The Lamia Archaeological Museum is housed in the restored Othonian barrack on the akropolis of ancient Lamia, whithin the declared archaeological site of Lamia Castle. On the ground-floor of the Museum, a life size marble statue of a philosopher of Roman date, from Achinos, a group of grave stelai of types familiar in Phthiotis, and a manumission inscription from Achinos are exposed. On the first-floor landing, smaller sculptures are displayed, such as torsos, heads, and votive reliefs. The most important piece of sculpture is the marble votive relief dedicated to Artemis Eileithyia, which dates at the end of the 4th c. BC. The iconography of the above relief has been attributed to the school of Praxiteles. Cases I and Ib display finds of the Neolithic period, including characteristic pottery, tools, terracotta figurines, jewellery, and spindlewhorls. The next Cases includes finds of the Early Bronze Age (Cases II and IIb) and the Middle Bronze Age (Cases III and IIIa-b), such as characteristic examples of pottery, jewellery, figurines, and tools. One notable find of the Middle Bronze Age period is a steatite seal-amulet.In the next Case pottery, metal objects from Late Bronze Age are displayed. Cases IV and V include shcematic figurines of a man and woman, around which artefacts characteristic of each sex, such as weapons, tools, jewellery, dress accessories are arranged. In Cases VII, VIII and IX, the pottery types of Late Bronze Age and Transiotional period are set side by side, wlile Case VI includes fabulous findsof Late Bronze Age, such as gold jewellery, sealstones, figurines, and a piece from iconographic crater, from Kynos with representation of a warship. Cases X, XII and XIIa include pottery and metal objects from Protogeometric-Geometric period. In Case XI, on schematic figurines of a man and woman, objects typical of each sex, such as weapons, tools, jewellery and dress accessories are dieplayed. The large part of the display of the Archaic period is devoted to finds from the Oracle of Apollo at Kalapodi, including the roof and column capitals of the temple, the altar with its dedications, bronze tripods, small finds, weapons, mainly dedications in the sanctuary. A bronze Illyrian helmet from Eurytania is also on display. Roof and part of a cornice of an Archaic stoa with dedications from other sanctuaries in Phthiotis, among them the statuette of Artemis from Melitaia and a marble torso of Demeter have been exposed. The south room houses a display of Classikal, Hellenistic and Roman objects. Cases XV and XVI exhibit characteristic ceramic and glass vessels of the above periods. Case XVII contains a variety of clay figurines, and Case XVIII has a display of decorated pottery, including black-figure and red-figure pots, white-ground lekythoi and polychrome dishes, which demostrate close contacts with the great centres of the Classical period, such as Attica, Corinth, Boeotia. Jewellery, vessels, toolw, weapons and parts of statues made of bronze and iron, dating from the Classical and hellenistic periods are exhibited in Case XXII, and terrcotta masks of Dionysos and Persephone in Case XIX. Case XX is devoted to children; Reconstructions in the original materials of the mostcommontomb types were exposed in the corner of the room, accompanied by the appropriate grave stelai. Case XXIa contains a cinerary urn of Classical date, and Case XXIb exhibits the 5th c. BC Attic red-figure krater with a rare scene from the Orphic cycle. Assemblages of domestic pottery of Classical and Hellenistic date are on display in Unit XXIII, in front of which is exhibited a Hellenistic mosaic floor with a representation of the Three Graces, and a reconstruction of a table with vessels for food consumption. Case XXVI contains gold jewellery of the Hellenistic period and Case XXV pottery types of Roman times. In Unit XXIV are displayed finds connected with architecture in the Hellenistic period (nails, hinges, locks,etc.); the Case is surrounded by a roof of Hellenistic date, a clay bathtub, and water-supply and drainage pipes. Case XXVII is devoted to the economy, with precoinage forms of money, coins minted by the cities of Phthiotis, and foreign issues that circulated in the region, and also a Roman balance weigth with bust of Athena.

Author
Eleni Zahou, archaeοlogist