AgRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN HELLENISTIC gREECE 201
was engaged in some production of other crops for subsistence, the produc-
tion of wine was so great that this clearly formed its main focus. The owner of
Kompoloi undertook considerable risk investing in the cultivation of large areas
of vines. Kompoloi represents an important exception to the proposed norm
of polyculture: specialisation in one crop has not until now been thought to
be a significant or viable aspect of the agricultural economy (Osborne 1992 ).
In addition, referring to the discussion about land and farm properties,Hanson ( 1992 ) has suggested that they were not many large holdings; rather,
small plots were the norm. On the other hand, Osborne ( 1992 ) and Foxhall
( 1992 ), following different methodologies, came to the opposite conclusion
for Attica. They have argued that a considerable proportion of the land was
indeed in the hands of the wealthy minority. Most of the land was divided
into individual plots but wealthy owners would have groups of plots operating
as a single unit, scattered in the territory of Attica and beyond (Foxhall 2002 ).
If Kompoloi is to add to this discussion, a tentative estimate of the potential
area cultivated under Kompoloi is useful: a field of 1,000 m^2 fertilised with
charcoal and ashes produces approximately 300 litres of wine, enough for the
annual supply of a family of four. One pithos from the large storage area held
2,200–2,300 litres of wine and a quick calculation shows that this amount
equals 0.75 hectares. At least twenty-two pithoi of similar size were found in the
pitheon area and elsewhere in the excavated complex. This suggests an extent of
land under cultivation for vine alone at Kompoloi of around 16 ha, not includ-
ing any land set aside for other crops. While the excavated storage area at the
site was dedicated to wine it remains possible that other storage facilities could
have been located in the unexcavated east extension of the site. Alternatively,
Kompoloi’s market connections could have been bilateral, buying the majority
of products needed for subsistence. The holdings of the estate would cover a
large area of land, most likely divided into smaller plots in order to take advan-
tage of the various micro-environmental niches of the region: not only to take
advantage of the qualities of different soil conditions but also to prevent com-
plete crop failure in case of weather conditions or other hazards such as pests
and so on. The second important economic recourse would have been labour,
and it must be the case that a significant number of people would have worked
the land of Kompoloi.
On the basis of survey information, Alcock ( 2007 ) has suggested the pres-ence of a hierarchy of country houses during the Archaic-Classical periods
in the Greek countryside. The area of Pieria confirms this pattern for the
Hellenistic period, consisting of large estates but also much smaller farmhouses
of an approximate size of 0.03 ha, such as Duvari I and II. It has been also
suggested that during the fourth century the trend of focusing on a particular
product destined for export may have intensified, although always within a
polyculture regime (Migeotte 2009 : 87). Kompoloi presents a more extreme