the aegean in the neolithic, chalcolithic and the early...

ANKARA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CENTER FOR MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY (ANKÜSAM)

Publication No: 1

Proceedings of the International Symposium

The Aegean in the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age

October 13th – 19th 1997, Urla - İzmir (Turkey)

Edited by

Hayat Erkanal, Harald Hauptmann, Vasıf Şahoğlu, Rıza Tuncel

Ankara • 2008

ANKARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ / ANKARA UNIVERSITY SUALTI ARKEOLOJİK ARAŞTIRMA ve UYGULAMA MERKEZİ (ANKÜSAM)

RESEARCH CENTER FOR MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY (ANKÜSAM)

Yayın No / Publication No: 1

Ön kapak: İzmir - Höyücek’de ele geçmiş insan yüzü tasvirli bir stel. M.Ö. 3. Bin. Front cover: A stelae depicting a human face from İzmir - Höyücek . 3rd Millennium

BC. Arka kapak: Liman Tepe Erken Tunç Çağı II, Atnalı Biçimli Bastiyon. Back cover: Early Bronze Age II horse-shoe shaped bastion at Liman Tepe.

Kapak Tasarımı / Cover Design : Vasıf Şahoğlu

ISBN: 978-975-482-767-5

Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi / Ankara University Press İncitaşı Sokak No:10 06510 Beşevler / ANKARA

Tel: 0 (312) 213 66 55 Basım Tarihi: 31 / 03 / 2008

CONTENTS

Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………………………............ xi Preface by the Editors ………………………………………………………………………………… xiii Opening speech by the Mayor, Bülent BARATALI …...……………………………………………......... xxiii Opening speech by Prof. Dr. Ekrem AKURGAL ……………………………………............................... xxv Opening speech by Prof. Dr. Christos DOUMAS……………………………………………………….. xxvii LILIAN ACHEILARA

Myrina in Prehistoric Times …..……………………………………………………………. 1 VASSILIKI ADRIMI – SISMANI

Données Récentes Concernant Le Site Prehistorique De Dimini: La Continuité de l’Habitation Littorale depuis le Début du Néolithique Récent jusqu’à la Fin du Bronze Ancien ……………………………………………………………………………… 9

IOANNIS ASLANIS

Frühe Fortifikationssysteme in Griechenland ………………………………………………. 35 PANAGIOTA AYGERINOU

A Flaked-Stone Industry from Mytilene: A Preliminary Report …………………………… 45 ANTHI BATZIOU – EFSTATHIOU

Kastraki: A New Bronze Age Settlement in Achaea Phthiotis …………………………….. 73 MARIO BENZI

A Forgotten Island: Kalymnos in the Late Neolithic Period ……………………………….. 85 ÖNDER BİLGİ

Relations between İkiztepe by the Black Sea Coast and the Aegean World before Iron Age ……………………………………………………………………………... 109

TRISTAN CARTER

Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Cyclades ………………………………………………………............. 119

CHRISTOS DOUMAS

The Aegean Islands and their Role in the Developement of Civilisation ………….............. 131 ANTHI DOVA

Prehistoric Topography of Lemnos: The Early Bronze Age ………………………………. 141 NIKOS EFSTRATIOU

The Neolithic of the Aegean Islands: A New Picture Emerging ………………….............. 159 HAYAT ERKANAL

Die Neue Forschungen in Bakla Tepe bei İzmir ..…………………………………………. 165 HAYAT ERKANAL

Liman Tepe: A New Light on the Prehistoric Aegean Cultures …………………………… 179 JEANNETTE FORSÉN

The Asea Valley from the Neolithic Period to the Early Bronze Age …………….............. 191 DAVID H. FRENCH

Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Pottery of Southwest Anatolia ………………............. 197

Contents

viii

NOEL GALE Metal Sources for Early Bronze Age Troy and the Aegean ………………………............. 203

BARTHEL HROUDA

Zur Chronologie Südwestkleinasiens in der 2. Hälfte des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr ............... 223 HALİME HÜRYILMAZ

1996 Rettungsgrabungen auf dem Yenibademli Höyük, Gökçeada / Imbros …………….. 229

ERGUN KAPTAN Metallurgical Residues from Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Liman Tepe ………………………………………………………………………….......... 243

