6. PRYTANEION
The building that housed the Prytaneion, the seat of the archons entrusted with the public administration of Gitana, is located at the edge of the north-western neighbourhood. Covering a total of 1,500 sqm, the building was composed of wings surrounding a central open-air courtyard. It encompassed symposium chambers (andrones), workshops, storerooms and auxiliary spaces, all of which opened onto and communicated with each-other through the courtyard. An altar of the goddess Hestia was kept in a separate room. This building complex also housed the city Archive, where papyrus scrolls with public correspondences were stored.
Excavations in the interior of the Prytaneion brought to light andrones, chambers which hosted symposia for the archons and foreign officials visiting the city during important events or celebrations. The central, and largest, chamber could accommodate twelve reclining couches, which would have been arranged with their backs against the walls. The floor was decorated with wall-to-wall mosaics: A frame of ornaments and reticulate work surrounds a space composed of black and white tesserae. Five dolphins, one in the centre and one in each corner, swim within. A second space with a depiction of a pouncing panther decorates the floor in front of the threshold. This room neighboured the kitchens on its southern side.
One of the two rooms in the northern wing of the building was identified as the public Archive of Gitana. Excavations here uncovered 3,000 seals from ratified documents. The papyrus scrolls at the archive had been stored on shelves and in wooden chests and pithoi. The latter, storage in a pithos, is considered to be one of the earliest forms of archiving.
The roughly 3,000 clay seals uncovered at the Prytaneion – Archive were used to ratify public documents. These seals were small pieces of moist clay that were placed atop and pressed into the string that tied wrapped papyrus scrolls shut. When a fire destroyed the building, the moist clay was baked, preserving the seals for posterity. On their surfaces, these seals depict deities, heroes and mythical beings, animals, birds and flora, but especially public emblems with the names and symbols of the Epirote tribes (ΕΛΕΑΙΩΝ, ΘΕΣΠΡΩΤΩΝ, ΜΟΛΟΣΣΩΝ, ΧΑΟΝΩΝ), political bodies and states (ΒΟΥΛΑ, ΑΠΕΙΡΩΤΑΝ), and civil servants (ΑΓΟΡΑΝΟΜΟΣ, ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΕΥΣ, ΑΓΩΓΕΥΣ). At least fourteen of these seals preserve the name of the city: ΓΙΤΑΝΑ. Also fascinating is the frequency with which the royal symbols of Macedon appear, evidence that reveals the close ties between the Epirotes and their western neighbours.
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