According to the inscriptions, the altar dates to the 2nd c. A.D.
The altar is a special monument, unique in the collection of the funerary altars of Dion. The Greek name Pyrilampes appears as the surname (cognomen) of the deceased. The name is found for the first time in Macedonia, while it is mentioned several times in southern Greece, the islands and Ephesus. Also, the inscribed curse shows provision to protect the monument against violation. But mainly, the alternation of horizontal and vertical (“kionedon”) writing on the front side of the monument, creates a rare and interesting decorative effect as if it were an image.
Bibliography: P. Papageorgiou, Die Grabaltäre Pierias in der Kaiserzeit, Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani: Griechenland Bd. III.2, Athens 2019, 94-96, 10 (with former bibliography).