ANNA KARABATSOLI and LIA KARIMALI

Etude Comparative Des Industries Lithiques Taillées Du Néolithique Final Et Du Bronze Ancien Egéen : Le Cas De Pefkakia ………………………………………….. 251

NECMİ KARUL

Flechtwerkgabäude aus Osttrakien ……………………………………………………….. 263 SİNAN KILIÇ

The Early Bronze Age Pottery from Northwest Turkey in Light of Results of a Survey around the Marmara Sea ………………………………………………………….. 275

OURANIA KOUKA

Zur Struktur der frühbronzezeitlichen insularen Gesellschaften der Nord- und Ostägäis: Ein neues Bild der sogenannten “Trojanischen Kultur”…………….. 285

NINA KYPARISSI – APOSTOLIKA

Some Finds of Balkan (or Anatolian) Type in the Neolithic Deposit of Theopetra Cave, Thessaly …………………………………………………………………. 301

LAURA LABRIOLA

First Impressions: A Preliminary Account of Matt Impressed Pottery in the Prehistoric Aegean ………………………………………………………………………… 309

ROBERT LAFFINEUR

Aspects of Early Bronze Age Jewellery in the Aegean …………………………………… 323 KYRIAKOS LAMBRIANIDES and NIGEL SPENCER

The Early Bronze Age Sites of Lesbos and the Madra Çay Delta: New Light on a Discrete Regional Centre of Prehistoric Settlement and Society in the Northeast Aegean ……………………………………………………........................ 333

YUNUS LENGERANLI

Metallic Mineral Deposits and Occurences of the Izmir District, Turkey ………………… 355 EFTALIA MAKRI – SKOTINIOTI and VASSILIKI ADRIMI – SISMANI

Les Sites Du Neolithique Recent Dans Le Golfe Pagasetique : La Transformation Des Sites De L’age De Bronze En Sites Urbains (Le Cas De Dimini) ……………………. 369

ELSA NIKOLAOU, VASSO RONDIRI and LIA KARIMALI

Magoula Orgozinos: A Neolithic Site in Western Thessaly, Greece ………………………. 387 EMEL OYBAK and CAHİT DOĞAN

Plant Remains from Liman Tepe and Bakla Tepe in the İzmir Region ……………………. 399

Contents

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DEMETRA PAPACONSTANTINOU Looking for ‘Texts’ in the Neolithic Aegean: Space, Place and the Study of Domestic Architecture (Poster summary) ………………………………….......... 407

ATHANASSIOS J. PAPADOPOULOS and SPYRIDOULA KONTORLI – PAPADOPOULOU Some thoughts on the Problem of Relations between the Aegean and Western Greece in the Early Bronze Age …………………………………………………. 411

STRATIS PAPADOPOULOS and DIMITRA MALAMIDOU

Limenaria: A Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Settlement at Thasos ……………………… 427 DANIEL J. PULLEN

Connecting the Early Bronze I and II Periods in the Aegean ……………………………….. 447

JEREMY B. RUTTER Anatolian Roots of Early Helladic III Drinking Behaviour …………………………………. 461

VASIF ŞAHOĞLU

New Evidence for the Relations Between the Izmir Region, the Cyclades and the Greek Mainland during the Third Millennium BC …………………………………. 483

ADAMANTIOS SAMPSON

From the Mesolithic to the Neolithic: New Data on Aegean Prehistory ……………………. 503 EVANGELIA SKAFIDA

Symbols from the Aegean World: The Case of Late Neolithic Figurines and House Models from Thessaly …………………………………………………………... 517

PANAGIOTA SOTIRAKOPOULOU

The Cyclades, The East Aegean Islands and the Western Asia Minor: Their Relations in the Aegean Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age …………………….. 533

GEORGIA STRATOULI

Soziale une ökonomische Aspekte des Chalkolithikums (spätneolithikum II) in der Ägäis aufgrund alter und neuer Angaben …………………………………………….. 559

GEORGE TOUFEXIS

Recent Neolithic Research in the Eastern Thessalian Plain, Greece: A Preliminary Report ……………………………………………………………………….. 569

