History and prehistory of Thessaloniki
The emphasis will be on Thessaloniki, to which three remaining exhibitions due to open in late 2005 will be dedicated. The timeless aspects of the city will be highlighted in «Toward the Birth of Cities,» containing finds from the so-called Dark Ages (ca. 1000-700 BC). «The Kingdom of Macedonia» covers the period from 700 BC till the Roman conquest in the early second century BC, while the third exhibition, «Thessaloniki in the Early Centuries» goes from the foundation of the city (314 BC) to the end of late antiquity and the time of Theodosius (fourth-fifth century AD). «These exhibits will bring out the notions of space, time, population, social and private life, religion, the economy and the organization of everyday life, technology, organization of space, art and literature, historical figures and death,» says Grammenos. In 2005, a large room in the basement will house a permanent exhibition, «The Prehistory of Thessaloniki,» with exceptional finds, including idols from excavations of a Neolithic settlement in Stavroupolis, Thessaloniki, a trepanned skull, evidence of a surgical operation performed in Neolithic times, and two important examples of Ouranopithecus (a hominid genus) found in the Gallikos-Axios and Nikitis areas. The museum’s storerooms contain a vast number of finds from excavations at archaeological sites in Halkidiki, Pieria, Kilkis and Thessaloniki. This unknown wealth will come to light through various exhibitions the museum will organize in a room that will be opened when the building is completed.
