Περίληψη
Roman grain processing installation
On the occasion of the construction of the New Acropolis Museum, excavations in the Makrigianni archeological site revealed a Roman grain processing installation.
Since the greatest part of the establishment is under modern neighboring blocks of flats, only the east section of the revealed building -located in the conjunction of two ancient roads (I and II)- has been investigated. Excavations in the east section of the building brought to light 5 rooms arranged in 2 rows, an open air watersump and a semi underground paved space in the south, which revealed sings of workshop activity. The building was interpreted as a residence with a section for a grain processing workshop.
The private sector and the atrium of the residence were located on the north. Some of the rooms could have functioned as independent shops with access from road II.
The semi-underground space in the south functioned as a workshop: three large shallow pits were found with ring like grooves in the surrounding paves, a rectangular built basin and a well paved surface.
These finds, coupled with the large number of trachitis (volcanic stone) fragments found scattered as well as the discovery of parts of a large marble mortar, has led us to believe that these spaces were used for grain processing. We assume that 2 fixed rotary mills and 1 mechanical kneading-trough were installed in the pits and that the grooves around them were the result of continuous walking and pressure on the floor during circular movement. The built basin and the paved surface may have been parts of installations relevant to the storage of grains and flour.
We know of similar establishments in Pompeii, Morgantina and Ostia. The tracitis part of the rings that were found, showed that the installed mills were not monolithic but an assembled circular type for cereal grinding, known from excavations in several houses of Delos.
The beginning of workshop activity cannot be determined accurately. The workshop functioned at least during the 3rd century A.D. and was destroyed at its end, possibly during the invasion of the Herouli in 267 A.D.
Workshop establishments of millers and bakers are known by pictorial sources: frescoes, pottery, sculpture and burial monuments. Ancient sources report the presence of millers and bakers in Athens already from the classical era. Their existence at excavations are proved only by the archaeological remains of watermills discovered in the Ancient Agora close to the Panathenaic Way and are dated in the times of the late Antiquity. Thus, the discovery of workshop establishments in the Makrigianni site is a very important finding.
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