From July the 17th to August the 14th of 2011, a second and last archaeological season was undertaken in the hilly settlement of the Illyrian city of Dimal. The excavations at the acropolis, located on the higher hill of the city, revealed the remains of a temple along with several other public monuments of the Hellenistic period. In addition, a medieval small church was identified above the ruins of one of the Hellenistic structures. The in situ prohedriai seats were uncovered in the new trench opened between the first row of the theatre’s cavea and the orchestra. The investigations carried out in the western side of the city, uncovered the ruins of a monumental gate way of the settlement, which was reinforced at both sides with two rectangular towers and overlooked the city of Apollonia.
The tower appears to be of the same building technique with the walls of the Hellenistic enclosure of Apollonia, consisting of large size stone blocks of regular shape at the lower parts and well baked bricks at the upper parts of the wall. The further excavations in the city’s agora uncovered a number of domestic and handicraft structures.
The data obtained during this excavation season, mainly the pottery along with the results of the geophysics, aided in the understanding of much of the urban development of the ancient city of Dimal. It seems that the first traces of habitation of the hill belong to the 5th – 4th Centuries BC, and relate to the acropolis and its surrounding wall. After the demolition of the surrounding wall, at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 2nd Century BC, the city experienced a new investment in a building programme, including the monumental structures in the acropolis area, the theatre to the west and a new fortification of larger stone blocks encircling a wider territory of the city. Also, a new terracing system was built in the acropolis area after the destruction of the earlier structures. These fundamental changes are likely to relate to the historical events of the time: one week after the siege of 219 BC, during the first Roman – Macedonian war, the city was surrendered to the Roman Republic.
Perhaps the demolition of the acropolis wall happened after the loss of city’s sovereignty, while the new phase of construction might have taken place during Roman times.
The city’s continuity was due to its significant strategic role as a barrier against the Macedonian danger, like the city of Apollonia only a few tens of kilometres to the west. This strategic position demanded the construction of a new fortification system with solid walls and protective towers. The large quantity and typology of ceramic wares revealed suggests that the city reached its highest scale of economic development during the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st Century BC.
During this time the settlement of Dimal had extensive trade contacts with the city of Apollonia and with southern Italy, as shown by the identification of a large number of imported fine serving wares and wine amphorae.
The lack of habitation traces of the Augustan age suggests that the city was abandoned for a shorter period at this time, perhaps due to a specific event, which remains as yet unknown.