Ancient History of Thessaly

This thesis presents a first archaeological introduction to the study of Byzantine ports, harbours and other coastal installations in the region of Thessaly. Thessaly not only constitutes an ideal region to gain equal information for the Early- to the Late Byzantine periods, but also to compare independent regional and imperial central building activities. However, in particular Thessaly’s maritime connectivity has never been studied in detail before. As such, a first step into a terra incognita, the thesis is divided into two main sections:
In order to conceptualize the study of harbour sites, the thesis first sets up a framework for the definition, understanding and interpretation of the physical features of harbours and their function and purpose. Taking into account influencing environmental conditions, such as natural, economic, social and political components, this helps to determine an accurate hierarchical model and to illustrate the interrelationship between different types and forms of harbour sites.
Subsequently, comprehensive archaeological investigations around the island of Skiathos and other harbour sites in Thessaly, executed in 2012 and 2013, are set against this theoretical groundwork.
In contrast to the common approach of regional studies, where a first general overview is followed by individual detailed case-studies, the opposite methodology is undertaken in order to achieve a systematic study of the Thessalian harbours and the complexity of their network system. Consequently, the collection of data starts from the analysis of a distinct area of a region and continues with the broader regional picture of primary ports, secondary harbours and staple markets. Functioning as an important junction of the Aegean shipping lanes and being involved in regional as well as supra-regional trade and port networks, focus is therefore primarily dedicated to the island of Skiathos. A joint survey project in cooperation with the Greek Ephorate for Underwater Antiquities (EEA), the 13th Greek Ephorate for Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and the 7th Greek Ephorate for Byzantine Antiquities was initiated by the author in 2012. A number of sites, including harbour installations and other coastal infrastructures, have been detected, documented and subsequently verified by geophysical prospections, using a Sub-bottom profiler and Side-Scan Sonar, in 2013. These have allowed to draw a clear historical picture of architectural developments, port networks and changes in the socio-economic connectivity of the area.
Followed by a close investigation of further harbour sites throughout the entire region of Thessaly during two field seasons between 2012 and 2013, the detailed picture gained from the Skiathos survey project is brought to a wider context. This comparison finally allows an overall picture of the history and architectural developments of harbour structures and associated coastal sites, as well as general conclusions concerning the hierarchy and port network in the region during the Early to Late Byzantine periods. This has allowed a comprehensive understanding of the growth, use and decline of various ports, harbours and staple markets within Thessaly and has important repercussions for our understanding of wider social and economic changes that were occurring during these periods, such as the rise of the church as a powerful economic institution or the increasing activities of private entrepreneurs.
In this way the submerged maritime heritage of Thessaly has provided a rich new resource with which to understand the cultural dynamics of the region as it emerged from its peripheral location to comprising major ports within the Roman maritime network and to stand out of the heart of the commercial route ways to and from Constantinople, as well as being part of the emergent networks of the western maritime states at the end of the period, such as Venice.

Aim of this chronicle is to re-examine the circumstances in which the excavation of the tholos tomb at Kapakli, Volos was conducted (1905) and to highlight some scientific and social parameters of Konstantinos Kourouniotis’s research in a milieu in which the national vision was drawing argumentation through the monuments and adulation of antiquity was trying to heal recent wounds (Greek-Turkish War of 1897), as well as to underpin the “Hellenic” roots of the recently-annexed new territories (1881). Assessed too is the exemplary manner of the excavation procedure and the excellence of the publication of the finds, characteristics distinctive of the entire oeuvre of this ground-breaking Greek archaeologist public functionary, whose activity starts in the romantic 19th century, but whose genius and method are motivated by the scientific principles and rationalist values of the 20th.

The aim of the paper is to reanimate the discussion on Thessalian rites of passage, in the light of supplementary epigraphic evidence, directly or indirectly related to local age-classes and pertinent ritualized attitudes. Archaeological evidence will be taken into consideration as well, in particular groups of votives from Thessalian sanctuaries dedicated to kourotrophic deities, who presided over the passage between the various stages of the human biological and social life. Lastly, attention will be paid to legendary narrations, which recount attitudes as well as feats of young Thessalian heroic figures.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 658573.

