archaeology, finds processing and documentation;
• Excursions to various cultural and archaeological sites in the region, such as the ancient town of Philippopolis, present-day  Plovdiv.

Students who must prepare field reports and presentations for their universities can receive additional instruction and assistance.