Function

These structures stand out in terms of their commanding position on the summit of the ancient mound at Assiros, set rather surprisingly across, rather than backing into, the direction of the fierce Vardaris wind which blows so often in winter from the north west. Their size and their isolation, without any surrounding community, also suggest a special significance. Their location contrasts markedly with the typical major settlements of the period, which are usually on the spacious but low flat topped ʻtablesʼ with steep, readily defensible perimeters such as that at Agia Anna or Krithia a few km away or those currently under excavation at Anchialos, Toumba Thessalonikis and Karaburun for example^[85].

The storage pithoi seem to suggest a domestic or ceremonial rather than a cult function (particularly as they are placed in such a way as to reduce the available area of the main room) but are not numerous enough to indicate bulk storage at this period. There is certainly no sign of any of those cult-related items such as figurines or offerings of jewellery (except the bronze pin) so typical of the sanctuary sites of Southern Greece.

It is not possible to determine if the location of these buildings is related in any way to the presence of the underlying pithos burial^[86]. This was set into the ruins of the Phase 2 and 1.5 settlements at some point during the 150-200 years which intervened before the reuse of the mound for the apsidal building but its date cannot be given more precisely. The only object associated with the burial was a simple bronze button of the type frequent at Vergina. The burial does not give the impression of being that of an individual of any particular status or prestige -though of course this could have been demonstrated in ways which have left no trace.

The presence of so many smaller pottery vessels in use in the apsidal buildings and their immediate vicinity is intriguing, though they are on the whole unremarkable, with one important exception, the very large dark grey bowl (P178) found smashed on the pavement to the east of the buildings. Both the size and elaborate horse-head protomes suggest that this was a prestige item rather like the kraters which certainly occupied pride of place at archaic symposia or those of Mycenaean style introduced to Macedonia in the 13^th century BC^[87]. The fact that the most common shapes are in fine ware, and include small amphorae, jugs and bowls of a suitable size for drinking, is probably significant.

One possible interpretation is that these substantial structures at Assiros were built by a local chieftain, away from the village settlements?) which he controlled, as a residence and ʻaudience chamberʼ, where one may imagine a Homeric bard might have entertained the chief's guests as they drank. Such activity would help bond the community to a leader who was able to dispense entertainment or privilege. The remaining buildings, constructed on a less grandiose scale, could certainly not have housed any large community and probably served as ancillary structures for ʻretainersʼ, for storage for the household or for keeping animals -or perhaps all of these at the same time. The lack of any restorable vessels from this part of the site contrasts with the number from the apsidal buildings and the cobbled yard around them.

Another interpretation could be that these buildings served the elite members of equal status in a larger community as ʻneutralʼ meeting places for ceremony, symposia (as indicated by the kraters and drinking cups) and ʻpoliticalʼ discussion. The size of such an early aristocratic community is, of course, hard to determine but it is of interest that the survey work conducted by the University of Thessaloniki in the Langadas Basin^[88] has discovered traces of small outlying Iron Age settlements, which did not occur in the Bronze Age. These suggest a hierarchy of settlement and reinforce the impression that the Toumba at Assiros may have served as a central place for a short period during the later Iron Age. The discovery of a cemetery in the district could, of course, provide important information about the extent of social differentiation or ranking, but remains unachieved. Such cemetery evidence as is available from Vergina might well lend credibility to the idea of local ʻaristocraciesʼ since the tumuli there often have an original, central burial which in some cases is also the richest in terms of grave offerings. Neither here, however, nor at any of the other cemeteries whose excavation has been reported in recent years but are still awaiting publication, is there any sign of the small number of outstanding burials which could suggest a small number of preeminent individuals to whom one might accord ʻroyalʼ status.

A further possibility which should be considered is that this site served an economic role in the developing trading relations between neighbouring and more distant communities. When long distance transport was still dependent on pack animals, as was the case until at least the end of the nineteenth century, Assiros village regularly served as the second overnight stop on the one of the main routes inland from Thessaloniki to the interior and beyond to the Strymon valley (and, ultimately, Bulgaria and the lower Danube basin) -a Han. While the level of economic development in late Iron Age Macedonia is still largely a matter for speculation, there is no doubt that this was a period which saw, on the one hand, a population increase and, on the other, the first intensive southern Greece influence through trade and colonization. Both these indicate a level of resources which continued to attract both economic and political exploitation for several centuries. Both suggest impetus which encouraged, perhaps for the first time, an extensive network of economic links between the coastal ʻcoloniesʼ and their rich hinterland. Such a network could well have led to the development of regular ʻtradeʼ routes and, with these, appropriate venues for rest and refreshment which were not always located in settlements. Assiros Toumba, located beside an almost perennial stream, would have been a logical place for watering animals even after its abandonment as a settlement and could have developed into such a prehistoric equivalent of a Han.

By the sixth century the result of this interaction was a string of prosperous urban communities along the coast of Macedonia and Thrace, whose material culture shows the extent to which southern Greek products were imported and locally imitated^[89]. Excavation of parts of the Archaic settlements and cemeteries at such sites as Pydna, Anchialos, Sindos, Toumba Thessalonikis, Karaburun, Agia Paraskevi, Sani, Mende, Toroni and Akanthos for example, already clearly illustrates this cultural amalgam. It is probable too that the process of urbanization had already started in some parts of the hinterland, but this is a field for future research since little is yet known about the character of the settlements or the extent to which the social structures or material culture developed on the coast spread to the interior. Until this is done the apsidal buildings at Assiros (and the finds in them) which belong to the early stages of this process are hard to set in context. It is still too early to know whether their function was administrative, ceremonial or economic -or a combination of these. It is equally uncertain whether the complex originates in local Macedonian traditions or is a reflection of the steadily increasing influence of the colonies founded from Euboea and other southern Greek centres -an influence in terms of ideas and technologies, as well as objects, which dates back in Central Macedonia at least to beginning of the Proto-Geometric period.