cf. https://history-bookstore.eie.gr/en/section-greek-roman-antiquity/a010780/

The research traces the history of the activities of the tyrants and of the major aristocratic families of Athens on the international level, from the end of the VII to the early V century B.C. Examined are both the private sphere, thus international initiatives and contacts of interpersonal and familial nature, and the public sphere, that is the conduction of the foreign policy and interstate diplomacy of Athens under the influence of the tyranny. The analysis centers upon the position and motives both of the tyrants as well as of each non-Athenian counterpart involved in the contacts: in this way a depiction the international alliance networks, areas of interest and centers of influence takes form, essentially providing a history a case in point for the international system of archaic age Greece.
In the most ancient tyrannical attempt by Cylon and later in the early activities of Peisistratus we may identify instances of the clash between Athens and Megara for control over the island of Salamis. The first attestations relative to Peisistratus reveal the network of international private contacts and initiatives that ensured his power in Athens; the tyranny of Peisistratus is attributed with a maritime strategy directed Athens towards control of the Cyclades and the Hellespont. After the death of his father in 528/7 B.C. Hippias was involved in the changes and hegemonic attempts that took place within the interstate regional system of Attica, Boeotia and Thessaly.
From the second last decade of the VI century B.C. hostility between the tyrant and the Athenian aristocracy came to a critical phase: then the respective personal alliance networks of the Peisistratids and of their opponents, the Alcmaeonids, were activated; in this context emerges the functional character of the traditional relations between the Alcmaeonids and the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi.
The research furthermore traces the history of the tyranny held in the Thracian Chersonese by the Athenian aristocratic family of the Philaids. Between these and the Peisistratid tyrants there was an interfamily agreement aimed at safekeeping the international strategic interests of Athens in accessing navigation of the Hellespont.
The final part of the chronological sequence examines the expansion of the Persian Empire in Europe that revolutionized the assents of international power: the Philaids reacted by assuming an anti-Persian policy; differently the Peisistratids gradually associated themselves to Persia.
The conclusions encourage contemplating the undetermined nature of the distinction between public and private sphere in the tyrants’ activities; a logn term historical perspective finally unlocks a discussion over the possibility of identifying phenomena of continuity binding the objectives pursued by the tyranny and the international strategic interests of democratic Athens in the following V century B.C.

La interpretación del pensamiento de Empédocles ha estado perseguida desde la Antigüedad por la sombra del orfismo y el pitagorismo. Sin embargo, una vez prescindimos del sesgo de nuestras fuentes, no es difícil encontrar en los fragmentos de Empédocles profundas discrepancias con las ideas que sostenían estas doctrinas. El problema, en realidad, ha sido la dificultad para emplazar la obra de Empédocles dentro de su contexto político, cultural y religioso. En este artículo se realiza una nueva aproximación al pensamiento de Empédocles que toma en consideración los últimos avances en el campo de la investigación del ritual y el mito y las aportaciones más recientes de la histora y la arqueología de la antigua Akragas. Empédocles fue un poeta oral, y su obra fue compuesta para ser interpretada en el transcurso de un festival dedicado a las Purificaciones de Apolo. Este festival, que se celebraba en Akragas, seguía el esquema de mito y ritual del festival del Septerion que se celebraba cada ocho años en el santuario de Apolo en Delfos. El narrador del poema de Empédocles es Apolo, y el sentido de este poema debe ser interpretado en el contexto del movimiento de reforma política y religiosa que la presencia de los atenienses desencadenó en el santuario de Apolo en Delfos a finales del siglo VI a.C.

Ο Αμερικανός Scammell Dearborn συνέγραψε ένα δίτομο έργο, με σκοπό να βοηθήσει, όπως αναφέρει στην εισαγωγή του 1ου τόμου, τους αμερικανούς εμπόρους και την αμερικανική ναυσιπλοΐα να επεκταθούν προς τις ακτές της τότε Τουρκίας, της Ρωσίας και της Αιγύπτου, οι οποίες φαίνονταν να ήταν πρόσφορο έδαφος, στην
προσπάθεια της Αμερικής να επεκτείνει την εμπορική ισχύ της και να ενισχύσει τον ανταγωνισμό με άλλες εμπορικές δυνάμεις, π.χ. με την Αγγλία. Για την συγγραφήτου έργου του, αναφέρει ότι τον ενέπνευσε ο Commodore William Bainbridge, ο ποίος, με το πρώτο αμερικανικό πλοίο, την φρεγάτα George Washington, ταξίδεψε στη Μεσόγειο και στον Εύξεινο Πόντο, το 1800. Σε μερικές σελίδες του έργου του, το οποίο εκδόθηκε στη Βοστώνη των Ενωμένων Πολιτειών της Αμερικής το 1819,1 ο συγγραφέας ασχολείται με την Θεσσαλία,
δίνοντάς μας μία αδρή περιγραφή της, κυρίως των λιμανιών και των προϊόντων της. Για την περιγραφή αυτή, όλα τα στοιχεία που συγκέντρωσε προέρχονται, μάλλον, από την μέχρι τότε γνώστη βιβλιογραφία˙ από τους περιηγητές που επισκέφτηκαν την Θεσσαλία, τον Bainbridge, τον Pococke, τον Clarke2 και κυρίως τον Beaujour.
Τα αναφερόμενα στη Θεσσαλία στοιχεία είναι ήδη ξεπερασμένα, διότι τα Αμπελάκια, η Ζαγορά, το Τρίκερι και ο Τύρναβος, οι ακμάζουσες κωμοπόλεις του 18ου αιώνα, σε τίποτα δεν θυμίζουν την προηγούμενη δόξα τους, καθώς έχουν πια περιπέσει σε παρακμή.

