The archaeological site of Dimini includes the Neolithic settlement on the hilltop and the Mycenaean township in the plain east and southeast of the hill. In the former, only the houses' stone foundations are preserved over an area of approximately 30,000 square metres. This organized community was contained within six concentric stone enclosures, an architectural feature unique to this site. These enclosures were built successively: three round the central court, followed by three more. The enclosures are cut by narrow perpendicular corridors, which divide the settlement into four parts. Between each pair of enclosures were the settlement's houses, with stone foundations and mud brick walls, all of them more or less equal in size and amenities. The houses were quite spacious with two or three rooms and facilities for food preparation and storage. A large single-roomed house, so-called 'House N', distinguished by its interior arrangement, had several hearths and a storage area separated by a low wall, with large storage jars containing carbonized grain and smaller jars with carbonized figs. At the centre of the settlement, the first two enclosures define a central open court, or square (30x25 metres), where all of the settlement's activities converged. A large 'megaron,' consisting of two chambers and a porch, was built at the northeast edge of the court at the end of the Neolithic period (end of fourth millennium BC).
Also on the hilltop are sixteen cist graves of the Middle Bronze Age (second millennium BC) and, at the southwest corner of the Neolithic court, the remains of a Mycenaean 'megaron' with stone slabs from the cist graves used as building material. The 'megaron' contained no finds.
Approximately 150 metres south and southwest of the hill are the remains of the Mycenaean township and palatial centre, tentatively identified as ancient Iolkos, which cover an area of over 100,000 square metres. The township consisted of large, 'megaron'-style houses with consistent orientation, built along a street, 4.5 metres wide, orientated north-south and still preserved over a distance of 45 metres. The street was bordered by tall walls, which restricted direct access to the houses. Each house had living quarters, storage areas and a clay washbasin, while several show traces of a drainage system. A pottery kiln and a workshop lie to the east at the edge of the township. The township dates from the fifteenth to the twelfth centuries BC, with three main phases of re-construction and refurbishment (Late Helladic IIB to Late Helladic IIIA and Late Helladic IIIB to Late Helladic IIIC).
The palatial centre lies between the hill and the township. Built in the early thirteenth century BC (Late Helladic IIIB1), it consists of two 'megara', smaller buildings and a central court. The palace appears to have been constructed over an earlier 'megaron', built in the fourteenth century and abandoned in the early twelfth century BC (early Late Helladic IIIC).
Northwest of the hill is a Mycenaean tholos tomb of the second half of the thirteenth century BC (Late Helladic IIIB2). The tomb is large and well built, with a relieving triangle and a built larnax inside, but is severely damaged - the dome has collapsed. Approximately 300 metres west of the hill is another, better preserved tholos tomb of the second half of the fourteenth century BC (Late Helladic IIIA2). Although looted in antiquity, it yielded rich finds, such as gold jewellery, glass-paste beads and necklaces, ivory implements and bronze weapons.
Author Dr V. Adrymi - Sismani, archaeologist
Source: odysseus.culture.gr
