Road between Patras and Aigion - 2017

Road between Patras and Aigion. Evgenia Poulimenou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia) and Nikos Petropoulos (Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia) report the following:

Excavations undertaken during public works programmes revealed a number of agricultural settlements along the coast between Patras and Aigion, where ancient Rypai was situated. These sites appear to have common features in terms of location, construction, function, and period of use. Their rural character is indicated by their location and the finds, which illustrate the inhabitants’ activities: cultivation, fishing, small-scale trade, and weaving. The coins and pottery suggest an extremely short occupation period in the second half of the 4th century BC. A hoard of silver Sikyonian triobols, various weapons (iron lance, arrowheads, lead sling bullets), and extensive destruction layers indicate their sudden abandonment, which occurred, according to the numismatic evidence, in 320-310 BC, the turbulent period when Alexander’s successors fought for the control of Macedon and the rest of Greece, which also affected Achaea.