Despite its relative brevity, Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians has posed several obstacles to interpreters, including the presence of two separate thanksgivings (1:1-10; 2:13-16?), stylistic shifts (3:9-13; 5:1-3), a premature clos­ing (4:1-2), and the placement of an eschatological itinerary (4:13-5:10) between two sets of moral exhortations (4:1-12; 5:12-24). These structural problems pre­cipitate into the larger exegetical question of whether the delimitation of the letter can communicate any insights on the author's intended message. That is, what is the connection between the letter's form and rhetorical function? In this article I will argue that the letter consists of a complex A, B, A ' structure of three ring sets (1:2-2:13; 2:14-3:13; 4:1-5:26), each of which comprises three or more units. In contrast to previous analyses of the letter that have relied on subjective criteria, the structure herein is based on lexico-grammatical evidence and the cultural milieu of orality in late antiquity. When the letter is viewed as an oratorical per­formance of complex concentric patterns, one can trace several rhetorical lines of thought to benefit the letter's interpretation.

In his account, Diodorus presents Thessalos, the primogenitor of the Thessalians, as
a son of Jason and Medea. He makes the reservation that it is only one of the tales about
the eponym of the Thessalians known to him, and that he will come back to discuss them
elsewhere in his work. Unfortunately, the surviving fragments do not contain any more mentions
on the subject. The version of Thessalos’ genealogy cited by Diodorus, in which he descends from Jason
and Medea, does not seem to be the most popular one in the light of the information discussed
above. It can, of course, be regarded as a result of the speculation put forward by historians
from the Hellenistic period, who attempted to put the mythical tradition into order. It is
tempting to assume that the version of the myth which makes the Thessalian eponym a son
of Jason became more popular at the time when Jason of Pherai or his successors were trying
to unite the region under their leadership.

The description of Thessaly in the Catalogue of Ships has always puzzled commentators because the image of the region that emerges from the text seems to be different from the one we know from historic times to a much larger extent than in the case of the other regions. In the case of Thessaly, it is very difficult to reconcile the existence of nine “kingdoms” with the political divisions known from later times. It seems that the depiction of Thessaly in the Catalogue of Ships should be read taking some distortions into consideration. The poet possessed information mainly about settlements situated on the seacoast, whereas his knowledge of the interior was very fragmentary. He knew the names of the inhabitants of those lands, although he could not always specify the location of their homelands. The difficult-to-imagine expanse of the region, most of which was far from the coast, must have been the main obstacle.

The conquest of Messenia by Sparta and the reduction of its people to the status of helots was not a unique, 'anomalous', phenomenon as has often been thought. Similar conquests by other states had been undone again by the start of the classical period and were accordingly barely remembered by our sources, but we have just enough evidence to reconstruct an outline of their history. The period 650-550 BC was one in which wars of territorial conquest were common across the Greek world, and Sparta's wars were mere the most lastingly successful.  How such conquests might have been achieved is illustrated by a comparison with the mechanisms of conquest by the Spanish in the Americas.