RIZA TUNCEL

IRERP Survey Program: New Prehistoric Settlements in the Izmir Region ……………….. 581 HANNELORE VANHAVERBEKE, PIERRE M. VERMEERSCH, INGRID BEULS, BEA de CUPERE and MARC WAELKENS

People of the Höyüks versus People of the Mountains ? …………………………………… 593 KOSTAS VOUZAXAKIS

An Alternative Suggestion in Archaeological Data Presentations: Neolithic Culture Through the Finds from Volos Archaeological Museum ……………….. 607

Closing Remarks by Prof. Dr Machteld J. MELLINK ………………………………………………. 611 Symposium Programme ……………………………………………………………………………… 615 Memories from the Symposium……………………………………………………………………… 623

From the Mesolithic to the Neolithic: New Data on Aegean Prehistory

Adamantios SAMPSON

ABSTRACT: Between 1992 and 1996 a large excavation project has taken place at the cave of Cyclope on the uninhabited island of Youra, Northern Sporades. The finds date from the Mesolithic (9th-8th millennium BC.) to the Late Neolithic (5th- 4th millennium BC.). The obsidian and flint industries imply contact with the southern Aegean (Melos and Franchthi cave) and probably with Southwest Asia Minor (Antalya). The recent excavation at Maroulas in Kythnos (Cyclades) also revealed burials and habitats of the same period. More Early and Middle Neolithic sites have been found in the area of the Northern Aegean, such as the cave of Cyclope on Youra, Kyra-Panagia, Skyros and Chios. Fifteen EN and MN sites exist in the island of Euboea. During this period there is a real scarcity of sites in the rest of the Aegean, while the whole area can be distinguished in six cultural units. In the Central Aegean (Cyclades) there is a long-term hiatus between the Mesolithic and the Late Neolithic which will probably be filled after intensive surveys. In the later part of the Late Neolithic there is an increase of settlements all over the Aegean, especially in Euboea and the Dodecanese, and five cultural units can be distinguished. The Mesolithic in the Aegean

The Mesolithic period in Greece was until recently scarce and uncertain, but relevant finds are accumulating day after day and the period begins to reveal its real dimensions and special characteristics1. Τhe best known sites were Franchthi cave and Sidari in Corfu, but in the last decade new sites have come to light, such as the ones at Theopetra2 Kleisoura gorge in the Argolid3 and Epirus4; also the earliest stratum at Zaimis cave in Attica, excavated some decades ago by Markowitz5, seems to belong to the same period. Some more uncertain Mesolithic finds come from Euboea and Attica. Very important for the prehistory of the Aegean was the recent discovery of Mesolithic deposits in the cave of Cyclope6 and the recovery of contemporary surface material of the same period from nearby islands. The cave, located on the small island of Youra in the Northern Sporades, yielded thick Mesolithic layers varying from 0.80 to 3.00 m. The deposits consisted of alternating layers of faunal remains and thick packed living floors (Fig.1). The faunal assemblages, (thousands of animal bones, fish, marine molluscs and land snails), is

1 Sampson 1996. 2 Kyparissi 1996. 3 Jameson et al. 1993; Koumouzelis & Kozlowski 1996. 4 Runnels 1994. 5 Markowitz 1931; Perlès 1990. 6 Sampson 1998.

a common feature with other Mesolithic sites of the mainland and the islands.

The absolute chronology of these strata, provided by the Laboratory of Archaeometry of Demokritos has yielded a series of calibrated dates ranging from about, 8400 to 6500 BC. or 9300-7500 BP., corresponding very well to the stratigraphic sequence. Also the typical microlithic technology on obsidian and flint imply that the aceramic deposits of Youra belong to a Mesolithic stage. Unique finds, such as the bone hooks of different sizes and types, occur from the lower to the upper Mesolithic layers and imply that the group of people occupying the cave specialized in fishing activities.

