House A VII 4

House A VII 4 was constructed as part of the expansion of Olynthus as a result of its anoikismos in 432 BC,and destroyed with most of the rest of the city by Philip II of Macedon in 348 BC. Houses on the North Hill of Olynthus were organized in an orthogonal plan, as recommended by Plato. The straight streets of the settlement divided blocks (insulae) that maintained this plan even across the changing slope of the hill on which this part of the city was built. Row A, where this house is located, had shortened blocks and thus less house space.

This particular house was chosen as a typical Olynthian house by Walter Graham, as an alternative to the House of Many Colors chosen as a type-house by George Mylonas. The houses in this area are typically of the so-called pastas plan, which includes a central courtyard with an open corridor (pastas) in front of the rooms (often in two stories) on one side. These cobbled courtyards were used heavily, which suggests a different function than that of the relatively unblemished courts of the Villa houses. Studies of artifact distribution show that some rooms in this house could be used for several different purposes, such as weaving or drinking, depending on the occasion and room. The residents of this house seem to have distributed their activities throughout their domestic space, without reserving rooms for specific uses.