Pharsala, identified by many researchers as the Homeric Phthia (mythological birthplace of the hero Achilles), lies in the southern edge of the Thessalian Plain, 3 km south of the river Enipeas.
Although most of its evidences have been irretrievably buried by the urban expansion, the archaeological discoveries of the last decades have made it possible to reconstruct its life stages. The work, based on  cartographic mapping and cataloging of all topographical units (UT) within the urban limits, aims to reconstruct settlement patterns in the times between Late Neolithic and Roman ones. The study of the fortifications of the city (e.g. wall, towers and gate), led through several regional comparisons, allowed a more accurate dating.
The methodological line adopted is based on a cross-using of archaeological investigation conventional methods (bibliographical and archival data, archaeological reports etc.) and the new analysis and data-processing techniques (Gis, raster and vectorial cartographical elaboration, statistical processing, aerial photo-interpretation etc.). The reconstruction is finally supported by the elaboration of a synoptical archaeological map and others thematics.

Perrhaibia was a strategically important, mountainous region located just north of the Vale of Tempe and south and west of the slopes of Mount Olympus. Starting from the Archaic period, it was one of Thessaly’s perioikoi—regions closely tied to Thessaly either as tributaries or dependents. Perrhaibia passed in and out of Thessalian control during the Classical and Hellenistic periods until the Roman general Flamininus ultimately made Perrhaibia subject to the Thessalian League in 197 BC. These foreign incursions into Perrhaibia, unsurprisingly, played a profound role in the formation and negotiation of identity in the region. Religion, being embedded intrinsically into Greek society, was often an agent in the expression of identity. A sanctuary, a monument, or the representation of a deity or hero can be a medium through which a regional identity can be expressed. Margriet Haagsma, Myles Chykerda, and Laura Surtees of the Hellenic-Canadian archaeological project at Kastro Kallithea have recently demonstrated how the military activities of the Macedonians, the Aetolians, and the Thessalians led to the division of regional identities in Achaia Phthiotis, another Thessalian perioikos, as demonstrated by the material culture from the Hellenistic period. This paper will demonstrate that cultic identities in Perrhaibia, as expressed in the architectural, epigraphic and numismatic evidence from the Archaic to the Early Roman Period, was constantly divided as different regions within Perrhaibia asserted local, Macedonian, Thessalian, and even Delphic identities in their cults. I will also demonstrate how these material expressions constantly changed as a way of resisting or conforming to various local and non-local identities.

Les Thessaliens et le culte des empereurs de Rome: Tradition, intégration, polycentrisme et jeu d'échelles Abstract: Le dégagement récent du théâtre de la capitale de la confédération thessa-lienne permet de jeter un oeil nouveau sur le culte impérial organisé à l'échelle d'un koinon régional, situé dans les marges de deux provinces de Grèce continentale, l'Achaïe et la Macédoine. Ce qui retient l'attention est tout d'abord la tension entre des cités et un État assez récemment constitué aux prérogatives relativement étendues, l'articula-tion entre la volonté commune de rendre un culte à la puissance impériale et le désir de conserver des particularismes locaux fondés sur la mémoire des relations avec la Rome d'avant le Principat. Se pose de manière concomittante la question du recours à des modèles extérieurs, ou développés en commun au sein d'autres institutions supra-civiques à caractère régional, comme l'Amphictionie de Delphes, avant l'adoption d'une organisation standardisée, telle qu'elle apparaît dans la plupart des koina provinciaux, laissant aux archiereis et agonothetai la charge des principales fonctions cultuelles.