The long sequence of Mesolithic layers at Youra have been divided into two phases by calibrated radiocarbon dated. The Lower Mesolithic (c. 8400-7600 BC, 9300-8700 BP.) and the Upper Mesolithic (7600- 6500 BC., 8700-8000 BP.). In Franchthi7. The Lower Mesolithic starts around 9500 and is also divided into two phases (9500-9000 and 9000-8000 BP.). The obsidian, present at Franchthi since the Upper Palaeolithic, is part of the Mesolithic assemblage, although very rare. At Youra obsidian is present since the Upper Mesolithic.

7 Hansen 1988; Runnels 1994.

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The Mesolithic finds from Youra date the beginning of occupation in the Aegean to three thousand years earlier than previously believed, while the older8 and recent Mesolithic finds from the site of Maroulas on Kythnos (Fig. 2) show that the mesolithic habitation existed in the Cyclades and was maybe extended all over the Aegean. The first digging campaign on Kythnos occured in 19969 and brought to light six human burials (Fig. 3) and remains of paved structures indicating habitation on a permanent or seasonal basis. As on Youra, an accumulation of shells is also observed at maroulas, mainly consisting of fish bones and terrestrial molluscs. The majority of the lithics are made of Melian obsidian and only a few are on flint. Burials of the Lower and Upper Mesolithic have been found in Franchthi and show sophistication in the treatment of the dead10. In the cave on Youra a human skull of an old woman was found in the Lower Mesolithic stratum.

Given the rapid rise of sea level from the end of the Upper Pleistocene to the Neolithic (80 m, in 9000 BC, 50 in 8500 and 40 in 7000), many coastal sites were covered by the sea11. So the fragmentary picture of the pre-Neolithic Aegean available till now by the archaeological record is far from reality (Fig.4). There is no doubt that its position between Asia Minor, mainland Greece, and the Balkans rendered it a favourable area, which could profit from contacts from both directions and introduce to the west the new ideas coming from the east. It should be noted that Kythnos lies along the naval route of transportation of obsidian to the mainland and to the central and northern Aegean probably via the Euboean Gulf. It is far more likely that this transportation to the Peloponnese (Franchthi cave) was made via Kythnos and the Saronic Gulf, rather than directly crossing the open sea from Melos. It seems that in the Mesolithic Aegean the communication for raw materials or for other purposes was much broader than we once believed, given the typological similarities of

8 Honea 1975. 9 Sampson 1996. 10 Cullen 1995. 11 Kraft et al. 1982.

the obsidian tools between Youra and Antalya in Asia Minor12 .

Surveys in Kythnos revealed two more sites with probable Mesolithic finds, while at Stelida on Naxos, the largest island of the Cyclades, a large amount of lithics made of quarzite indicate a pre-Neolithic camp site13. In fact apart from persistent surveys, we also need good luck to locate the few Mesolithic sites, then located far from the sea, and now maybe even further a way (Fig.4).

What we realize is that the Mesolithic begins earlier in the eastern mainland and the Aegean than in Western Greece at Corfu (5870+340 BC, 7820 BP.), Epirus, and the west part of Balkans at Lepenski Vir14. Runnels explain this delay of the western sites to the introduction of the Mesolithic culture by seafaring people who should not be related to the Pleistocene inhabitants of Greece and came from the east15. The discovery of a pre-Neolithic site in Cyprus16, the resemblance of Youra lithic technology to that from the Antalya region in SW Asia Minor and the common features with contemporary sites in the Near East (Natufian culture) suggest early contacts between the two areas. Nevertheless, I believe that a hiatus existed between the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic in Franchthi and that the absence for the moment of Mesolithic evidence in Eastern Thessaly is not sufficient to drive us to the conclusion that the Greek Mesolithic is unconnected with the Greek Palaeolithic.

The probable existence of domesticated animals, mainly pigs, at the later stage of the Mesolithic at Youra, and the evidence of wild seed consumption at Franchthi suggest that experimentation with domestication leading to an indigenous and independent development of the Neolithic village farming economy is not improbable. Moreover, new ideas derived probably from Asia Minor via the naval routes of the Aegean, arrived at a very early stage, almost contemporary with or slightly later to

12 Sampson & Kozlowski 1997; Yalçinkaya et al. 1996. 13 Séfèriades 1983. 14 Srejovic 1969. 15 Runnels 1994, 725. 16 Simmons 1999.


