Fishing Gear and Fish Remains from Vergina: A Case of Inland Fishing in Macedonia

In ancient Macedonia, the very land of the renowned royal and elite hunts of Hellenistic times, precious little is known about fishing, especially in non-coastal areas. The fishing gear presented here testifies to fishing activity in the city excavated in Vergina, northern Greece, revealing an elusive aspect of its everyday life. The gear was found in the excavations of the city wall and the acropolis and date to the second half of the second century BCE. The information gained from these finds is enhanced by osteological material of fish offered in the funerary pyre of the famous unplundered ‘Tomb II of the Great Tumulus’. Coming from well-dated contexts, these finds contribute to filling a gap in our scarce information about fishing at northern Greek inland sites in the vicinity of rivers and lakes (Mylona 2008: 58 on the paucity of relevant data).