Γεφυρώνοντας τη διαφορετικότητα ή εντείνοντας τις αντιθέσεις μέσα στις ανθρώπινες κοινωνίες; Ο ρόλος της θρησκείας υπήρξε εξίσου αντιφατικός για τη συνύπαρξη ανθρώπων με διαφορετική εθνική και πολιτισμική ταυτότητα ανά τους αιώνες. Σήμερα, στην εποχή της παγκοσμιοποίησης και της προβολής των ανθρώπινων αξιών από κυβερνήσεις και διεθνείς οργανισμούς, όταν η επικοινωνία μεταξύ λαών και πολιτισμών επιτυγχάνεται ευκολότερα από ποτέ, η θρησκευτική ελευθερία αποτελεί θεμελιώδες δικαίωμα του σύγχρονου ανθρώπου. Ταυτόχρονα όμως, συχνές πράξεις βίας που εκτελούνται στο όνομα της θρησκευτικής διαφορετικότητας αποτελούν πλέον συνεχή πρόκληση για την ειρήνη και τη δημοκρατία στις σύγχρονες κοινωνίες.
Τι έχει να μας πει όμως για όλα αυτά το παρελθόν και τι εικόνες μπορούμε να αντλήσουμε από την ιστορική μας μνήμη; Σκοπός της ομιλίας είναι να μας μεταφέρει πολλούς αιώνες πριν, στην ελληνιστική εποχή, όταν μετά τις κατακτήσεις του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ασία τον 4ο αι. π.Χ., διαμορφώθηκε για πρώτη φορά ένας ενιαίος οικουμενικός κόσμος: αυτός των απέραντων ελληνιστικών βασιλείων που ευνόησαν μεταξύ άλλων – πχ. ελεύθερη διακίνηση αγαθών, διευρυμένες χρηματοπιστωτικές συναλλαγές, κλπ. – την ελεύθερη μετακίνηση ανθρώπων σε διαφορετικά γεωγραφικά μήκη και πλάτη.
Πως διαχειρίστηκαν τα ελληνιστικά βασίλεια τη θρησκευτική διαφορετικότητα μεταξύ των υπηκόων τους; Επίκεντρο της ομιλίας θα αποτελέσει η αρχαία Δημητριάδα, βασιλική πρωτεύουσα της Μακεδονικής δυναστείας των Αντιγονιδών, που ιδρύθηκε στις αρχές του 3ου αι. π.Χ. στην περιοχή του σημερινού Βόλου και του μεγάλου φυσικού λιμανιού της και εξελίχθηκε από στρατιωτικό προπύργιο των Μακεδόνων σε κοσμοπολίτικο λιμάνι του ελληνιστικού κόσμου. Η πόλη συγκέντρωσε πληθυσμό από τη Μαγνησία, τη Θεσσαλία και τη Μακεδονία, αλλά και από τον ευρύτερο ελληνικό χώρο και όλη τη Μεσόγειο. Κατ’αναλογία, το θρησκευτικό της τοπίο συνέθεσαν διάφορες ελληνικές και ξένες λατρείες, με αποτέλεσμα στους επιμέρους χώρους της ιερής τοπογραφίας της να συνυπάρξουν θεοί, ήρωες και άνθρωποι από όλο τον γνωστό τότε κόσμο.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 658573.

The existence of a number of Thessalian bronze coins minted during the late Classical and the Hellenistic times, which were countermarked later on at some point, constitutes an intriguing puzzle in the coin history of Thessaly. While brief reference is made to a broader chronological context of such phenomena in the area, the focus is turned on two noticeable countermark types, the wheat-ear and the owl. The present study aims at a comprehensive overview of these countermarks, which appear on bronze coins struck by various issuing authorities (Gomphoi, Gyrton, Larisa, Metropolis, Phalanna, Pharsalos, the Thessalian Koinon). Quite interestingly, the pieces on which the said countermarks are applied span from the 4th to the 1st century BC. A few samples of silver staters issued by the late Hellenistic Koinon (with a wheat-ear countermark only) are also taken into account, but they seem to constitute a separate occasion of countermarking.
The Thessalian bronzes under discussion bear either the wheat-ear countermark or the owl countermark or both of them; counterstamping of the owl over the wheat-ear is more common, but coexists with the more rare combination of the wheat-ear over the owl. As it seems that the two countermarks were employed largely in tandem, their synchronicity can be assumed. From the examination of the extant specimens interesting elements can be gleaned, such as that the two-thirds of the material are constituted by coins safely or probably dated in the 2nd–1st centuries BC or that probably all the pieces have been located in Thessaly. A few extraneous coins (of Pella and Amphipolis, with the same pair of countermarks) were obviously included in the sample while the countermarking of the local ones was in process.
The treatment attempts to deal with several aspects of the matter; a key factor is implied by the wheat-ear symbol, alluding to the significance of Thessaly through the ages as a major grain-producing region; at the same time, it can be argued that the resurfaced pieces were demonetised and utilized probably as tokens. Additionally, some consideration is given regarding the rather perplexing practical use of such countermarked pieces and the end-users involved. The advanced wear of many of the coins in question supports the idea that the counterstamping could have taken place some time in the 1st – 2nd century AD. Based on scarce evidence, an appropriate historical context is sought in the form of a certain, likely one-off, incident. Towards this direction a possible connection to a case of Thessalian wheat exported to Athens is examined; such an extraordinary episode is traced to have occurred in the 140s AD. While the precise function of the re-used bronzes remains difficult to pinpoint, a suggestion is offered for their employment in the hands of their intended users through a conceivable modus operandi.

