More new archaeological sites have been uncovered in Central Macedonia as the construction phase of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) continues to traverse through Greece.
“Starting off from the largest Regional Unit, and specifically the Municipalities of Langadas and Oraiokastro, archaeological works focused on an area extending from the Evangelistria district to Pentalofos and the River Gallikos. Thanks to these excavations, many archaeological sites were unearthed – particularly in the mountainous areas – that had remained unexplored to date”, tap-ag.com announced on Monday on their website.
Overall during this initial construction phase of the pipeline, more than 400 projects to uncover ruins of Ancient Greece have taken place in the country and over 650 experts in archaeological research have consulted in the findings, including archaeologists, topographers, conservators, and others.
Overseeing the work of the archaeologists and their teams is the local Ephorates of Antiquities of Thessaloniki, Kilkis and Serres, as well as the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
When TAP discovers ancient ruins they send in archaeologists to complete archaeological rescue activities and if significant cultural heritage remains are uncovered, the pipeline is rerouted to preserve the site intact.
Thus far in Greece, archaeological teams have uncovered both movable and immovable artifacts.
Some of the most notable are burial grounds and individual tombs, some of which contained ancient artifacts the dead were buried with.
Also, structures such as parts of settlements including ruins of walls and churches have been discovered during the construction of the pipeline.
Other smaller and movable artifacts such as pottery, jewellery, and coins dating from the prehistoric to the post-Byzantine period have been discovered as well.
The pipeline project started in 2016 and when completed, TAP will transport Caspian natural gas to Europe from the Greece-Turkey border by connecting to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline by crossing Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy’s natural gas network, and then on to Western Europe.
In February 2017, TAP was awarded a grant of €14,018,347 to fund archaeological trial trench investigations and rescue excavations uncovered during the construction of the pipeline in Greece from Kavala to Kastoria.
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