doubled to enable the construction over it of a two-storey tower, around
which corridors opened up on four sides, separating the tower from
suites of rooms. Another courtyard was subsequently added on the north
side, and later further buildings on the south side. Three stone kilns were
added against the south wall, and a circular rubble construction, perhaps
a threshingfloor; but the most important activity in thefinal phase (the
third quarter of the third centurybc), was smithing, using ironstone
mined from Mount Kerdylion.
The farmhouses discovered in Bottiaia, along the Pierian coastline,
and in Mygdonia have provided detailed evidence of rural management
on a lesser, but no less intensive scale, as compared with the larger units
at Tria Platania and Komboloi. The similarities between these rural
properties, particularly the fortified inward-facing units such as that at
Vrasna, and some rural structures in inland Thrace such as the complex
overlooking Lake Mandren near Burgas, point to the wider application of
this kind of estate.^21 One of the most striking recent examples of a
fortified rural residence is located below the peak of Kozi Gramadi
(1,364 m), in the Sushtinska Sredna Gora range, north of the town of
Starosel, and north-west of Plovdiv, which may have been a royal or
princely hunting lodge, rather than a residence of any formal character
(Fig. 4.6).^22 There is comparatively little evidence of subsistence.
A hunting lodge would explain its location high up in the mountains,
whilst at the same time showing evidence of close connections with the
principal patterns of exchange. A surprising number of high value silver
as well as copper alloy regal coins, belonging to Thracian and Macedo-
nian rulers of the fourth centurybc, as well as contemporary silver coins
of Parion, the Thracian Chersonese, Thasos, and imitations of Thasian
‘Silenos and nymph’types, may represent a relatively short period of
occupation of the site itself. The fortified site at Kozi Gramadi may have
been short-lived, but the area was by no means remote, as a hoard of late
republican denarii demonstrates. One feature of the site does deserve
special consideration, namely the masonry structure at the heart of this
upland eyrie. The design of the central doorway, and the overall appear-
ance of this structure, closely resembles tomb architecture from the
second half of the fourth and early third centurybc. If this structure
were to have cult functions, it lacks many of the associated features,
particularly votive offerings. So the resemblance may be a superficial one,
simply because we lack suitable comparanda. On the other hand, it may
(^21) Xen.Anab. 7.2.21; cf. 8.12–14; Balabanov 2000, 91–2 with further refs.
(^22) Christov (2011, 180–7) argues that this exemplifies a periodic royal residence, but
does not explain how the upland features resemble Theopompos’description of such
periodic locations (FGrH115 F31).
Thelongue duréein the north Aegean 147