Finding the early Neolithic in Aegean Thrace: the use of cores.

Finding the early Neolithic in Aegean Thrace: the use of cores. Introduction The region of north-eastern Greece known as Aegean Thrace is one ofthe last missing pieces on Europe's early Neolithic map. By the endof the twentieth century, there were reports in the literature onseveral mound sites of middle Neolithic age in the region (Bakalakis& Sakellariou 1981; Andreou et al. 1996; Efstratiou et al. 1998; seealso Hellstrom 1987). However, there was still no settlement that couldbe securely dated back to the early Neolithic: that is, to around 6000cal BC. Given the position of Aegean Thrace--bounded as it is by TurkishThrace on the east (with Anatolia located behind it), by Bulgaria on thenorth and by the Aegean world to the south--the region clearlyrepresents a lacuna lacuna/la��cu��na/ (lah-ku��nah) pl. lacu��nae ? [L.]1. a small pit or hollow cavity.2. a defect or gap, as in the field of vision (scotoma). of some importance for the study of the Neolithictransition (Figure 1). Indeed, it is fair to say that Aegean Thracecurrently holds the key to a better understanding of the collage ofmaterial cultures that make up the early Neolithic in this part ofEurope (e.g. Perles 2001; 2005). The aim of this preliminary report isto present some of the results of work that we have recently undertakenat two mound sites in the region, Krovili and Lafrouda, in an attempt todose this gap. The emphasis here will be on the new and less invasiveapproach that we have taken to the initial phase of the sites'investigation and on the radiocarbon dates that have just becomeavailable for the two sites. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Before we turn to the new evidence, it is useful to introduce somebackground on what is known about the start of the Neolithic inneighbouring regions and to say a few words about our previous researchin Aegean Thrace. In the case of Turkish Thrace, there is the excavationof the mound site called Hoca Cesme (Ozdogan 1999; 2001). Located nearthe Evros River just to the east of the Greek border (see Figure 1), itsearliest Neolithic levels (phase IV) have produced four [sup.14]C datesthat fall in the time range between 6500 and 6000 cal BC (Bln-4609,Hd-16725-119145, GrN-19355, GrN-19779). The pottery recovered from thisphase is held to have affinities with the ceramics found at coeval co��e��val?adj.Originating or existing during the same period; lasting through the same era.n.One of the same era or period; a contemporary. sitesin Anatolia. Turning next to Bulgaria, where white-on-red paintedpottery is the hallmark of the Karonovo culture, a number of earlyNeolithic sites have produced radiocarbon dates that go back to around6000 cal BC and perhaps even a century or two older in some cases (thedates and references for sites such as Slatina, Galabnik, Hesnica, TellAzmak and Tell Karanovo are given on the website www.canew.org). TheBulgarian site located nearest to Aegean Thrace is that of Kovacevo, andit has produced several radiocarbon dates close to 6000 cal BC (Demoule& Lichardus-Itten 1994; its oldest date is now Ly-1437 7180 [+ or -]45BP). Within Greece, the region with the best evidence for the earlyNeolithic is, of course, the Plain of Thessaly where the ceramics arewell known and differ from what is found both at sites in Bulgaria andat the site of Hoca Cesme. By boat, the distance between Aegean Thraceand Thessaly is not much more than 200km. In terms of absolutechronology, the earliest occupation at mound sites in Thessaly goes backat least to about 6400 cal BC (e.g. Perles 2001: Table 6.1; Thissen2005: Figure 5). Finally, in the area of Eastern Macedonia that islocated just to the west of Aegean Thrace, there are three Neolithicsites--Sitagroi, Dikili Tash TASH The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps and Limenaria--that should be mentionedhere. While each site has produced a number of radiocarbon dates, it isstill not clear whether any of them offers a fully convincing case foroccupation as early as 6000 cal BC. The well-known site of Sitagroi wasexcavated some years ago; its oldest radiocarbon determinations, whenthey are calibrated, date to the middle of the sixth millennium BC(Renfrew et al. 1986: 173; see also Elster & Renfrew 2003).Dikili-Tash now has eight radiocarbon determinations but the problemhere is that two of the oldest ones (Gifo-1426 6800 [+ or -] 150BP andGif-2630 6720 [+ or -] 160BP) have large errors associated with them(Treuil 1992; 2004). This means that there is still some uncertaintyabout whether or not the earliest levels at the site, which have notbeen carbon-dated