The Magoula Plataniotiki excavations
Years of Operation:
1976 – to date – Halos Archaeological Project
2013 – to date – Magoula Plataniotiki excavations
Director(s):
Reinder Reinder, University of Groningen (1976-2015, survey and New Halos excavations)
Vladimir Stissi, University of Amsterdam (2011-2016 survey & 2013- to date, Magoula Plataniotiki excavations)
Associate Director(s):
Vasso Rondiri, Ephorate of Antiquities of Magnesia (2016 – to date, Magoula Plataniotiki excavations)
Yannis Lolos, University of Thessaly (2018 – to date, Magoula Plataniotiki excavations)
Objectives of the Project:
The archaeological investigation of Halos and its territory started in 1976 and is conducted as a collaboration between the Netherlands Institute at Athens, the archaeological departments of the Universities of Groningen (till 2023) and Amsterdam (from 2011) in Netherlands and the Ephorate of Magnesia and the University of Thessaly at Volos (Greece).
The initial focus of the project was on the Hellenistic city of (‘New’) Halos and its surroundings: the environmental setting, its fortifications, the layout of the lower town with residential areas and the layout of the upper town where public buildings were situated. Over the years, houses, a sanctuary, streets, circuit wall towers and gates were excavated to unravel the plan of the city and study aspects like defense, animal husbandry and plant cultivation, household, cult and ritual, economy and contacts.
From 2013, excavation continued at Magoula Plataniotiki, the presumed original center of Halos as a city state, a low tell (of ca. 7 ha area) in a marshy area. Here the focus now is on an area of Hellenistic houses (and possible other structures) in the northwest of the site, and an area of rectangular structures with an as yet unclear function in the northeast, dating to the 5th-4th centuries BCE. Attention is given to urban planning, chronology and the uses of structures and spaces, also by applying various geophysical and remote sensing prospection methods.
In a wider context, the project aims at investigating the territory that once belonged to the polis of Halos. Archaeological surveys have been conducted in the Almyros and Sourpi plains as well as the Othrys mountains to study the occupation history of the territory, covering all periods from the Neolithic to recent times.
Funding
The project has been funded by the participating universities, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Magnesia and various private sponsors, and is supported by the city of Almyros and the Netherlands Institute at Athens.
Major Publications:
(To be added)
Contact Information
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