The Argilos excavation, ongoing since 1992, is a multidisciplinary archaeological project aimed at studying the earliest Greek colony known on the Thracian coast. The project began as a collaboration with the 18th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Kavala, and since 2004 has operated as a collaboration between the 28th Ephorate at Serres and the Canadian Institute in Greece, directed by Zisis Bonias (18th Ephorate) and Jacques Perreault (University of Montreal).
Over the past three decades, excavations at Argilos have provided a detailed picture of the settlement’s history. According to literary sources, Argilos was founded by colonists from Andros in 655/654 BCE, though little remains from this earliest phase. The earliest archaeological evidence, dating to the last quarter of the 7th century BCE, indicates that the first settlers lived in simple huts along the coastline before expanding inland. Excavations in the acropolis sector have revealed structures spanning the city’s entire occupation, including a square mansion built after its destruction and annexation by Philip II in 357 BCE, though most buildings date to when Argilos experienced its most dynamic growth in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. On the southeastern slope of the hill, evidence of extensive urban remodeling in the 5th century BCE is visible in a wide street leading from the port to the acropolis, lined with public buildings and residential houses. Around the same time, a commercial quarter flourished in the Koutloudis sector, featuring parallel rows of shops. Excavations have also investigated a necropolis to the east of the city and, more recently, the Angelopoulos plateau.
Select Bibliography
Akamatis, N., Z. Mponias & J.Y. Perreault. 2020. The Attic Red-Figured Pottery from Argilos. Argilos 2. Athens: Publications of the Canadian Institute in Greece 12.
Mponias, Z., J.Y. Perreault, L.S. Éthier & S. Deluy. 2021. Argilos, 25 années de recherches : Organisation de la ville et de la campagne dans les colonies du Nord de l’Égée, Ville – IIIe siècles av. n.è. Actes du colloque de Thessalonique, 25-27 mai 2017. Argilos 3. Athens: Publications of the Canadian Institute in Greece 13.
Neeft, K. 2020. The Corinthian Pottery from Argilos. Argilos 1. Athens: Publications of the Canadian Institute in Greece 11.
Ouellet, K. 2024. Les défenses de la Grèce du Nord : architecture, géographie, histoire et phénomènes régionaux aux périodes archaïque, classique et hellénistique. Argilos 4. Athens: Publications of the Canadian Institute in Greece 14.
Learn more about the project here: https://argilos.net/
