• Home
  • Toumba through time
  • Bronze Age

The Bronze Age prehistoric settlement

The Bronze Age settlement at Toumba is one of the largest and most significant settlements of that period in Thessaloniki and the surrounding area.

and the surrounding area. The location was already inhabited from the Middle Bronze Age (MBA, 2050-1650 B.C). The residential remains of this period are barely known and our knowledge about it mainly comes from pottery found in the deeper deposits of the Toumba slope.

The same situation seems to be valid during the early phases of the Late Bronze Age (LBA, 1650-1400 B.C). It appears the interior of the settlement was extensively inhabited, despite the very few residential remains found.

Nearly all the residential remains found on top of the mound are dated back to the most recent phases of the Late Bronze Age (LBA, 1400-1050 B.C.). The remains of this period come from to building complexes, each one separated from the other by narrow gravelled paths.

The settlement displays a specific town planning with building complexes occupying all the area in the interior of the enclosure and on consecutive terraces. The inhabitants lived in multi-room complexes, where extended families or more than one family were housed.

An especially interesting observation is that the planning of the settlement remains diachronically the same from the early phases of the LBA up until the end of the LBA and the beginning of the Early Iron Age.