PHILIPPOI - 2005

Philippoi. Ch. Koukouli-Chrysanthaki and G. Karadedos report on excavation in the theatre in 2002−2004 and 2005.

Excavation covered the area of building in the S stoa and the paved square S of the theatre which post-dated the abandonment of the theatre as a place of performance. Three major building phases were confirmed in this area. S of the paved square, there were no traces of anc. or Rom buildings or roads, nor do the slight traces of ECh buildings imply planned development of this area. Further excavation and the results of ongoing geophysical survey will confirm whether or not the area was retained as open space.

In the central area of the S stoa of the skene building, inside the krepis, excavation in 2003 located a rock-cut sewer channel which ran beneath the krepis and the paved square S of the theatre, and into a branch of the city’s main sewer network.

Excavation in from the E edge of the hyposkenion towards the orchestra aimed to locate the foundation of the proskenion. At the E edge of the hyposkenion, a floor level related to the late use of the theatre as an arena was uncovered, and beneath that an extensive area of the earth floor linked to the Rom phase 1 construction. No evidence for the proskenion foundation was discovered, supporting the hypothesis that this was a wooden construction to which 4 postholes found in a square arrangement close to the E parodos might relate. Remains of the previous, LCl−Hel wooden skene building were also revealed: a corner stone with a cutting for a posthole was covered by the Rom phase 1 floor, and related to it was a beaten earth floor. No further trace of this phase remains, apart from a small part of the marble ramp of the E parodos.

Excavation beneath the orchestra revealed a rectangular rock-cut underground chamber (probably with a simple wooden roof) linked to the use of the theatre as an arena: this connects with the underground passage long recognized as the route by which wild animals were brought into the arena for spectacles, the end of which was presumably closed with grills. The rectangular space was divided into 3 parts: the central chamber was the largest and its floor was set lower (within it were a lead plaque and part of a statue of an eros on a dolphin which probably belonged to the sculptural decoration of the skene). Four cuttings on the floor held supports for a tower-like wooden structure, likely the support for a mechanism to raise animals into the arena. Three levels of wooden flooring are noted, to facilitate the safe circulation of men (including those working the hoist) and animals, and traces of wooden steps indicate ladders linking the levels. The construction of the underground chambers cut the drainage system of the Rom phase 1 orchestra. On either side of the chamber, cuttings in the arena floor held large posts which may have been supports for tightropes or other such acrobatic props.
The rainwater drains of the orchestra were a further target of research (in the hope of reusing them to obviate current drainage problems). The Rom phase 1 drainage channel was traced in its entirety and an earlier rock-cut channel, just inside the same line, probably related to the smaller LCl−Hel orchestra. In Rom phase 2, the section by the skene was narrowed by the construction of a limestone wall round the arena, with a wooden fence above (which continued round in front of the first row of seating in the koilon). Low openings in this boundary wall closed with iron grills allowed the passage of men and animals into the arena. Further modification accompanied a remodelling of the arena (Rom phase 3). Possible models for the transformation of the theatre into an arena are fully discussed.
Excavation in the NW part of the adjunct building revealed that it was symmetrical and axially aligned with the theatre. The covered perimeter walkway also had in the NW part spaces corresponding to those found in the NE, wedge-shaped rooms with beaten earth floors and connecting doors. This walkway connected with the koilon via 3 radial passages. New examples of the rock-cut reliefs belonging to the shrines located on the SE foothills of the city acropolis were discovered NW of the theatre and close to the adjunct buildings. Of known iconographical types, they include a female kourotrophos which is only the 2nd of its type discovered here. The construction of the adjunct building which extended the theatre complex N must have led to the destruction of many reliefs, since fragments are built into the walkway wall and some are almost in contact with the exterior of this wall. Excavation of the area by the exterior wall of the adjunct building revealed ECh and Byz houses which extend N and NW of it. Waterproof cement on the floor of one room in the NW part of the perimeter walkway, plus a small water channel, reveal that this space was used as a cistern. Destruction levels in this area, as for the houses S of the theatre and inside the E peribolos, date to the E7th Ct AD.
W of the W retaining wall, excavation began to locate the LCl retaining wall, which was of isodomic construction with rubble fill.
G. Karadedos and Ch. Koukouli-Chrysanthaki also report on work undertaken to conserve the site and present it to the public.