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the period these changes took place in the east. Consequently the late part of the so-called Mesolithic could progressingly be changed to Proto-Neolithic, similar to the corresponding phase in the Near East and Asia Minor17, dated to the 9th millennium BC

The Early and Middle Neolithic

The cave of Cyclope has provided a clear sequence of layers from the Mesolithic to the Early and Middle Neolithic, though the EN is scarcely represented. The 14C dates for the Early Neolithic are 6341-6170 and 6162-6026 BC., while another date 5703-5630 BC. corresponds to the Middle Neolithic level. The EN finds are not numerous but are very typical. Some pieces of coarse ware with impresso decoration are also found in EN levels in Thessaly18 and are considered to have a provenance from the Balkans. Sickle blades with denticulated retouch, which are typical of the macroblade industries of the period, were also found in the EN levels. Their honey color and their shape originate probably from western Bulgaria, which suggests strong connections between the Aegean and the Balkan Early Neolithic.

To the end of the EN and the beginning of MN belongs a series of closed and open vases with exceptional red-on-white decoration19. The red-on-white canvas (Fig. 5) found only at Youra and the neighbouring site of Aghios Petros in Kyra-Panagia20 has no affinities with the contemporary designs of the mainland. This type of pottery and the unusual clay figurines from Aghios Petros, resembling those from Asia Minor, suggest a very local workshop and culture run by the communities of the Northern Sporades, the so-called “Youra-Aghios Petros culture”.

Several other EN-MN sites are known in the Northern Aegean, such as Papa to Choma on Skyros21 and Aghio Gala on Chios22. On those islands the existence of a Pre-Neolithic

17 Özdoğan 1995. 18 Otto 1985. 19 Sampson 1996. 20 Efstratiou 1985. 21 Theocharis 1959. 22 Hood 1981.

culture is very probable, but only in Skyros some uncertain Mesolithic finds have thus far been reported23. Papa to Choma in Skyros is still unexcavated, but types of pottery are very similar to those from Youra, Agios Petros, Chios and Euboea24. The extensive island of Euboea has produced more than 100 Neolithic sites25, fifteen of which belong to the Early and Middle Neolithic26. Five of them have been excavated, but unfortunately the deposits, always belonging to only one phase, were thin. Apart from a few specimens from Skyros and Euboea, the painted red-on-white pottery is almost absent from all those sites which probably constitute a uniform culture in the central and northern Aegean. It seems that the Early and Middle Neolithic in the Northern Sporades, except from Skyros, is connected to Thessaly and to the Balkans, as the pottery and the lithic material indicate. Skyros, Chios and Euboea share common features in pottery style, and maybe contacts with Asia Minor (Hacılar culture) are stronger.

During this period sea travel in the Aegean seems rather limited and sporadic. Sea trips Aegean cannot have been routine during the Neolithic period since the means of navigation did not develop until the Early Cycladic, when representations of boats are known on pottery. To the Middle and Late Neolithic belongs, however, a series of clay imitations of boats used in the lakes of Macedonia27 and the Balkans. Such small boats would be useful only for seasonal sea trips when there was no wind and always with the aid of sea currents.

In the Cyclades this period is unknown; but this is due to limited research. The recent finds of the Mesolithic in Kythnos suggest that we should also expect habitation during the Early Neolithic. Some uncertain traces come from surface surveys on Naxos and Siphnos. Although, given the low sea level during this phase, many Neolithic coastal sites should be under the sea. In spite of the fact that EN-MN finds are absent from the Cyclades, we cannot

23 Theocharis 1959. 24 Sampson 1997. 25 Sampson 1980; 1981. 26 Sampson 1998a. 27 Marangou 1991.

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accept Cherry’s view (1979) that the Aegean islands were colonized as late as the 5th-4th millennium.

On the other hand the case of Crete is unusual, since traces of a preceramic phase have already been found at Knossos. The origin and isolation of this culture is a matter of discussion28. In spite of this isolation, obsidian from Melos is present everywhere in the earliest levels. In the Southeastern Aegean the Early Neolithic is very rare and only the lowest levels of Agios Georgios cave in Rhodes yielded some early painted pottery, resembling of the Hacılar phase29. A sample from this horizon gave a radiocarbon date of about 5800-5600 BC., which corresponds to the MN of mainland Greece and the Hacılar culture.

