| The‘ lively’ streets of classical Olynthos |
ing to historical sources, the city expanded towards the end of the fifth century BCE due to a migration movement( known as the anoikismos of 432 BCE) with the intention to form a larger and better defendable city in preparation for the rebellion against Athens( Thuc. 1.58; Diod. Sic. 12.34.2). However, it is unclear which cities or specific populations joined this movement and how large the flow of migrants must have been. The archaeological record of Olynthos shows how a sudden growth in population size around this time resulted in the construction of a new residential area on the North Hill, laid out in Hippodamian fashion, with avenues running northsouth and streets following an east-west direction( Robinson and Graham 1938, 13-14). 1 The newly constructed area was, however, short-lived, as the army of Philip II brought about the city’ s destruction in 348 BCE. By then some inhabitants might have already left the city with their belongings in advance. Those who remained must have been undoubtedly affected by the siege.
Methodology and theoretical framework The archaeological dataset available for the spatial analyses are the streets and the houses on the North Hill of Olynthos as published by Robinson( 1929- 1952) and Cahill( 2002). The theoretical framework at the basis of space syntax was formulated by architectural and urban morphologists Hillier and Hanson( 1984). The spatial boundaries for the analysis of movement flows are the natural contours of the North Hill in the west, north and east( fig. 1 2). These coincide with the possible circuit of the city’ s fortification walls( Robinson and Graham 1938, 39- 40). The southern boundary is Street – I. To reconstruct the movement flows within Olynthos’ street network, an axial analysis is conducted. In this analysis the street network is divided into the least and longest straight lines that connect the entire street space. Depthmap software, 3 subsequently, calculates the level of accessibility and integration of all the lines within the network. The results are shown in a colour-coded map with a spectral range from red, for the highest integrated lines, to blue, for the lowest integrated lines. The integration value correlates to the potential amount of pedestrians moving
1 In this article a distinction is made between the terms‘ street( s)’ as opposed to avenues( in italics or with a capital when it refers to a specific street, e. g. Street V), and‘ street( s)’ for the collection of all avenues and streets in general. 2 The small alleys, stenopoi, running from east to west in the middle of each house block are excluded from the analysis, as they were mainly used for drainage and not for passage( Robinson and Graham 1938, 33-39; Nevett 1999, 55-56). Another hypothesis is that the alleys serve as light sources, allowing light to enter the houses through windows placed along the walls( Graham 1958, 322). 3 Depthmap software is created by UCL’ s Bartlett School of Architecture. along each line( natural movement flows)( Hillier 1996, 119). A visibility graph based on visual integration and a positive correlation between visibility and movement potential complements the findings; the higher the visual integration of spaces, the more movement they attract( Stöger 2011, 194). Again the spectral range goes from red, for the most visible areas, to blue, for the visually most segregated spaces.
Next, the attention turns to an analysis of doorways. Doorways are physical and symbolic points of transition where private life opens up to, closes of from, and intersects with public life( Laurence 2007; van Nes 2011, 101). The location of doors, therefore, reflects how the urban environment was experienced and where potential activity areas of human interaction between the private and public sphere could have occurred. The spatial boundaries for this analysis are House A1 and Street IX, Avenue B, House A12 and the southern edge of Block A IV, and the western edge of Row A( fig. 3). These boundaries enclose a completely excavated area with sufficient data on the architectural remains necessary for the analysis.
The analysis begins with looking at the connection of building entrances to streets. The entrance can be either directly accessible to a street or separated from it by a fence or front yard, providing some form of seclusion and privacy. An examination of which street( s) a building connects to can also give information on its relation to public space. The number of doorways opening onto a street, then, directly reflects the amount of social activity and chances for interaction that might have occurred in the streets( van Nes 2011, 111). For a comparative survey of these activity areas across the entire street network all streets have to be divided in segments of similar lengths. By measuring the occurrence of doorways( number of doors per x meters) per segment, then, the potential activity areas are representatively revealed( Laurence 2007, 103).
Lastly, the way that entrances are positioned to each other influences the probabilities for social control( van Nes and Lopéz 2007, 23.7-23.8; van Nes 2011, 111-113). This article, therefore, reports the number of times that entrances are placed directly across from each other, enjoying an intervisibility rate of a 100 percent. This implies that the inhabitants might have experienced high levels of social control.
2016 | INTER-SECTION | VOL II | p. 37