so far, do go back all of the way to 6000 cal BC. Onthe south coast of the island of Thasos, there is a mound known asLimenaria where recent excavations have brought to light levels datingto the middle Neolithic period Neolithic periodor New Stone Age.The term neolithic is used, especially in archaeology and anthropology, to designate a stage of cultural evolution or technological development characterized by the use of stone tools, the existence of (Maniatis & Fakorellis in press).Four of the radiocarbon dates that are currently available for this sitefall in the middle part of the sixth millennium cal BC. A fifth date(DEM-564 7073 [+ or -] 165BP) is older, but there is again the problemthat the determination has a high error value, and it need not have ahage older than say about 5750 cal BC. In summary, while there is goodevidence for Neolithic occupation in Turkish Thrace, Bulgaria, Thessalyand also western Macedonia (see the [sup.14]C dates for Nea Nikomedea inPerles 2001; on the slightly younger site of Stavroupoli nearThessaloniki, see Grammenos and Kotsos 2002) starting already by 6000cal BC, the question is still an open one when it comes to the easternpart of Macedonia. Neolithic Thrace In an attempt to find the missing early Neolithic sites in theregion, Efstratiou and Ammerman began to do reconnaissance work on thelandscape there in the 1990s. One of the important and unexpecteddiscoveries produced by the fieldwork was the identification of Petrota,a massive outcrop of silicified rock of volcanic origin well suited formaking chipped stone In archaeology, chipped stone refers to a method of manufacturing stone tools through lithic reduction, wherein lithic flakes are struck off a mass of tool stone with a percussor. tools, and the recovery of one of the few bifacesof middle Palaeolithic age in Greece (Ammerman et al. 1999). In short,there was now the first good evidence for the Palaeolithic in theregion. On the other hand, the search for early Neolithic sites on thelandscape was initially less productive, and, without going into thedetails here (see Efstratiou & Ammerman 2004), the gap remained anopen one. In 1997, we used a boat on what today is called Lake Vistonis--anarea that would have been dry land some 8000 years ago--to conduct atrial survey based on the method known as sub-bottom profiling. Againthe results of the work were inconclusive. But this survey did lead to aheightened awareness of the possibility that early Neolithic sites thatonce occurred on the fertile coastal plain near the sea may not havesurvived in the present-day terrestrial archaeological record The archaeological record is a term used in archaeology to denote all archaeological evidence, including the physical remains of past human activities which archaeologists seek out and record in an attempt to analyze and reconstruct the past. because ofthe marine transgression that took place at the end of the last ice ageand continued through the middle Holocene (Lambeck & Chappell 2001;Peltier 2002; Lambeck et al. 2004). Moreover, in looking back on the reconnaissance study, there is nowthe realisation that some of the expectations that we brought to thesearch for the early Neolithic sites may have been off the mark. Therehas long been the idea that the pottery belonging to the early Neolithicin a given place should somehow be different from the pottery associatedwith the middle Neolithic there (e.g. Theocharis 1971). Traditionally,differences in ceramics have been used to define the phases of theNeolithic in various regions of Greece. As we shall see below, there maybe more in the way of continuity between the two periods when it comesto the pottery of Aegean Thrace than most scholars have previouslythought. In any event, what we eventually decided to do in 2004 was to takea new approach to the problem. Our thinking ran along the followinglines. The best place to look for evidence of early Neolithic occupationwas perhaps not on the modern land surface but at the base of knownNeolithic mounds in the region. The challenge, of course, was that ofcoming up with a way to reach the lowest archaeological levels at amound without having to make a deep excavation. Here the experience ofthe first author in making percussion-driven cores in Rome and Venice(as a way of working below the modern water table at deeply buriedsites) came into play. By using high-quality methods of coring incombination with the AMS AMS - Andrew Message System method of dating, which now makes it possibleto date samples of very small size, there would be the chance toinvestigate the deeply buried levels of occupation at the base of amound without having