Thorikos
From the onset in 1963, the investigations concentrated on the slopes of the Velatouri. The most important settlement of the ancient demos of Thorikos is, indeed, situated on the slopes of this two peaked hill. Archaeologists of all Belgian universities worked in close cooperation with multi-disciplinary teams in order to piece together the history of the ancient mining town, focusing on the study of ancient metallurgy and its techniques. Due to increasing financial problems at the end of the 80’s, excavations were stopped, but the research went on.
Four major areas were investigated: the acropolis, the necropolis, the theatre and the industrial area. The monumental Bronze Age tombs uncovered on the acropolis have yielded the most important finds. Further down, the graves of the historical period in the town’s cemetery contained funerary offerings dating from the Geometric to the Classical periods. The theatre in Thorikos, probably the earliest in Greece, presents a unique elongated layout. Oddly, it is embedded between a cemetery and an industrial area. In the “industrial” quarter, where about 5300 m2 were excavated, houses, ore washeries and mines were retrieved, mainly of 5th - 4th centuries B.C. Mine extraction in Thorikos dates back to around 3000 B.C.
Belgian teams were also working in the larger region of Thorikos (1993, 1994, 1997), on Makronissos (1981) and in Styra on Euboea (1987, 1988, 1992).
The Velatouri site is currently under investigation by a team under the direction of Professor Robert Laffineur and Dr Sylviane Déderix (both working under the supervision of Prof. Roald Docter), while another team of the Universiteit Gent, under the direction of Professor Roald Docter is working in the settlement, theater area, and parts of Velatouri hill as well. A third team under the direction of Prof. Denis Morin (Université de Lorraine) investigates the mines and the metallurgical network focusing on Mines nos. 3 and 6.
Links:
http://www.archaeology.ugent.be/thorikos
http://www.archaeology.ugent.be/projectengrieksewereld#Kim Van Liefferinge
http://www.archaeology.ugent.be/projectengrieksewereld#Winfred van de Put
http://home.scarlet.be/~kvgelder/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE2T_Wjv7Rw
http://www.vgreece.com/index.php?entry=entry060530-170000
