Ali and I woke early this morning to catch the ferry leaving Thassos to the mainland, and headed to Philippi where we were to get a tour of the Dikili Tash excavation site.

We got there and Dr. Demetra and Dr. Zoe showed us around and gave us a brief history about the excavation that started during the 1920s and the significance of the site. 

We were also lucky to meet the Mayor of Philippi, Mr. Lazaros who wanted to check the progress of the excavation and got the chance to talk to him about future cooperation and he was more than happy to help in any way he can.

Dikili Tash is a prehistoric tell settlement rising 16m above the Drama plain, in Eastern Macedonia, and located about 1.5 km east of ancient Philippi.

The site name means “upright stone”. This refers to the grave stele of C. Vibius Quartus, a Roman officer from the Roman colony of Philippi who was buried in the cemetery which lies beside the Via Egnatia which passes the foot of the tell.

The tell is a major Neolithic and Bronze Age site (c 5000-1200 BC), known since the 19th century, and excavated by the French School at Athens and the Archaeological Society of Athens.

Among the notable discoveries are timber-framed buildings of the Late Neolithic period. One of these was decorated with a bull's skull plastered over with clay in the manner seen in the building model from the contemporary site of Promachonas on the Greek-Bulgarian frontier.

Ammar Hammad