The ninth season of archaeological excavations and the sixth successive season of the Project for conservations and restorations of the Theatre were realized during the period from 15th of August until 15th of November.
The archaeological excavations took place in the area of the sub-structure of the upper segment of the auditorium (summa cavea), between two of the radial walls. The purpose of the excavations is to determine the level of construction of this section of the theatre, the arrangement of the corridors for circulation of the audience and to understand the transformation of the area after the building was abandoned. The excavations in 2018, revealed floor levels from the Middle Ages and the Late Antiquity and also layers that indicate abandonment of the theatre and the accumulation of construction rubble. It is interesting that the radial walls are uncovered to a height of about 3.5 meters and still continue deep down. It is expected their preserved height to reach at least 5 meters.
The conservation-restoration works were focused on the east end of the lower segment of the auditorium (ima cavea). The inner face of the eastern analemma, the arch and vault at the connection between the eastern radial corridor and the central circular corridor were restored, as well as the remaining 10 meters from the vault above the central circular corridor. Thus, the restoration of the masonry in the eastern half of the ima cavea has been brought to its final stage i.e. the restoration of the bedding for the seats. During the next season, in 2019, this part of the theatre will be completely ready for the reconstruction of the marble seats which involves placing original ancient blocks and new replicas.
The project was financed by the annual program of the Ministry of Culture, with 1,300,000 MKD, and the activities were realized by a professional team of NI Stobi, external associates and members of the Student Association – “Axios”. Photo gallery of excavations and restoration you can see here. For a video from the project, click here.
Archaeological team:
Goce Pavlovski, NI Stobi, Field director
Dr.Silvana Blazhevska, NI Stobi, team member
Dimitar Nikolovski, NI Stobi, team member
Rade Atanasov, LI Museum Kavadarci, team member
Darko Angjelkovski, Archaelogy graduate
Kristijan Tosheski, Archaelogy graduate
Jakim Donevski, Archaelogist
Damjan Iliev, Archaelogy student
Philip van der Flier, Art history graduate
Conservation and restoration team:
Dr.Trajche Nacev, Goce Delchev University, Field director
Toni Mihailov, NI Museum and Institute – Shtip, mason
Stojche Velkovski, NI Stobi, mason
Georgi Zlatkov, mason
Jone Tushkaloski, mason
Philip Vitanov, draftsman
Technical assistance and equipment for photogrammetry:
Dr. George Bevan, University of Queens, Kingston, Canada
Kristen Jones, Queens University, Kingston, Canada