Makyneia. The Diachronic Development of an Aetolian Settlement and its Relation to the Region of Western Greece

Abstract

Northwest of Antirrio in Aetolia-Acarnania, in the region of western Central Greece, where there is a small acropolis (Palaiokastro), lies ancient Makyneia. The city was incorporated into the Aetolian State around the middle of the 4th cent. B.C. The rescue excavation of a large part of the settlement to the southeast of the acropolis, which took place in the context of the construction of the Ionian Highway between 2009 and 2013, brought to light valuable information about its urban and architectural development over time: from the Prehistoric period (end of the 3rd to the first half of the 2nd millennium B.C.) to the end of the Hellenistic period.
The excavation revealed a total of 32 buildings and building complexes of varying preservation and dating. Throughout the settlement’s life, the free urban system was maintained, adapted to the peculiarities of the terrain. This article attempts to integrate the settlement into the wider geographical context, and analyses features of its communal urban and architectural organisation, water management, as well as of craft and domestic industrial activities.