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The Iron Age prehistoric settlement

Important rearrangements took place in the settlement after the end of the Bronze Age.

No gap in the habitation is confirmed, as indicated on the basis of pottery of the Early Iron Age -EIA (1050-750 B.C.) detected at certain spots in the settlement as well as at the sides of the mound. Mudbrick remains were not preserved from that phase, because, after the end of the EIA, a construction program commenced at the top of the mound and it changed significantly the picture of the habitation.

During the Archaic period, the inhabitants of the settlement leveled earlier remains completely in order to build above them. The new buildings, which are only preserved at the level of their stone foundations, were rectangular, multi-room building complexes, and they were constructed with solid and neat stone foundations.

Contrary to earlier phases, the organization of the settlement changed completely; the buildings are now arranged in different orientation and size in comparison with the earlier buildings in the settlement. Inhabitants stored material in storage jars. Some storage jars were found still in position, whereas in other areas, they had been removed and only the corresponding pits were recovered. The floors corresponding to these buildings were not preserved at all, since they were probably at a higher level compared to the stone foundations discovered.

Historical Times

During the Archaic period, there is intense settlement activity at the top of the mound, traces of which, though, are quite fragmentary. The habitation went on up to the end of the 4th century B.C. but the architecture of that period has been destroyed entirely due to erosion.

After 9nth century B.C., the settlement expanded considerably around the toumba, to the so-called settlement mound of trapezoidal form, the so called trapeza (table). This excavation is conducted by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thessaloniki. So far, it has not been clarified whether this change is due to an increase in the community’s population or to a subversion of the strict social norms that defined the planning of the habitation up until then.It is highly likely, however, that these changes are related to wider rearrangements in the region: from that period onwards, after 10nth century B.C., sites such as the so-called double settlement mound of trapezoidal form of Anchialus at the region of the gold-bearing Echedoros River and, mainly, the neighboring Karabournou (Karabournaki) site, with, possibly, close relations to Toumba, are becoming increasingly important.

The abandonment of the site in late 4th century B.C., might be related to a last but very important development in the region: the foundation of Thessaloniki in 315 B.C., a fact which imposed the relocation of the inhabitants from the ancient settlement to the recently founded port by Kassandros, located slightly more than a thousand meters to the west.