The estates at Tria Platania and Komboloi represent two slightly
different models of the type of large estate that must have been much
more widespread in lower Macedonia, parts of Upper Macedonia, and
central and Aegean Thrace during theHellenistic period. Both provide
ample evidence of dedicated storage facilities for wine and other agricultural
products on a scale that significantly exceeds the needs of the putative
inhabitants, as well as a range of subsidiary activities, including ceramic
production for estate (and perhaps external) use and the manufacture of
textiles and a variety of household products. These estates were centres of
production in their own right, stored surpluses intended for commercial sale
(as the numbers of coins found at these sites might demonstrate) and would
have acted as centres of local employment for the wider rural population.
The immediate household was involved in the centralized tasks connected
with the storage of food supplies, the preparation of household meals, and
the provision of textiles and equipment for the estate. The support staff
probably also provided the workforcethat produced the daily fruit, vege-
tables, and meat supplies of the inhabitants. It is less easy to demonstrate, on
the basis of the central units alone, the role played by estate managers, the
farming staff, those who looked after the estate’s animals (riding, draught,
and food stock), and any additional retainers, who would have been
required to keep records, deal with tenants, and provide protection and
suitable companionship for the female as well as the male residents.
Analysis of the botanical data from a number of farm sites is beginning
to provide other ways of distinguishing between different forms of
economic activity. Komboloi stands out on this count as an example of
unusual surplus capacity. The range and form of plants represented
shows that specialized viticulture was practised here and wine produced
not just for internal consumption but also for large-scale market sale.
Two of the large storagepithoialone had the capacity of 170– 204
amphorae.^24 The estate at Tria Platania, on the other hand, did not
display anything like the same degree of specialized storage capacity,
notwithstanding the size of the estate. Wine was probably made here for
domestic consumption, but olives were particularly prominent as a
foodstuff. The range of produce here was more consistent with its
function as a self-sustaining enterprise. The presence of stamped
amphorahandles would indicate the presence of imported wines or
other foodstuffs from among the main regional producing centres.
The footprints of Tria Platania and Komboloi were at the top end of
the social scale in Macedonia. The area occupied by the residential block
(^24) Margaritis 2006.
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