An Insight into Life at Geometric Zagora Provided by the Animal Bones

This thesis is a study of the animal bone distribution at the Geometric period settlement of Zagora (ca. 850-700 BC), on the island of Andros. The animal bones were excavated during the 1967-74 University of Sydney excavations and analysed in 1977 by a specialist who compiled a report of her findings. The report is currently in preparation for publication and is the primary source for this thesis. The data it provided was limited but enough could be extracted to identify patterns that permitted a tentative reconstruction of social life and the economy at Zagora. There is a paucity of excavated settlements from the Greek EIA and few of these have published faunal material, an essential element in reconstructing past lifeways. Those preserved settlements from which animal bones have been published are not extensive with good domestic contexts but usually sites of minimal extent. Hence, it has not been possible to conduct an analysis of the spatial distribution of animal bones from such a settlement. Zagora, being an extensive settlement containing mainly domestic structures, is therefore unique and the animal bone report provided the opportunity for such a study to be undertaken. A number of analyses were performed using both statistical and non-statistical methods. Through these it was discovered that there is a relationship between the animal size and the size of the architectural unit within which it was found. Similarly, there appeared to be a relationship between larger architecture and the presence of fish, postulated as being a pelagic species. The patterns observed were interpreted as evidence of ‘special’ meals with a larger than usual number of diners in attendance and hence the need for a larger space to host them. Using the animal bones’ distribution and architectural evidence it is proposed that feasting was an important event at Zagora, conducted at the household level to possibly reinforce bonds of kinship and friendship. The evidence also suggests that the H area could have been inhabited by people of better means than elsewhere in the settlement, particularly by the hypaethral sanctuary. Ideally the animal bones would have been studied in conjunction with associated artefacts, but this was not possible and so this would be something desirable to be performed in the near future. With 21st century excavation techniques, the future Zagora excavations should provide greater granularity in the faunal information obtained from the settlement to allow better precision in subsequent analyses

Ancient Greek Agricultural Practices and Society: Isotopic Evidence in Context at Zagora (Andros) and Argilos (Macedonia)

This dissertation seeks to advance current understandings of agricultural practices and social organisation in the Aegean during the first millennium BCE. Its aims are addressed through the analyses of the stable carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotopic composition of faunal material from Early Iron Age Zagora on Andros (ca. 900-700 BCE) and from Archaic-Classical period Argilos in Macedonia (ca. 650-357 BCE), a city which was founded by colonists from Andros. Combining evidence from agriculture and archaeology, this study also attempts to reconstruct socio-economic structure at Zagora. As one of the best preserved Early Iron Age settlements in Greece, Zagora can provide valuable insight into social organisation during this pivotal period of Greek history. Eleven bone samples from Zagora were also submitted for radiocarbon analysis to refine the settlement’s chronology and contribute to the wider scholarly debate on Mediterranean Iron Age chronology. The results suggest that farmers at Zagora and Argilos generally exploited the natural environment available to them, with temporal, environmental and socio-economic factors accounting for the differences in animal management practices between the two settlements. At Zagora, those households with archaeological remains signifying lower relative wealth also exhibit isotopic evidence for land-limited grazing and/or farming, further supporting suggestions for the existence of socio-economic differentiation in Greece at the time. Radiocarbon dates from Zagora reinforce arguments for a higher Mediterranean Iron Age chronology that more than triples the length of the final phase at Zagora, explaining the population growth and intensification of agriculture here at this time as a more gradual process than previously believed

Using stable isotopes and functional weed ecology to explore social differences in early urban contexts: The case of Lattara in mediterranean France

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