Die antiken Quellen berichten von einer alten und lang andauernden Feindschaft zwischen Thessalern und Phokern, die „von Anbeginn“ im Konflikt miteinander gestanden haben sollen. Die ersten Streitigkeiten sollen auf die Zeit der Einwanderung der Thessaler in ihr Siedlungsgebiet zurückgehen; später kämpften Thessaler und Phoker in weiteren Kriege in größeren Koalitionen gegeneinander, vor allem im sogenannten 1. wie im 3. Heiligen Krieg. Zur Zeit dieses letzteren Krieges erlebten die Phoker ihren spektakulärsten Aufstieg und Niedergang: In der öffentlichen Debatte kam es damals zu einer starken Umdeutung der archaischen Konflikte gegen die Thessaler und damit der phokischen Vergangenheit, die wiederum von der Erinnerungskultur des 4. Jh.s geprägt war. Das vorliegende Buch versucht, diese Geschichte der phokisch-thessalischen Kriege und der Phoker im allgemeinen jenseits dieser Umdeutung zu rekonstruieren. Dabei werden die komplexen historischen, archäologischen, religionsgeschichtlichen und anthropologischen Fragen, die diese Konflikte aufwerfen, untersucht.

Οι δύο λίμνες γνωστές ως Μικρό και Μεγάλο Ζερέλι στους πρόποδες της Όθρυος αποτέλεσαν ένα οικοσύστημα ελκυστικό για τον άνθρωπο, όπως αποδεικνύεται από την ύπαρξη της ομώνυμης γνωστής προϊστορικής θέσης Μαγούλα Ζερέλια και του νεολιθικού οικισμού στη θέση Καρατσάνταλι. Τις δύο αυτές θέσεις επέλεξαν το Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλίας (Τμήμα ΙΑΚΑ) και η ΙΓ' ΕΠΚΑ να εντάξουν σε κοινό ερευνητικό πρόγραμμα (2005-2014) με σκοπό την αναζήτηση νέων στοιχείων για τις πρώιμες φάσεις κατοίκησης, αλλά και τη διερεύνηση των σχέσεων και της επικοινωνίας των νεολιθικών οικισμών στην περιοχή μέσα από τη διακίνηση των προϊόντων του υλικού πολιτισμού. Η Μαγούλα Ζερέλια ερευνήθηκε στις αρχές του 20ου αι. από τους Άγγλους αρχαιολόγους Wace και Thompson. Τα πορίσματα της έρευνας τοποθέτησαν την πρώτη εγκατάσταση των ανθρώπων στην περιοχή περίπου στις αρχές της Μέσης Νεολιθικής περιόδου, οπότε και θεωρείται πιθανόν οι δύο οικισμοί Καρατσάνταλι και Ζερέλια να συνυπήρξαν για ένα διάστημα. Στη συνέχεια, τα Ζερέλια εξακολούθησαν να κατοικούνται σε όλη τη διάρκεια της Νεολιθικής και της Εποχής του Χαλκού (6η- 4η χιλιετία π.Χ), αλλά και στα ιστορικά χρόνια.
     
Τα αποτελέσματα της ανασκαφικής έρευνας της ΙΓ' ΕΠΚΑ στη Μαγούλα Ζερέλια από το 2005 έως το 2008 παρουσιάστηκαν στο 2ο και 3ο ΑΕΘΣΕ. Ο χαρακτήρας της ήταν και εξακολουθεί να είναι καθαρά στρωματογραφικός, σε μια προσπάθεια να ανιχνευτούν οι διαδοχικές φάσεις κατοίκησης του χώρου. Στη διάρκεια των ετών αυτών η ανασκαφή αναπτύχθηκε σε μία τομή στη ΝΑ πλαγιά της Μαγούλας και έφερε στο φως κατάλοιπα της Πρώιμης και της Μέσης Χαλκοκρατίας, αλλά και των ιστορικών χρόνων. Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση παρουσιάζονται κατά κύριο λόγο τα αποτελέσματα της ανασκαφικής έρευνας στις δοκιμαστικές τομές που πραγματοποιήθηκαν στο ΝΑ άνδηρο της Μαγούλας για τα έτη  2009 έως 2014 προκειμένου να διερευνηθούν τα νεολιθικά στρώματα του οικισμού, σύμφωνα με τα πορίσματα της επιφανειακής έρευνας του 2005. Το πρόγραμμα, το οποίο διεξάγεται από το Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλίας και την ΙΓ΄ΕΠΚΑ, θα συνεχιστεί και το 2015 και θα ολοκληρωθεί με τη δημοσίευση των αποτελεσμάτων της επιφανειακής και της ανασκαφικής έρευνας.