INTER-SECTION Volume II | Page 43

| The ‘ lively ’ streets of classical Olynthos |
SEGMENT ( n = 18 )
LENGTH ( METERS )
FRONT DOORS
OCCURRENCE OF DOORWAYS
Avenue A 1
49.5
6
8.250
Avenue A 2
49.5
7
7.071
Avenue A 3
49.5
8
6.188
Avenue A 4
49.5
6
8.250
Avenue B 1
44.5
5
8.900
Avenue B 2
44.5
5
8.900
Avenue B 3
44.5
6
7.417
Avenue B 4
44.5
7
6.357
Street V west
43
5
8.600
Street V east
43
7
6.143
Street VI west
43
4.5
9.556
Street VI east
43
6.5
6.615
Street VII west
43
5
8.600
Street VII east
43
4
10.750
Street VIII west
43
6
7.167
Street VIII east
43
7
6.143
Street IX west
43
2
21.500
Street IX east
43
0
0.0
MINIMUM
6.188
MAXIMUM 10.750 MEAN 6.939
Table 2 . Occurrence of doorways
10.750 . 5 Following the assumption that a higher concentration of doorways increases the chances for social interaction in public space , the analysis shows two areas with the highest social activity ; first , the two middle segments of Avenue A ( Avenue A 2 , Avenue A 3 ) and Street VIII ; secondly , the eastern segments of Street V and Street VI and the two southern segments of Avenue B ( Avenue B 3 , Avenue B 4 ). Noteworthy is the observation that the number of doorways significantly increases when proceeding from north to south on Avenue B . And , although information of the eastern side of Avenue B is lacking , the western side already counts 23 doorways – compared to the 27 doorways for the whole of Avenue A . Further , it can be noted that 27 out of the 36 shops ( 75 percent ) are either part of these eight segments or immediately attached to them ( fig . 3 ). 6
The intervisibility analysis reveals only seven instances in which the doorways of opposing buildings enjoy an intervisibility of a hundred percent . In all these instances , the entrances provide access to domestic spaces , as opposed to commercial spaces . The analysis of the doorways , therefore , suggests that the residents in Olynthos probably experienced limited social control . In addition , social control could also have occurred through windows or by walking in the streets . Unfortunately , there is insufficient evidence to include these variables .
The intersection between ‘ private ’ and ‘ public ’ space The fact that most corner houses are connected to the busier avenues rather than to the quieter streets could have resulted out of a desire to be part of the social activities that might have occurred in the avenues . Additionally , doorways do not only have a relation to the streets , but also to the buildings ’ interiors . Therefore , it could also be due to the internal spatial organisation of the ‘ pastas ’ house type , which is designed in such a way that the entrance would ideally be placed in the south , east or west . 7 Merely three houses break this ideal organization with an entrance on a street in the north , while they also have at least one entrance on the avenue providing access to a shop . Was this perhaps done to create a spatial boundary between the building ’ s public and private space ?
Activity levels increase when going from the northernmost segment of Avenue B towards the south ; this strongly supports the hypothesis of a commercial centre , or agora , to the south of Block A IV ( Robinson and Graham 1938 , 37 ; Robinson 1946 , 73 ; Nevett 1999 , 55 ; Cahill 2002 , 32 ). 8 Of the shops , 75 percent is part of the two areas with probably highest activity . The presence of these commercial spaces could , then , further reinforce the amount of activity , resulting in a clustering of shops within Olynthos ’ residential quarters . The fact that not all shops are located in these areas may indicate that these relied less intensively on the daily movement of people and the activity areas to attract customers . Following this interpretation , one could argue that these shops might have been more specialized or unique in order to survive present competition .
5 The southern part of Street IX has only two doorways and the north part of this street has not been excavated . The values so far , 21.500 for the western segments and 0.0 for the eastern segment , deviate significantly from the median . They are not included in the analysis to achieve a clearer distinction between the other segments in the map . 6 The designations of these shops are indicated in italics in figure 3 .
7 It should be noted that the interior organisation of the northern houses of each block was not mirroring the one of the south , but exactly the same . This means that the courtyard in these houses was adjacent to the alley and not to the street and that one of the northern rooms served as the house ’ s entrance . 8 Also the inscriptions of housing prices mentioned before show a negative relationship between the property value and the distance from the agora . This open space has previously been identified as an area for military manoeuvres ( Robinson and Graham 1938 , 21-22 ) and as a sanctuary ( Hoepfner and Schwandner 1994 , 78-79 ).
2016 | INTER-SECTION | VOL II | p . 41