Archaeologists from the universities of Gothenburg and Bournemouth say they have stumbled upon a “lost” ancient city near the present-day village of Vlohos, in the central Greece province of Thessaly.
While certain portions of the ruins in the area had been identified, they were nevertheless considered as part of a lesser settlement and never properly excavated.
However, recent research now points to a major ancient city that peaked in the 4th to 3rd Century BC.
An aerial photograph of the area, published in the UK’s “Independent” this week, in fact, shows an outline of ancient walls and the one-time city’s layout.
The head of the research team, Robin Ronnlund, said he was in the area last year for a different project when he and his colleagues realized the potential for a hill where remnants of the settlement were located. He added that it’s a mystery why a systematic excavation was never carried out before.
The initial phase will include geophysical prospecting using special sonar equipment in order to ascertain what lies below the surface without extensive digging.
Ancient ceramic works and coins are the first finds, dated to the 5th Century BC, from two weeks of preliminary excavations last September
Ronnlund believes the site was possibly abandoned after the Roman conquest of Greece in the 2nd Century BC.
