Chalkidice. The religious topography of the region during antiquity

Abstract

The collection and interpretation of information about the sanctuaries of Chalkidice during antiquity, which comprise the aims of this study, are based on the sources as well as the results of previous and recent archaeological research, without hard-and-fast chronological limits. The most important sites-cities of Chalkidice, where different populations lived, are discussed in light of historical course and development wherever this is possible. A number of important sanctuaries including those of Poseidon at Poseidi and Potidaea, of Dionysus and the Nymphs and later, Zeus Ammon at Aphytis, the imperial cult building complex at Kalindoia in Bottike, the sanctuary of Artemis at Sane in Pallene, and that of Apollo-Helios at Ouranopolis, were discovered during excavations, while others are attested in the ancient sources and inscriptions. We offer a presentation and commentary on portable finds, most of which are inscriptions and sculpture from sanctuary sites or which can be associated with such sites. We also endeavour to correlate ancient sites/cities with (primarily) epigraphic evidence coming from modern settlements/locations and providing religious information. We thus attempt to offer a comprehensive and diachronic assessment of the religious identity of Chalkidice.