VLAP aimed at expanding scholarly knowledge of ancient Western Thessaly, near the village of Vlochós. The site at Vlochós is concentrated on and immediately below Strongilovoúni, an isolated hill towering 215 metres above the vast plains of Western Thessaly. The ancient remains have never been systematically examined, and – apart from some brief descriptions – has rarely figured in scholarly literature.
Most striking of the visible remains at the site are the well-preserved fortifications, at points still 2.5 metres high, but the lower slopes below the hill show clear indications of being the location of an extensive urban settlement, now covered by silt and sediment from the nearby river Enipeas. The aim of VLAP was to acquire an overview of the remains at the site using non-invasive methods such as magnetometry, ground penetrating radar, drone photogrammetry, and GPS surveying.
The project identified significant buried remains including the mapping of a near-complete classical Hellenistic street layout and a later roman fortified town. The project has now expanded to include the wider region of Palamas as well as a programme of excavatiob as part of the Palamas Archaeological Project (PAP).
The project report can be found here.
The site can be seen from the air here.
The 2016 VLAP team