to conduct an excavation. This new approach to theinvestigation of a Neolithic mound is in many ways analogous to the useof endoscopic en��do��scope?n.An instrument for examining visually the interior of a bodily canal or a hollow organ such as the colon, bladder, or stomach.en methods in modern medicine: that is, the initial stage inthe examination of a patient attempts to be both non-invasive andeconomical in nature. Once the diagnosis is made, one can turn tosurgery in the case of medicine or excavation in the case ofarchaeology. Results of the fieldwork The Cobra equipment that we used at the mounds of Krovili andLafrouda in October of 2004 can reach a depth of 5m in the ground. Agiven core is taken in a series of entries or 'cuts' down tothe natural soil at the base of a mound. Each entry goes down 100cm indepth at a time, and the soil is recovered inside a plastic tube of thesame length. The use of plastic tubing is the key to high-quality coringand the recovery of the soil in an undisturbed form. The plastic tubes(4.6cm in diameter) are placed inside a long metal bit that is driveninto the ground by a hand-held percussion device. There is a system forjacking the bit out after each entry. The plastic tube is then removedfrom the bit, capped and stored for later study. In the laboratory, eachtube is cut open lengthwise length��wise?adv. & adj.Of, along, or in reference to the direction of the length; longitudinally.Adj. 1. lengthwise and studied in the form of amicro-excavation. For instance, each piece of pottery, daub, chippedstone, bone, shell and charcoal recovered in a given entry is drawn inplace on a form at a scale of 1:10, which also gives the position of therespective stratigraphic stra��tig��ra��phy?n.The study of rock strata, especially the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rocks.strat boundaries. In order to obtain broad spatialcoverage of a given mound, the cores are made at a number of differentplaces. At Krovili, for example, a series of four cores was made on aline across the site, and two more cores were made on each side of thisline (Figure 2). It is perhaps worth adding here that this is the firsttime that high-quality coring of this kind has been undertaken atNeolithic mound sites in Greece. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] The Krovili mound is located in the interior at a distance of some12km from the coast (as the crow flies), where it stands in the middleof ah old planation pla��na��tion?n.The process of erosion and deposition in which a nearly level surface is produced, as by streams, wind, or ocean currents.[Latin pl surface at ah elevation of 72m. The mapping of thesite and area just around it, which was done on the basis ofdifferential GPS See GPS augmentation system. by Gabrielli (Figure 2), shows that the mound covers anarea of about l ha, and there is a narrow valley with a stream thatpasses on its south side. From the mound, one has a good view of thesurrounding landscape to the east and north. In addition, the outcrop ofrock known as Petrota, mentioned before, can be seen in the distance tothe south-east. All of the cores at Krovili were taken down into thenatural soil at the base of the mound. In each case, we found awell-developed paleosol pa��le��o��sol?n.A soil horizon from the geologic past, usually buried beneath other rocks or recent soil horizons.[New Latin : paleo- + Latin solum, soil. (technically known as an Alfisol, a high basestatus soil with argillic horizons) whose formation goes back to the endof the Pleistocene. The surface of the mound is covered with sherds thatbelong to the middle Neolithic period. There are no ceramics dating tomore recent times, which was one of the reasons for selecting the sitefor investigation. The cores made in the central part of the siteindicate that the Neolithic sequence there has a depth of almost 4m,and, as one would expect, the archaeological deposit becomes thinner asone moves out toward the edges of the mound. The anthropic sedimentsthat have accumulated to form the mound come to a volume of more than 10000[m.sup.3]. The cores have brought to light a wide range of structuralremains at Krovili--floors, ash pits, collapsed walls, fill deposits andeven the remains of a human burial. Without going into the details here,structural remains and features of this kind all have parallels in theexcavations at Makri. [FIGURE 3 OMITTED] Pottery, animal bones and fragments of charcoal are regularly foundin the cores taken at the Krovili mound. Almost all of the faunalremains examined involve domesticated animals This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details.This article