Ο αρχαίος δήμος των Αιξωνιδών Αλών Αττικής (σημ. Βούλα – Βουλιαγμένη)

Abstract

The ancient deme of Aixonides Halai, Attica (the modern deme of Voula – Vouliagmeni). The article deals with the reconstruction of the history of the ancient deme of Aixonides Halai, Attica, through the recent rescue-excavations, which were conducted by the Archaeological Service. The ancient deme included the south part of the modern deme of Voula and the modern deme of Vouliagmeni. It constituted the coastal trittys of the Kekropis tribe after the Kleisthenian reform. The first legal excavation was conducted in 1927 at the Laimos peninsula, Vouliagmeni, where the temple of Apollo Zoster (the cult center of the deme) was discovered. The inscriptions from the temple and the funerary stele and inscriptions from the cemetery, which were discovered later at the site Pigadakia in Voula, identified the whole area with the ancient municipality of Aixonides Halai. Since then the archaeological research has revealed the continuous occupation of the region through the Neolithic, Mycenaean, geometric, archaic and classical times. Because of the intense building activity in the areas of Voula and Vouliagmeni in the past decade, hundreds of rescue-excavations have been conducted by the archaeologists of the 21st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. They have brought to light numerous ancient remains: Part of an extensive early Helladic settlement, Geometric graves, parts of the ancient Classical town, including public structures (e.g. roads and towers), a public building (which is considered to be the Agora), houses of the settlement and graves with rich offerings.