Tag: Pieria

Sourcing Trireme Lumber

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From Greek Reporter:

Scientists from Greece and the US believe they are close to tracing the wood from which ancient triremes were made.  The scientists are searching in Pieria (one of the regional units of Greece, located in the southern part of Macedonia, in the Region of Central Macedonia) for the Macedonian fir and the pine tree of Olympus and Pieria, locally known as “liacha.”

According to Aristotle’s successor Theophrastus, this tree was used for the laborious process of constructing paddles and ships. Prints on the earth of this particular kind of wood, which has no knots but great resistance to salt water, were discovered during the archaeological excavations that started in 2003 in Methoni of Pieria.

This fact, after the announcement of the results of the findings at a scientific conference that took place in Thessaloniki in 2011, mobilized scientists from different sectors in Greece, Los Angeles in the USA, Britain and Ireland, who have ever since been working together to discover pure pieces of wood from the 8th century at the excavation site in Methoni that will continue its work in 2014.

“At this moment a big cooperation is in process, which started at the end of 2011 between the 27th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classic Antiquities, which is based in the capital of Pieria, Katerini, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) and the Archaeology Department of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),” the President of the Philology Department of AUTH, Ioannis Tzifopoulos, explained.

He also explained that on the American side, the Greek-American professor John Papadopoulos, who for many years has led excavations in Toroni of Chalkidiki, in Epirus, as well as in Albania, shows particular interest in the object of the excavations in Methoni of Pieria.

Ancient Greek ‘Austerity’

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment
Location of Pieria Prefecture in Greece
Image via Wikipedia

In the wake of all that Greek ‘stuff’ that’s been happening comes an interesting item on a Greek precedent for ‘austerity’:

Ancient Greeks at the end of the 4th century BC apparently went through a period of austerity and curtailment of wasteful spending similar to that Greece is facing today, according to finds in tombs in Ancient Pydna recently brought to light by excavations conducted by the 27th Ephorate of Prehistorical and Classical Antiquities.

A recovery excavation in a land plot destined for the installation of a photovoltaic unit in the northwestern section of the fortified settlement of Ancient Pydna (in the present-day prefecture of Pieria) revealed two clusters of tombs dating back to the 4th and 3rd century BC respectively. The unviolated tombs bear witness to the passage from the age of wealth to an era of economic tightness in a region of strategic importance that was the most significant commercial center of the Macedonian kingdom.

At the end of the 4th century BC, Athenian custodian Demetrios Falireus, appointed by King Cassander of Macedon, issues a decree prohibiting the erection of opulent tombs or funeral monuments, and recommending curtailment of extravagance in funerary rituals. Thus, the 4th century BC tombs are impressive and ornately built, while those of the 3rd century BC are smaller and more frugal, deputy supervisor of the Pydna excavations Manthos Bessios told ANA-MPA.

Thus, where the 4th century tombs contained offerings made of precious materials, such as gold jewelry, elaborate vases and ivory-plated beds, the 3rd century BC tombs were smaller, less elaborate, and contained instead offerings of more mundane materials, such as clay, although both clusters of tombs were of men, women and children of the affluent social class.

via 3rd century BC Greeks went through austerity period | ANA.

The ANA coverage is alone in citing Demetrius Phalereus as the author of the decree in question … but as far as I’m aware, Demetrius was in charge of Athens. Was Pydna also part of Demetrius’ decree? Or has something been lost in translation here?

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