has been tagged since September 2007.This is a list of animals which have been domesticated by humans. of the so-called Neolithicpackage (that is, pigs, cattle and sheep or goats). An initial series ofAMS dates has been run at Oxford and Lecce on five samples of charcoal;their calibrated ages fall in the sixth millennium BC as shown in Figure3. The youngest date (LTL-801A) comes from the upper part of the mound.The next two determinations (LTL-799A and OxA-14796) give dates in therange between about 5400 and 5650 cal BC. Of special interest here arethe two oldest dates: one (OxA-14795) dates to the time between 5620 and5730 cal BC (at the 95.4 per cent probability level) and the other(OxA-14353) goes back to the time from 5726 to 5987 cal BC (at the sameprobability level). The latter sample, which comes from core 2 on theeast side of the site, occurs in a position at 40cm above the naturalland surface there. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently , there are lower and probably earlierarchaeologicai levels in this part of the mound. So there is a goodchance that the earliest phase of occupation at Krovili dates to a timethat is somewhat older than this. In any event, one is finally closingin on a date of around 6000 cal BC in Aegean Thrace. In terms ofpottery, the sherds recovered from the lower part of the mound come fromsmall bowls with open shapes that are burnished bur��nish?tr.v. bur��nished, bur��nish��ing, bur��nish��es1. To make smooth or glossy by or as if by rubbing; polish.2. To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish.n. and have a dark brown orblack colour. There is no evidence for painted Neolithic pottery in anyof the cores: either the white-on-red Karonovo tradition in Bulgaria orthe red-on-white Sesklo tradition in Greece. And there are none of thedecorated vessels of larger size that one finds in Anatolia or in thelowest levels at Hoca Cesme. Instead, the pottery recovered in theKrovili cores turns out to be quite similar to what is found in thelowest levels (phase I) at Makri, where the ceramic tradition isconsidered by the director to be a local one. [FIGURE 4 OMITTED] Lafrouda is a mound that today is situated on the edge of a small,artificial lagoon used as a fish farm by a local cooperative. The placehas had several quite different environmental settings over the years.At the time of its first occupation some 7500 years ago, the mound waslocated in an area of the coastal plain with well-developed soils, andit then stood at a certain distance from the sea. Some 3000 years ago,as we shall see below, a marine transgression lapped directly againstthe southern side of the mound. Today there is a distance of 800mbetween the site and the barrier beach on the coastline. The spatialdistribution of the cores taken at Lafrouda is given in Figure 4. Thefirst nine cores were made in October of 2004 with the Cobra equipment,while cores 10 and 11 were added in October of 2005 (when a Dutch soilauger was used). Again, the goal was to take each core down to thenatural soil at the base of the mound. The one case where this did nothappen was in core 7, which was blocked at a shallow depth by a largerock. More than 40 years ago, a small test excavation was made byRhomiopoulou (1965) in the upper part of the mound; it led to therecovery of pottery that she interpreted to be of late Neolithic age ontypological grounds. Several of the sections of the excavation are stillstanding on the north side of the site, and they show a series of whitemidden middendungheap. layers in the top 2m of the mound. We find the same shell-richlayers in the upper part of core 2. In order to study the shell speciesinvolved, Thomas and Mannino visited the site in October 2005, when oneof the old excavation sections (next to core 10) was cleaned, and theytook a series of bulk samples from the various midden layers. Thespecies recovered are almost all marine shellfish; the only speciestypically found in lagoons is the cockle cockle,common name applied to the heart-shaped, jumping or leaping marine bivalve mollusks, belonging to the order Eulamellibranchia. The brittle shells are of uniform size, are obliquely spherical, and possess distinct radiating ridges, or ribs, which aid the called Cerastoderma glaucum(Poiret), which was formerly known as either Cardium edule or C.lamarcki in the literature. The other species that make their appearancein the top part of the mound are: Trunculariopsis trunculus, Cyclopeneritea, Arca noae, Pinna pinna/pin��na/ (pin��ah) auricle (1).pin��nal pin��nan. pl. pin��naeSee auricle.pin nobilis, Tapes decussatus and Solenmarginatus. In point of fact, more than 90 per