The settlement history of Paionian Bylazora : a functional analysis of the ceramic evidence

Abstract

During the summer of 2008 the Texas Foundation for Archaeological and Historical Research and the People’s Museum of Sveti Nikole investigated the supposed site of the Paionian city Bylazora, in central Republic of Macedonia. The thesis uses a functional approach to the material from the first season. The excavated area was divided into spaces, each of which was made up of archaeological contexts and features that can be said to constitute a spatial entity. The diagnostic pottery sherds from each space was then grouped into categories according to function. The distribution of pottery among these categories was statistically analyzed to determine which activities took place in each space. When analyzed diachronically through three phases identified at the site, temporal processes could be observed and a settlement history sketched.

The first phase was dominated by stone structures, notably a ramp-building and adjacent walls and towers. The scarcity of material meant practically no activities could be attested to. The only exception was traces in front of the ramp of ritual activity. It seems likely that by the next two phases there was a low level of specialization and spatial division of activities, and the area went from serving the public to becoming a domestic area that might have served as refuge for the city’s population. From this perspective Bylazora’s economic history concurs well with what we know of the history of Paionia.