recorded. An elaborate system of pipes and drains carried waste water
under the walls and surrounding roadways, while fresh water was sup-
plied from wells.
Study of particular areas of theagorasuggests medium-term associ-
ation between certain crafts and certain areas or structures. Pottery
manufacture and sale was concentrated on the southern part of the
east wing, while farther north were stalls selling terracottas. The southern
wing seems to have been reserved for fresh food, particularly liquid
products; stalls for butchers andfishmongers have also been suggested.
The southern part of the west wing housed imported pottery and lamps.
Metalworking, including some evidence of work in precious metals,
judging by the presence of litharge (from cupellation of lead), was
practised on the outskirts of the precinct, where moulds and slag have
been found at the east end of the south wing. A large section of the wing
seems to have been occupied by stores of dry goods, including grains and
flour. Wells in the southern wing contained waste material from pottery,
metalworking, and food, including olive pits, walnut shells, chestnut
husks, grape pips, and various seeds.
The northstoaevidently housed the main administrative quarters,
including a hall with a Doric colonnade in the centre, where a large statue
base occupied a prominent position, and at least one inscription listing
the names of civic magistrates was on display, as well as various offices
and cult chambers to either side. Clay seals from papyrus documents,
bearing a club and an eight-pointed star, and inscribed (of ) PELLA/(of
the) POLITARCHS (— ̄ ̧ ̧HÓ/—O ̧IÔ`P×Ù ̋), point to what must
have been the city’s principal administrative archive. In addition to this
northern suite of rooms with administrative functions, there was a
separate building in the south-west corner of theagora, which may
have been a purpose-built headquarters for the city’s commercial magis-
trates. It had a central peristyle, supported by Doric columns and Ionic
piers. Within the destruction layer from the collapsed rooms facing the
colonnade was a collection of clay sealings, showing a grazing cow, some
of which also bore the inscriptionPellis/emporiou, or the names of civic
magistrates. Besides the sealings there were writing materials, including
ink-wells and pens, as well as a stone stamp seal and fresh clay.
The excavators have so far provided a vivid portrait of the most
distinctive features of the last days of Pella’s main commercial hub and
full publication will provide us with a more complete understanding.
What is interesting about this manifestly purpose-built complex is the
close proximity of workshops (metalsmiths, coroplasts), with sellers of
fresh food. Stone masons, timber merchants, charcoal sellers, tanners,
and similar insalubrious crafts are more likely to have been located
230 Regionalism and regional economies