cent of the shells foundin any given sample from the upper 2m of the mound are of Gerastodermaglaucum. On the other hand, the situation is different in the lower partof the mound where shells representing a wider variety of marine speciesare encountered and where well-defined layers of Cerastoderma are notobserved. In short, there is an active interest in the exploitation ofmarine resources throughout the life of the mound but the emphasisshifts over time to a concentration on lagoonal Gerastoderma. Whetherthis reflects a change in the local coastal environment or a shift infood preference is, as yet, uncertain. The highest part of the Lafrouda mound, as seen in core 2, isapproximately 5.5m tall. At the base of the mound, one finds a mosaic ofwell-developed paleosols whose formation took place on the coastal plainin the early Holocene. The pottery recovered from the lower part of themound is much the same as the ceramics found at the sites of Makri andKrovili. In terms of absolute chronology, the dates that are currentlyavailable for the Neolithic levels at Lafrouda are all younger than 5500cal BC (Figure 5). The two oldest dates (OXA-14531 and GrA-27084), whichcome from the base of the mound, fall in the range between 5200 and 5500cal BC. In other words, the occupation of the site does not go back tothe early Neolithic period in Aegean Thrace. Nevertheless, the cores atLafrouda do throw important new light on the shortage of early Neolithicsites in the region, since the lowest archaeological levels at the moundstand in a position of c. 2.5m below sea level today. In effect, theonly practical way to explore the lowest part of the mound is by meansof coring. There is, in addition, good evidence for one or more marinetransgressions reaching the seaward side of the mound in the time afterits abandonment. This evidence takes the form of heavily rolled sherdsand thick layers of shell hash in the upper part of core 6. As shown inFigure 4, a marine transgression is also responsible for the shape andspacing of the lowest contour lines on the south-west side of the mound.In order to obtain a detailed picture of the morphology of the moundtoday, Gabrielli used differential GPS equipment to generate thiscontour map, which is based on a total of 12 000 data points. It isworth adding that the original motivation for taking core 8 was to makean off-site core at the eastern end of the line of cores across thesite. What we found here turned out to be another surprise. TheNeolithic occupation at the base of the mound had managed to survive inthis place below the marine transgression and produced a charcoal sampleat an elevation of 2.49m below modern sea level that dates to around5000 cal BC (LTL-1415 and LTL-1415b in Figure 5). Higher up in the samecore at 0.67m below modern sea level, a piece of driftwood was recoveredin the context of the marine transgression itself; it has a more recentage of around 900 cal BC (GrN-30493 2770[+ or -]-30 BP). In other words,the whole upper part of the mound has been washed away by the action ofthe sea here. Lafrouda now provides tangible support for the occurrenceof a Neolithic mound on the coastal plain in a position below sea leveltoday. This is no longer just an idea or an abstract possibility in theliterature (e.g. the summary of a panel discussion on the coastalquestion in Ammerman & Biagi 2003: 339-40). Moreover, there is atLafrouda good evidence that the south side of the original mound has notsurvived in the archaeological record because of the force of the sea.The wider implication of all of this is that early Neolithic sites thatonce may have existed on the coastal plain in places at lower elevationsthan Lafrouda either rest on the seabed today or else they have beenlost to the sea. [FIGURE 5 OMITTED] To these results from coring we can now add new dates from the siteof Makri, situated on the coast near the town of Alexandroupolis, whereEfstratiou had begun excavations in 1988. Both the pottery recoveredfrom the Neolithic part of the mound and the radiocarbon dates publishedby Efstratiou and co-workers (1998) pointed initially toward a middleNeolithic attribution for Makri. The ceramic vessels from the Neolithiclevels commonly take the form of small convex ConvexCurved, as in the shape of the outside of a circle. Usually referring to the price/required yield relationship for option-free bonds. bowls with dark grey toblack colours. Few of the vessels at Makri appear to be of any realsize, and comparatively little in the way of change is observed in theceramics over the course of the stratigraphic sequence. In a new seriesof radiocarbon dates, eight provide further support