After 50 years of interruption, a new archaeological season initiated the excavation in the ancient city of Dimal. Several trenches were opened during this season, which would help in understanding the stratigraphical sequences of the area known as the “acropolis”. The “acropolis” consists of a system of artificial terraces surrounding the entire hilltop of Dimal.
In total 7 trenches were dug, at different areas of the hill: trenches 1, 2, 3, and 5 to the east, while to the west trenches 4, 6, and 7.
The excavation of trenches 1 and 5 opened at the foot of the hill, near the previously discovered stoa of the city, intended to identify the building structures located behind the stoa (trench 1), define a construction dating for the stoa (trenches 1 and 5), and discover its remaining floor (trench 5).
A rectangular building of 5 × 5 m, which used the stoa’s rear wall as its own back wall, was revealed in trench 1. Differently from the wall of the stoa, the foundation of the new building was constructed on a higher artificial terrace. In the façade of the building, a doorway 2 m wide was revealed. Similar rooms seem to exist along the entire length of the rear wall of the stoa, though their plans are not clearly distinguishable at this phase of the excavation.
The extension of the excavation in trench 1, revealed the in situ traces of a foundation (large stone block). Though found in a distance of 10 m to the south of the rectangular building, there was no stratigraphic association between these two features. Also, an east-west running massive foundation wall was uncovered at the same level as the buildings found behind the stoa. It seems that other public buildings, or perhaps another stoa, were located in this area of the city. The excavations of trench 5 were unfortunately unable to reveal the floor level of the Stoa, which was probably entirely damaged during the excavations of the last century. On the other hand, the extension of the trench toward the porticus of the stoa, revealed a foundation of 2 m wide, on which the basement blocks of the columns were laid.
In order to define the date of the fortified wall of the ancient city, another trench was opened near the wall niche, where the earlier foundations of a tower of a former wall were visible. The tower walls are 2, 1 m wide and consist of large squared stone blocks, preserved at a high of three courses. It seems that in a later period, both the surrounding and niche walls were covered up by artificial soil deposits which formed a new terrace laid above them. The stratigraphic sequence revealed in this and the niche walls, shows that the latter belongs to a later period, and is likely to have blocked a 30 m destruction hiatus of the fortification. The niches were built directly above the older fortification of the city.
Rubble stones and numerous fragmented ceramic wares and tiles were revealed in the upper layer of trench 3 (4 × 7 m). Two north-south running laterally walls were uncovered in the lower layer of this trench. While in the trenches opened to the western side of the hill, traces of the ancient theatre of the city were identified for the first time.