THOURIA - 2013

Thouria. X. Arapogianni (ASA) reports on excavation around the altar in front of the temple of Asklepios. A second, rectangular altar (built of large blocks covered with coloured plaster) was found immediately to the west of the great long altar and almost in contact with it. Around it was a deposit of burnt soil, ash, burnt animal bone, a large quantity of pottery (mostly amphorae) and a few small finds. One sherd was inscribed ΑCΚ (Asklepios). An inscribed stele (preserving 49 lines) found close to the new altar records a sacred law (with regulartions for the operation of the sanctuary of Asklepios and the conduct of dedication and sacrifice). The existence of more than one altar raises the possibility that other deities (as yet unidentified) were also worshipped.