for placing the sitein the middle Neolithic period, and cluster between 5700 and 5400 calBC. There is one date (OxA-9362/DEM-1142 6890 + 90BP) that is somewhatolder; it would push the first occupation at the site back by a fewcenturies but not before about 5900 cal BC. To these we can now add anew date from the basal layer at Makri of 6400-6010 cal BC (at 2 sigma)obtained by Efstratiou in 2007 (GrA-34389). Discussion In closing this preliminary report, we would like to draw attentionto four main points. The first is that we are now in a good position toclose the early Neolithic gap in Aegean Thrace. The earliest date atMakri, 6400-6010 cal BC, brings the beginning of that site into linewith the early Neolithic in adjacent territories. The oldest AMS datesat Krovili go back to the time just after 6000 cal BC. By conducting anexcavation near core 2 on the east side of the Krovili mound, it shouldbe possible to recover datable samples from the lowest level ofoccupation there, and this will permit the start of the site'shabitation HABITATION, civil law. It was the right of a person to live in the house of another without prejudice to the property. 2. It differed from a usufruct in this, that the usufructuary might have applied the house to any purpose, as, a store or manufactory; whereas to be moved back several centuries, making it coeval with thestart of the early Neolithic in Bulgaria and Turkish Thrace. So AegeanThrace is a piece of the early Neolithic puzzle in Europe that isfinally falling into place. The second point is that high-quality coring in combination withAMS dating proves to be a productive research strategy. It represents anew methodology that now makes it possible to probe the depths of aNeolithic mound in a cost-effective and non-intrusive way. In all, thesoil extracted by the six cores at Krovili amounts to only a fraction ofa cubic metre Noun 1. cubic metre - a metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 1000 literscubic meter, kiloliter, kilolitremetric capacity unit - a capacity unit defined in metric terms and represents less than 0.01 per cent of the volume ofthe mound as a whole. The fieldwork at Krovili was completed in justover one week, and it yielded an initial diagnostic picture of thesituation at the mound from the bottom up. In the case of an excavation,one is working with a top down methodology: the dig at a large moundnormally becomes smaller with depth in the ground and it takes timebefore one gains information on the site's lowest levels. This isnot to say that coring should be viewed as a substitute or replacementfor excavation. On the contrary, as in the case of endoscopy endoscopyExamination of the body's interior through an instrument inserted into a natural opening or an incision, usually as an outpatient procedure. Endoscopes include the upper gastrointestinal endoscope (for the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum), the colonoscope (for the incontemporary medicine, it is not meant to be an end in itself but anefficient means of investigation that contributes to the work of thearchaeologist as a whole. In archaeology, one commonly does fieldwork bysteps of approximation. We are just beginning to learn how to use afuller spectrum of endoscopic methods in our discipline. The third point concerns the pottery dating to the first half ofthe sixth millennium cal BC that is found at the sites of Krovili andMakri. So far these two sites, as mentioned before, show little or noevidence for pottery in the tradition of either western Anatolia orBulgaria. The ceramics appear to represent a local tradition in whichthe vessels are for the most part quite small and they do not exhibitmuch in the way of elaboration. In the case of Krovili, the potteryrecovered by the cores involves, of course, only a small sample of thematerial occurring at the mound. Accordingly it is premature to drawanything more than working assessment ofthe situation. What is offeredby the cores corresponds, in effect, to a random sample that outlinesthe main picture at the site. At this stage in the investigation, onecannot rule out the presence of some pottery at Krovili with wideraffiliations. On the other hand, there is no reason to think that suchpottery constitutes the main tradition there. When an excavation iseventually done at Krovili, it will yield a much fuller picture of theearly ceramics. In terms of the development of methodology, one can thencompare the working picture obtained from the cores with the oneproduced by the excavation. At the same time, what we do know from theexcavations conducted at Makri is that ceramics providing evidence foroutside connections are