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{{for|the village in southern Greece|Dimini, Corinthia}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox Greek Dimos
| name             = Dimini
| name_local       = Διμήνι
| type = community
| periph           = [[Thessaly]]
| periphunit       = [[Magnesia (regional unit)|Magnesia]]
| municipality     = [[Volos]]
| municunit        = [[Aisonia]]
| population    = 2102
| population_as_of = 2021
| area             =
| elevation        =
| coordinates      = {{coord|39|21|N|22|53|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code      =
| area_code        =
| licence          =
| website          =
| image_skyline    =
| caption_skyline  =
| city_flag        =
| city_seal        =
}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name        = Dimini culture
|mapalt      =
|altnames    =
|horizon     =
|region      = 
|period      = [[Neolithic Europe]]
|dates       = ''circa'' 4800 BCE — ''circa'' 3200 BCE
|typesite    =
|majorsites  = 
|extra       = 
|precededby  = [[Sesklo culture]]
|followedby  = [[Eutresis culture]]
}}
[[File:Dimini DSC 2062a.jpg|thumb|Dimini archaeological site.]]
[[File:Ancient Greece Neolithic Pottery & Stone Artifacts.jpg|thumb|Neolithic artefacts and depiction of the Dimini walled settlement]]

'''Dimini''' ({{langx|el|Διμήνι}}; older form: ''Diminion'') is a village near the city of [[Volos]], in [[Thessaly]] (central [[Greece]]), in [[Magnesia (regional unit)|Magnesia]]. It was the seat of the municipality of [[Aisonia]]. The name Aisonia dates back to ancient times. Currently, Dimini is the westernmost place in the Volos area. The Dimini area contains both a [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenean]] settlement and a [[Neolithic]] settlement. The Neolithic settlement in Dimini was discovered near the end of the 19th century and was first excavated by the archaeologists [[Christos Tsountas]] and [[Valerios Stais]].

The palace of ancient [[Iolcos]] is believed to be located in modern-day Dimini, where, in 2001, a [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] palace was excavated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arcl.ed.ac.uk/a1/stoppress/stop769.htm |title=Scientists trace the trail of Argonauts |access-date=2011-09-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928060236/http://www.arcl.ed.ac.uk/a1/stoppress/stop769.htm |archive-date=2011-09-28 }}</ref>

==Population==
{{Historical populations
|align = none
|1981|1608
|1991|1956
|2001<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archivedate=2015-09-21 }}</ref>|2149
|2011<ref name=census11>{{cite web | url = http://www.statistics.gr/documents/20181/1210503/resident_population_census2011rev.xls | title = Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός | publisher = Hellenic Statistical Authority | language = el }}</ref>|2279
|2021<ref name="census21"/>|2102
}}

==History==
===Neolithic===
Dimini culture<!--Q10262223--> is well known for its abstract painted vessels. Dimini ware is characteristic of the Later Neolithic period in eastern [[Thessaly]], although it was traded and imitated outside the region and has been identified as far away as [[Cakran]] in [[Albania]].

<gallery widths="150px" heights="150px" perrow="5">
File:Clay vase with polychrome decoration, Dimini, Magnesia, Late or Final Neolithic (5300-3300 BC).jpg|Clay vase with polychrome decoration, Dimini, Magnesia, Late or Final Neolithic (5300-3300 BC). Ceramic; height: 25 cm (9{{fraction|3|4}} in.), diameter at rim: 12 cm (4{{fraction|3|4}} in.); [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|National Archaeological Museum]] ([[Athens]])
File:Ancient Greece Neolithic Pottery - 28171028800.jpg|Dimini plate,  [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|National Archaeological Museum]] ([[Athens]])
Terracotta base and lower body of a vessel MET DP21228.jpg|Terracotta base and lower body of a vessel; 3800-3300 BC; terracotta; length: 7.5 cm (2{{fraction|15|16}} in.); [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)
Terracotta rim fragment with latticework design MET DP21226.jpg|Terracotta rim fragment with latticework design; 3800-3300 BC; terracotta; length: 10.6 cm (4{{fraction|3|16}} in.); Metropolitan Museum of Art
Terracotta rim of a bowl MET DP21233.jpg|Terracotta rim of a bowl; 3800-3300 BC; terracotta; length: 12.8 cm (5{{fraction|1|16}} in.); Metropolitan Museum of Art
</gallery>