Undoubtedly this fragmentary view of the Aegean Early and Middle Neolithic reflects a real scarcity of settlements. Also it is observed that such early deposits are never found within the lower strata of Aegean Neolithic settlements. But it is beyond any doubt that with systematic survey the EN and MN sites are going to increase.

Though EN-MN finds from the Aegean are scattered, we can distinguish five cultural units30: 1) The Northern Sporades group, 2) The Euboean group, 3) East Aegean islands, 4) The Dodecanese and 5) Crete. The first group is more strongly connected to the mainland but also has similarities some resemblances to the east Aegean. Skyros is especially differentiated and culturally approaches the second and third group. EN-MN finds from the fourth group are very scarce or absent, while the fifth group is represented by rich evidence dating to the very beginning of the period, but totally idiosyncratic (Fig. 6).

Late Neolithic I

In the Cyclades (5300/5200-4800 BC.) sites are scarce even in Late Neolithic I. The exact chronological position of the Saliagos culture is unknown, though from the beginning it was considered to be contemporary with the

28 Broodbank 1995. 29 Mellaart 1970. 30 Sampson 1985.

Tsangli phase in Thessaly (early LN I). However, it is more probable that it belongs to a later stage, such as the first half of the 5th millennium BC. Because of the unusual forms of pottery Saliagos was characterized as a unique phenomenon in the Southern Aegean31; more settlements of the Saliagos culture found at Akrotiri on Santorini32, in Melos33, Naxos and Mykonos34 do not have Saliagos’s particular shapes. Ftelia in Mykonos, excavated since 1995, has revealed a flourishing settlement of Late Neolithic Ib and II (mid 5th and 4th millenniumBC). Three building phases (Fig. 7) have been unearthed along with a large amount of pottery and other finds. Obsidian is excessively abundant and the existence of a local workshop is obvious. Arrow and spear heads from Ftelia are very similar to those from Saliagos (Fig. 8).

In the northern Aegean there are only two sites of the period, the cave of Cyclope and Aghios Petros in Kyra-Panagia. The pottery from both sites seem to have connections with the mainland, Euboea, and with the Aegean. In Euboea the LN I settlements are not so numerous, but we have two well excavated sites (Varka and Tharrounia) with rich material following the pottery traditions of the mainland35. Finds of the same phase are also found on Chios, although rare, in Aghio Gala Lower Cave, while the earliest levels of Emporio rather overlap the latest part of the period36.

Systematic surveys in the Dodecanese produced many uncertain sites of the period, while in the cave of Agios Georgios at Kalythies thick cultural layers from the late 6th - early 5th millenniumBC have been found37. The similarities with Beycesultan in SE Asia Minor38 are evident, while we cannot exclude connections with the Cyclades. Obsidian from Melos is found in large quantities everywhere in the Dodecanese. During this period Crete

31 Evans & Renfrew 1968. 32 Sotirakopoulou 1990. 33 Renfrew 1982. 34 Sampson 1996. 35 Sampson 1977; 1993. 36 Hood 1981, 14. 37 Sampson 1987. 38 Lloyd 1962.


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continues to be isolated, at least as far as we can judge from the pottery styles.

Late Neolithic II

In LN II (4300-3300 BC) there is a broad expansion of settlements all over the Aegean. From the Northern Aegean (Youra, Poliochni, Kum Tepe in the Troad, Lesbos, Chios) come rich excavated materials of more or less uniform styles. Also the only site on Samos (Tigani) yielded an important pottery group very similar to that from the Dodecanese39. Finds of this period exist everywhere in the Dodecanese (phase LAN 3-4). Especially the last part of the period is present even in the smallest islands (Alimnia, Seskli, Yali), which signifies a systematic exploitation of food resources (Fig. 9). Peculiar clay vessels, such as cheese-pots, occur in abundance in Yali40, Alimnia and Leros41 suggesting that it is the area of the SE Aegean where their use spread from to the Greek mainland. Connections between the Dodecanese and the islands of the east Aegean and the Asia Minor Chalcolithic cultures are strong, but in this period pottery varieties are transported everywhere, from one side of the Aegean to the other and between the east and west coasts.