extremely rare. In the recent literature, thereis an interest in trying to sort out whether the Neolithic packagereached north-east Greece by means of a land-based route throughAnatolia (and possibly through Bulgaria as well) or whether it arrivedby means of a sea-based route (Perles 2005). The new evidence that iscoming to light in Aegean Thrace does not appear to offer much supportfor the former hypothesis. The fourth point concerns our knowledge of coastal sites in theearly Neolithic period. One thing that is quite clear from the work atLafrouda is that much of the landscape on the coastal plain some 8000years ago is now lost to the sea. In other words, what is left for thearchaeologist to study today is only a sample of the Neolithic moundsthat once existed in the region. By collecting information on thebathometry of the submerged coastal plain and by working out theregional curve for the rise in relative sea level over the last 8000years (where the elevations and the dates of the marine transgressionsat Lafrouda would provide the needed local control), it may be possibleto estimate how much of the early Neolithic landscape has now been lostto the archaeologist's purview The part of a statute or a law that delineates its purpose and scope.Purview refers to the enacting part of a statute. It generally begins with the words be it enacted and continues as far as the repealing clause. . Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Ephorate of Komotini for the permissionto carry out the fieldwork in Thrace and Ms. N.J. Kokkotaki forproviding us with the facilities of the Museum of Avdera for work andaccommodation. Support for the research has been provided by theUniversity of Thessaloniki, the Institute for Aegean Prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to and theWiener Laboratory of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.We are grateful to Silas Michalakas and Kostas Zaxopoulos for their workin making the cores. We would also like to thank Jay Noller of OregonState University Oregon State University,at Corvallis; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1858 as Corvallis College, opened 1865. In 1868 it was designated Oregon's land-grant agricultural college and was taken over completely by the state in 1885. for the examination of the soils at the base of theKrovili mound and Thanos Webb at the Wiener Laboratory in Athens for theidentification of the faunal remains found at Krovili and Lafrouda. Ourappreciation goes to Ivan Gatsov for his helpful comments on the earlyNeolithic sites in Bulgaria and on the series of radiocarbon dates atHoca Cesme. Received: 11 December 2006; Accepted: 8 March 2007; Revised: 23March 2007 References AMMERMAN, A.J. & P. BIAGI (ed.). 2003. The widening harvest.The Neolithic transition in Europe: looking back, looking forward.Boston (MA): Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is a North American nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of public interest in archaeology, and the preservation of archaeological sites. It is based at Boston University. . AMMERMAN, A.J., N. EFSTRATIOU & E. 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Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the of Northern Greece. AmericanJournal of Archaeology 100: 537-97. BAKALAKIS, G. & A. SAKELLARIOU. 1981. Paradimi Mainz: Philippvon Zabern. DEMOULE, J.-P. & M. LICHARDUS-ITEEN. 1994. Fouillesfranco-bulgares du site neolithique ancien de Kovacevo: rapportpreliminaire (campagnes 1986-1993). Bulletin de CorrespondanceHellenique 118(2): 516-618. EFSTRATIOU, N. & A.J. AMMERMAN. 2004. Survey in Aegean Thrace:exploring the landscape, in M. Iacovou (ed.) Archaeological Field Survey Archaeological field survey is the methodological process by which archaeologists (often landscape archaeologists) collect information about the location, distribution and organisation of past human cultures across a large area (e.g. in Cyprus. Past history, future potentials (British School at AthensStudies 11): 183-90. London: British School at Athens. EFSTRATIOU, N., M.P. FUMANAL, C. FERRER, D. UREM KOTSOS, A. CURCI,A. TAGLIACOZZO, G. STRATOULI, S.M. VALAMOTI, M. NTINOU, E. BADAL, M.MADELLA & K. SKOURTOPOULOU. 1998. Excavations at the Neolithicsettlement of Makri, Thrace, Greece (1988-1996): a preliminary report.Saguntum 31:11-62. ELSTER, E. & C. RENFREW (ed.) 2003. Prehistoric Sitagroi:Excavations in Northeast Greece, 1968-1970 vol. 2 (MonumentaArchaeologica 20). Los Angeles Los Angeles(lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. (CA): Cotsen Institute of Archaeology The Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of University College London (UCL), in the United Kingdom. The Institute is located in a separate building at the north end of Gordon Square, Bloomsbury. atUCLA UCLA University of California at Los AngelesUCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University)UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . GRAMMENOS, D. & S. KOTSOS. 