===Antiquity===
In 1886, Lolling and Wolters excavated the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenean]] [[tholos tomb]] known as ''Lamiospito''. In 1901, Valerios Stais discovered the tholos tomb on the hill of the Neolithic settlement. He worked at the Dimini settlement with Christos Tsountas from 1901 up until 1903. In 1977, George Chourmouziadis continued excavations at the Neolithic settlement. Excavations of the Mycenean settlement in Dimini began in 1980 by V. Adrimi-Sismani. In 2001 the excavations uncovered a Mycenaean city and palace complex they believe could be part of ancient [[Iolkos]]. A stone weight and a [[sherd]] inscribed with [[Linear B]] writing were also uncovered.{{refn|group=n|The publication of the results can be found [http://www.ims.forth.gr/Journals/publications/CAA2002/DIMINI-FINAL-PUBLICATION/DIMINI_CAA2002_final4.pdf here].}}

The "invasion theory" states that the people of the Neolithic Dimini culture were responsible for the [[Sesklo and Dimini fortifications|violent conquest]] of the [[Sesklo]] culture at around 5000 BC. Moreover, the theory considers the "Diminians" and the "[[Sesklo]]ans" as two separate cultural entities. However, I. Lyritzis provides a different story pertaining to the relations between the Dimini and the Sesklo cultures. He, along with R. Galloway, compared ceramic materials from both Sesklo and Dimini utilizing thermoluminescence dating methods. He discovered that the inhabitants of the settlement in Dimini appeared around 4800 BC, four centuries before the fall of the Sesklo civilization (ca. 4400 BC). Lyritzis concluded that the "Seskloans" and "Diminians" coexisted for a period of time.

== See also ==
{{Div col}}
*[[Boian culture]]
*[[Butmir culture|Butmir Culture]]
*[[Cucuteni–Trypillia culture]]
*[[Funnelbeaker culture]]
*[[Gumelnița–Karanovo culture|Gumelniţa–Karanovo culture]]
*[[Hamangia culture]]
*[[Karanovo culture]]
*[[Lengyel culture]]
*[[Linear Pottery culture]]
*[[Sesklo|Sesklo culture]]
*[[Starčevo culture]]
*[[Tisza culture]]
*[[Varna culture]]
*[[Vinča culture]]
*[[Helladic chronology]]
*[[Mycenaean Greece]]
*[[Neolithic Greece]]
*[[Old Europe (archaeology)|Old Europe]]
*[[Sesklo and Dimini fortifications]]
{{Div col end}}

==Notes and references==
;Notes

{{reflist|group=n}}

;References

{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commonscatinline}}
*[http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2501 Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Dimini]
*[http://www.stoa.org/metis/cgi-bin/qtvr?site=dimini Metis: Dimini]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041206005045/http://sfr.ee.teiath.gr/diafora/Neolith/dimini.htm Photos of the Dimini settlement, Magnesia (in Greek)]

{{
Geographic location
| North  = [[Nea Ionia, Magnesia|Nea Ionia]]/[[Iolkos]]
| West   = [[Velestino|Feres]]
| Centre = Aisonia
| East   = [[Pagasetic Gulf]]
| South  = [[Nea Agchialos]]
}}
{{Volos div
}}

[[Category:Populated places in Magnesia (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Volos]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 5th millennium BC]]
[[Category:Neolithic settlements in Thessaly]]
[[Category:Mycenaean sites in Thessaly]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures of Europe]]
[[Category:Neolithic cultures of Europe]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in Greece]]
[[Category:Iolcus]]