Samothrace Archaeological Survey (SAS) 1985–1987 Revisited: Towards a Final Publication

The Samothrace Archaeological Survey, conducted from 1985 to 1987, was an intensive dia-chronic survey of the SW arable part of the island, in which 2,706 field–units measuring 14.06 sq km weresurveyed. Bringing the data collected then to publication offers the chance to subject this rich legacy datasetto contemporary practices in spatial statistics, environmental variables, and topographic factors. A new rela-tional database integrates into a project Geographical Information System (GIS) and is subject to statisticalqueries, upscaling and refining the resolution of surface densities, down to the level of every single walker.The surface material establishes a chronological horizon spanning the last quarter of the 6th century BCEthrough the 14th–15th century CE, apart from the area of Mikró Vouní, where there is Late Neolithic, Earlyand Middle Bronze Age material, and two fields with possible Final Neolithic sherds. The pottery of theLate Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods (late 6th–1st centuries BCE) shows a large array of shapeswith an emphasis on storage and cooking vessels. Much smaller is the impact of fine ware. This evidencepoints toward a denser occupation pattern during the Hellenistic period and activities oriented towards theproduction, processing, and storage of goods. The study of the Roman period focuses on the ceramic importsof fine wares and transport amphoras since there is no evidence of local production on Samothrace. Althoughthe absolute sherd counts of Roman imported pottery are relatively sparse, there are noticeable clusters ofRoman period sherds. The imported Roman and Early Byzantine pottery (1st through mid-7th century CE)can be organized into two principal ceramic phases, Roman 1 and Roman 2, or four fine ware sub-phases:R1a, R1b, R2a, and R2b. Typical of the Middle and Late Byzantine periods is a range of coarse wares andtable ware types. The glazed wares recognized include Fine Sgraffito, Sgraffito with Concentric Circles,Incised Sgraffito Ware, and Painted Ware; the survey also yielded several amphora samples of the so-calledGünsenin I, II, and III types.