Indications of the presence of Middle Neolithic pottery kilns at Magoula Imvrou Pigadi, SW Thessaly, Greece

Red hot deposits were uncovered on the western edge of a Middle Neolithic settlement. With the extension of the excavation, a wide space of about 10m2, confined between two clay walls, very much affected by high temperatures, was uncovered. A number of vases almost totally complete after their preservation and a clay model of a kiln were unearthed. Additionally, clay remains of constructions were uncovered. The whole context suggests an area where pottery firing activities took place. The possibility that these kilns could have worked as a specialized craft workshop for other settlements in the area is discussed.Na zahodnem robu naselbine iz obdobja srednjega neolitika so bili odkriti rdeče žgani depoziti. Z razširitvijo izkopavanj je bila odkrita površina ok. 10 m2, ki je bila zamejena z dvema glinenima zidovoma, na katerih so bile vidne sledi visokih temperatur. Izkopanih je bilo veliko število vaz, ki so bile skoraj v celoti ohranjene, in glineni model peči. Poleg tega so bili odkriti glineni ostanki konstrukcije. Celotni kontekst kaže, da gre za lončarsko peč. V članku razpravljam o možnosti, da so te peči služile specializirani obrtniški delavnici za ostale naselbine v okolici

Neolitska Tesalija: Radiokarbonsko datirana obdobja in faze

Thessaly in Central Greece is famous for settlement mounds (magoules) that were already partly formed in the Early Neolithic period. Some of these long-lived sites grew to many metres in height during the subsequent Middle, Late and Final Neolithic periods, and were also in­habited in the Bronze Age. Such magoules served as the backbone for defining relative chronolo­gical schemes. However, their absolute dating is still a topic of debate: due to a lack of well-defined se­quences, different chronological schemes have been proposed. New radiocarbon dates obtained in the last few years allow a better understanding of the duration not only of the main Neolithic pe­riods, but also of the different phases and sub-phases.Pokrajina Tesalija v osrednji Grčiji ima ohranjene številne naselbinske gomile (ma­gou­les), ki so nastale že v obdobju zgodnjega neolitika. Nekatera od teh dolgoživih najdišč so merila tudi več metrov v višino v kasnejših neolitskih obdobjih (v srednjem, poznem in finalnem neolitiku), po­seljena pa so bila še tudi v času bronaste dobe. Te naselbine so predstavljale osnovo pri de­fi­niranju re­lativnih kronoloških shem. Zaradi pomanjkanja dobro definiranih stratigrafskih se­kvenc pa os­ta­jajo njihove absolutne datacije predmet številnih razprav in različnih kronoloških shem. V pre­tek­lih letih smo pridobili številne nove radiokarbonske datume, ki nam nudijo boljši vpo­gled v trajanje tako neolitskega obdobja v celoti kot tudi vpogled v časovno razdelitev posameznih neo­litskih faz in pod- faz v Tesaliji

A Middle Neolithic Pottery Workshop at Magoula Imvrou Pigadi, at the Crossroads of Eastern-Western Thessaly and Phtiotida

This paper presents the first known and systematically excavated Middle Neolithic pottery workshop in southwestern Thessaly at Imvrou Pigadi. The excavations and in situ finds, along with the pronounced kiln structures, their typological classification and pyrotechnological operation, suggests considerable expertise in pottery manufacture. The pottery itself, together with the chipped stone industry and other small finds, as well as the fauna and archaeobotanical assemblages are presented. The results of the 14C dating programme point to use of the workshop at the beginning of the 6th millennium. All this evidence suggests an active settlement where pottery production was carried out, which was then circulated within the wider region

Early farmers from across Europe directly descended from Neolithic Aegeans

Farming and sedentism first appeared in southwestern Asia during the early Holocene and later spread to neighboring regions, including Europe, along multiple dispersal routes. Conspicuous uncertainties remain about the relative roles of migration, cultural diffusion, and admixture with local foragers in the early Neolithization of Europe. Here we present paleogenomic data for five Neolithic individuals from northern Greece and northwestern Turkey spanning the time and region of the earliest spread of farming into Europe. We use a novel approach to recalibrate raw reads and call genotypes from ancient DNA and observe striking genetic similarity both among Aegean early farmers and with those from across Europe. Our study demonstrates a direct genetic link between Mediterranean and Central European early farmers and those of Greece and Anatolia, extending the European Neolithic migratory chain all the way back to southwestern Asia

Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in human mobility patterns in Holocene Southwest Asia and the East Mediterranean

We present a spatiotemporal picture of human genetic diversity in Anatolia, Iran, Levant, South Caucasus, and the Aegean, a broad region that experienced the earliest Neolithic transition and the emergence of complex hierarchical societies. Combining 35 new ancient shotgun genomes with 382 ancient and 23 present-day published genomes, we found that genetic diversity within each region steadily increased through the Holocene. We further observed that the inferred sources of gene flow shifted in time. In the first half of the Holocene, Southwest Asian and the East Mediterranean populations homogenized among themselves. Starting with the Bronze Age, however, regional populations diverged from each other, most likely driven by gene flow from external sources, which we term “the expanding mobility model.” Interestingly, this increase in inter-regional divergence can be captured by outgroup-f$_3$-based genetic distances, but not by the commonly used F$_{ST}$ statistic, due to the sensitivity of F$_{ST}$, but not outgroup-f$_3$, to within-population diversity. Finally, we report a temporal trend of increasing male bias in admixture events through the Holocene

Tracing symbols of life and symbols of death in Neolithic archaeological contexts

Since Early Neolithic several miscellaneous objects seem to have served for self-decoration keeping though a symbolic meaning as they are found in certain repeated types which must have been recognisable and accepted by all as ‘signifiers‘ of social and ideological information. This inventory was enriched during the following Middle Neolithic, while in the Late and Final Neolithic they seem to be, at least some of them, if not all, the result of systematic production for commercial purpose as they were made in Greece but destined mainly for the markets of Europe, where they were found usually in graves as symbols of social and financial gradations, and in this sense they also functioned symbolically as ‘signifiers’

Koutroulou Magoula in central Greece: from the neolithic to the present

The aim of this article is to introduce a new, inter-disciplinary and international, long-term research project, the Koutroulou Magoula Archaeology and Archaeological Ethnography Project, to outline its aims and report on some of its results

The Cave of Theopetra, Kalambaka: Radiocarbon Evidence for 50,000 Years of Human Presence

From the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference held in Jerusalem, Israel, June 18-23, 2000.The cave of Theopetra is located on the northeast side of a limestone rock formation, 3 km south of Kalambaka (21 degrees 40'46"E, 39 degrees 40'51"N), in Thessaly, central Greece. It is a unique prehistoric site for Greece, as the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods are present here, bridging the Pleistocene with the Holocene. Several alternations of the climate during the Pleistocene are recognized in its stratigraphy. Among the most striking finds, two human skeletons, one from the Upper Paleolithic period after the Last Glacial Maximum and one from the Mesolithic period, should be emphasized, while in a deep Middle Paleolithic layer, the oldest human footprints, with remains of fire, were uncovered. During the 13 years of excavation, evidence of human activity suitable for radiocarbon dating was collected, such as charcoal samples from hearths and bones from the two human skeletons. The use of proportional counters for the measurement of 14C in combination with the recent improvement of the calibration curve has enabled the production of high-precision reliable ages Sixty 14C-dated samples, originating from 19 pits and from depths ranging from 0.10 m to 4.20 m, have already provided an absolute time framework for the use of the cave. The earliest limit of human presence probably exceeds 48,000 BP and the latest reaches World War II. Within these limits the 14C dating of samples from consecutive layers, in combination with the archaeological data, permits the resolution of successive anthropogenic and environmental events.The Radiocarbon archives are made available by Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform February 202

Light in a Neolithic dwelling: Building 1 at Koutroulou Magoula (Greece)

Light has been considered in various archaeological contexts from the Bronze Age to post-Classical periods, but largely in association with religion and ritual. The importance of light in the daily routines of a Neolithic dwelling is the context for this investigation, which employs 3D computer visualisation to test light levels in a variety of different architectural structures and weather conditions. The results reveal how opportunities for using domestic space for specific tasks changed at particular times of day. Light may have operated not simply in a functional sense but also to divide domestic space and provide a distinction between public and private areas