GLYFADA - 2000

Glyfada. At the junction of Ag. Nikolaou and Iras Streets (O.T. 289, Mileousi brothers’ property) excavation ahead of construction 100m southwest of the Chapel of Ag. Nikolaos, near the centre of the ancient deme of Aixone, revealed a workshop with a connected residence and part of the main road to the city of Athens (20m long, 5m wide). The road is cut into bedrock, preserving two sets of wheel ruts. West of the road, workshop foundations covering ca. 700m² were apparently used for clay preparation and brick manufacture. A series of shallow basins connected by channels indicates an elaborate water system. Next to the installations, various rooms are dated by pottery and coins to the second half of the fourth century BC (Figs. 1-4).

At Venezouelas and Agamemnonos Streets (O.T. 386, I. Dinou property), diagonally opposite the large Middle Byzantine structure at O.T. 384, a layer 0.3m deep of gravel and small stones, covering an area of ca. 70m², was defined by dry-stone walls. These small stones may derive from the cleaning of adjacent fields or may have been connected with rural activity such as the drying of agricultural products. No pottery or other clear evidence was found to date the construction.

A variety of Classical architectural remains are reported: A large section of Classical retaining wall was found at 33 Ag. Lavras Street (O.T. 344, E. and M. Stavrianaki property). At Artemidos and Laodikis (O.T. 67, A. Biniou property), a layer of earth and stone with much Classical pottery covered an area of bedrock which had cuttings probably for rain-water collection. A section of a probable Classical property boundary wall at Kavalas 17 and Kandanon (O.T. 42, G. Saridaki property) was built with two outer faces of medium and large stones filled with smaller stones. A similar technique was used for two further Classical boundary walls at 44 Irakleitou and 108 Aretis (O.T. 451, Skarmea property).

Part of a cemetery of Aixone dating from the sixth to fourth century BC was found during the laying of a natural gas line on Semilis Street: it seems to continue to the north. Subsequent excavations revealed two cist graves, three funeral pyres, a larnax with a stone cover, a pit burial, three enchytrismoi in amphorae and a ritual offering pyre. Finds include lekythoi (Fig. 5) and a bronze dikastic pinakion (Fig. 6), dating before the middle of the fourth century BC, which names ΝΑΥΤΕΛΗΣ of the deme of Aixone.