The living and their dead in Classical Athens: new evidence from Acharnai, Halai Aixonidai & Phaleron

Abstract

The deme of Acharnai belonged to the Oineis tribe and was the largest deme in Attica, represented in the boule by 22 bouleutai (Trail 1975: 65; Osborne 1985: 44; Platonos 2013: 137). Acharnai not only had a larger population than the other Attic demes, but it also appears to have extended over a particularly large area: over Neapoli, Agios Athanasios, the centre of modern Menidi, Lathea, Auliza, Pyrgouthi, Agia Anna, Charaugi, Kokkinos Mylos, Agia Soteira, Loutro, part of Gerovouno and possibly northern Lykotrypa (Fig. 125). Both Maria Platonos (2013: 139; 2004: 31–32) and Danielle Kellogg (2013: 10–26), who have studied this deme in depth, agree that there would have been more than one settlement within its limits. Kellogg (2013: 32–33) also notes that the settlement pattern in most areas would have been scattered: that is, there would have been numerous farmsteads dotted across the landscape. This is a very attractive suggestion, since Acharnai was known for its fertile fields, and it is supported by the archaeological evidence, since numerous Classical walls delimiting properties have been excavated in the broader area of the SKA Rail Centre (ID4852; Platonos 2004: 430).