RACHI - Platania - 2001

Rachi, Platania (Egnatia Odos, section 2.2). G. Pliakou (ΙΒ’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports continuing excavation of a settlement which extends on plateaux down the northern slopes of the Rachi hill, ca. 2km southeast of the modern lake shore. Two further building complexes were found to the north and south of the site. The north, lower, plateau lies 15m from the central plateau with a building complex on each: the intervening area remained open apart from an exterior wall linking the complexes (which were similar in plan). The greater part of the north plateau was occupied by a large communal courtyard with a beaten earth surface and paved area on the northeast edge, enclosed on three sides by a low boundary wall. The north boundary has not yet been found as the complex extends beyond the excavation area. North of the courtyard lay the house, of which only a small part of one room was excavated. Along the west boundary wall, two ancillary areas supported husbandry and cultivation. Most finds in the northern complex come from the northeast room: these include pottery (mostly kantharoi and plates), roof-tiles (stamped with the image of a dolphin), and coins contemporary with the Epirote koinon. These date the complex to the third to second centuries BC, with no evidence of earlier activity in this area. The complex thus represents an extension of the earlier settlement.

The south, higher, plateau lies 5m from the central settlement, separated by an open court or road. Remains of a third building complex were found there, continuing to the south beyond the excavation plot. This complex had two building phases differently oriented. An important place was held by the west room (a main room and antechamber), with a Π-shaped structure of three limestone orthostats (perhaps an altar). A hoard of two silver Corinthian coins and 12 bronze coins (including issues of Philip II, Cassander, the Epirote Confederacy, and the Epirote Koinon) was found in the building, which was probably of public character (perhaps a shrine).

The three building complexes were linked by a long wall which formed the western boundary of the entire settlement, building complexes and open spaces alike, and with two construction phases. A paved road ran along its interior face of this wall. A narrow drainage channel of limestone slabs ran along the exterior wall of the north complex.

The open public spaces between the complexes, especially between the south and central complexes and outside the western boundary wall, produced evidence for productive activity (a structure with much slag and the remains of a kiln used to fire brick and tile). An earlier settlement phase was evident only in the southern complex and the west wall, dating to the late fifth and fourth century. From the late fourth and third centuries onwards the settlement expanded steadily onto the lower part of the hill, initially onto the central complex and then to the lower. Finds indicate that the settlement was abandoned in the mid second century BC, probably after the Roman occupation of Epirus.