The large islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Rhodes, like Cyprus and Crete, are characterized by their own individual peculiarities and should probably viewed as closed regions with an indigenous population. In the last Neolithic phase (LAN 4) population movements to the Aegean would be expected to have originated in NE and central Asia Minor.

In Euboea in the LN II the sites increase and the use of caves becomes dense. In the Cyclades, Kephala on Keos42, Ftelia on Mykonos and other sites on Naxos are the main centres, but a survey started in 1995 showed that many other sites of this phase are foud everywhere. Astypalaia, an island between the Cyclades and Southeastern Aegean seems very densely inhabited43 and undoubtedly 39 Furness 1956; Felsch 1988.

chronology established by Mellaart for

40 Sampson 1988. 41 Sampson 1987. 42 Coleman 1977. 43 Simpson 1973.

constituted a natural bridge between the two areas.

From the end of the 5th millennium onwards the Aegean possesses a fairly uniform culture with local variations. Five cultural regions sharing basic similarities can be distinguished (Fig. 10: 1) The Kephala-Attica-Euboea region to which the Cyclades also belong, 2) The NE Aegean region (Troad) and the islands of Lemnos and Lesbos, 3) The islands of the NW Aegean (Northern Sporades), 4) The Dodecanese islands including Samos and Chios, and 5) Crete. The first and second groups have many common features, while the Dodecanese group except Chios and Samos retain some peculiarities. The group of the Northern Sporades has close similarities to the Greek mainland and Euboea, while Crete starts to have an outward look.

In the 4th millennium BC. pottery varieties, like pattern-burnished ware, rolled rims and cheese-pots, show that a cultural uniformity covered a large area from west Anatolia to the east Greek mainland. This is a period of many contacts in the Aegean; people from both coasts were crossing this dangerous sea by different naval routes. A travel from Attica-Euboea to Asia Minor could follow the chain-islands of Kea or Andros, Tinos and Mykonos. The latter has good visual contact to Ikaria, which would facilitate open sea crossing, and Samos is not far. Many other itineraries could have been in use for the transportation of Melian obsidian to the four directions of the compass.

Bronze objects have been found at all sites of LN II (LAN 3 and 4), in very low quantities, but we consider it still to be an exaggeration to call this period Chalcolithic in the Aegean and mainland Greece, as some colleagues do44. The Neolithic character is obvious everywhere until the end of the period, as can be judged from the lithic and bone technology and the scarcity of metals.

As for the chronology of the east Aegean’s Neolithic phases, and especially those of the Late Neolithic, we largely rely on the

44 Aslanis 1990.

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DAMANTIOS SAMPSON tudies,

Anatolia, because it is directly applicable to the cultures of this area, but we kep in mind that it does not signify any dependence on Asia Minor’s cultures. For the rest of the Aegean we follow the recently established chronology45 dividing LN into two phases, I and II, each including two subphases a and b (Table 1). The terms LAN 1-4, which we frequently employ for the Aegean Neolithic, correspond to Late Chalcolithic 1-4 of Anatolia46. LAN 1-2 also has a rough correspondence to LN Ia-b and LAN 3-4 to LN IIa-b respectively. ADepartment of Mediterranean SUniversity of the Aegean, Dimokratias 1, 85100, Rhodes, GREECE

45 Coleman 1994. 46 Sampson 1984.


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List of Illustrations: Fig. 1. Stratigraphy of trench C at Youra. Fig. 2. Maroulas on Kythnos. The site. Fig. 3. Mesolithic burial in Kythnos. Fig. 4. The Aegean in the Mesolithic Period. Fig. 5. Youra. Red on white Middle Neolithic pottery. Fig. 6. Early and Middle Neolithic sites in the Aegean. Fig. 7. Ftelia on Mykonos. The excavation. Fig. 8. Ftelia on Mykonos. Typical arrowheads of Saliagos type. Fig. 9. Neolithic sites in the Southeast Aegean. Fig. 10. The Aegean in the Late Neolithic II period. Table 1. Comparative chronology in the Aegean.


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