2002. Sostikes Anaskafes stoNeolithiko Oikismo Stravroupolis Thessalonikis. Thessaloniki:Archeologiko Institouto Vorias Elladas. HELLSTROM, P. (ed.) 1987. Paradeisos. A late Neolithic settlementin Aegean Thrace (Medlhavsmuseet Memoir 7). Stockholm: Museum ofMediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities. LAMBECK, K. & J. CHAPPELL. 2001. Sea-level change through thelast glacial cycle. Science 292: 679-86. LAMBECK, K., F. ANTONIOLI, A. PURCELL & S. SILENZI. 2004.Sea-level change along the Italian coast for the past 10,000 yr.Quaternary Science Quaternary science is an inter-disciplinary field of study focusing on the Quaternary period, which encompasses the last 2.6 million years. The field studies the last ice age and the recent interstadial the Holocene and uses proxy evidence to reconstruct the past environments Reviews 23: 1567-98. MANIATIS, G. & G. FAKORELLIS. In press. Radiocarbon dating ofthe occupation phases of Limenaria, in S. Papadopoulos & D.Malamidou (ed.) Ten years of archaeological research at the prehistoricsettlement of Limenaria, Thassos. Thessaloniki: Ministry of Culture. OZDOGAN, M. 1999. Northwestern Turkey: Neolithic cultures inbetween the Balkans and Anatolia, in M. Ozdogan & N. Basgelen (ed.)Neolithic in Turkey. The Cradle of Civilization This article is about society beginnings. For the beginning of humanity before writing, see History of the world. For other uses, see Cradle of Humankind (disambiguation). : 203-24. Galatasaray,Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanar Yayinlari. --2001. The Enez Hoca Cesme Excavation, in O. Belli (ed.) IstanbulUniversity's Contribution to Archaeology in Turkey (1932-200)(Istanbul University Istanbul University (Turkish: İstanbul ��niversitesi) was founded as an institution of higher education named the Dar��lf��nun (House of Multiple Sciences) on July 23, 1846; but the Medrese (Theological School Rectorate Publication 4285): 41-43. Istanbul:Istanbul University. PELTIER, W.R. 2002. On eustatic sea level history: last glacialmaximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) refers to the time of maximum extent of the ice sheets during the last glaciation (the W��rm or Wisconsin glaciation), approximately 20,000 years ago. This extreme persisted for several thousand years. to Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 21: 377-96. PERLES, C. 2001. The early Neolithic in Greece. The first farmingcommunities in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP) is a publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534, and one of the two privileged presses (the other being Oxford University Press). . --2005. From the Near East to Greece: let's reverse the focus.Cultural elements that didn't transfer, in C. Lichter (ed.) How didfarming reach Europe? (BYZAS 2): 275-90. Istanbul: Ege Yayinlari. RENFREW, C., M. GIMBUTAS & E. ELSTER (ed.) 1986. Excavations atSitagroi A prehistoric village in northeast Greece vol. 1 (MonumentaArcheologica 13). Los Angeles (CA): Institute of Archaeology at UCLA. RHOMIOPOULOU, A. 1965. Enas Proistorikos oikismos sti Lafrouda(Nomou Xanthis). Archaeologikon Deltion 20: 461-67. THEOCHARIS, E. 1971. The prehistory of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace(Ancient Greek Cities This is a small list of ancient Greek cities, including colonies outside Greece proper. Note that there were a great many Greek cities in the ancient world. In this list a city is defined as a single population center. 9). Athens: Athens Technological Organization. THISSEN, L. 2005. Coming to grips with the Aegean in prehistory: anoutline of the temporal framework, 10,000-5,500 cal BC, in C. Lichter(ed.) How did farming reach Europe? (BYZAS 2): 29-40. Istanbul: EgeYayinlari. TREUIL, R. (ed.) 1992. Dikili Tash. Village prehistorique deMacedoine mac������doine?n.1. A mixture of finely cut vegetables or fruits, sometimes jellied, and served as a salad, a dessert, or an appetizer.2. A mixture; a medley. orientale, fouilles de Jean Deshayes 1961-1975 vol. 1(Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique Suppl. 24). Athens & Paris:Ecole francaise d'Athenes/De Boccard. --2004. Dikili Tash. Village prehistorique de Macedoine orientale,fouilles de Jean Deshayes 1961-1975 vol. 2 (Bulletin de CorrespondanceHellenique Suppl. 37). Athens & Paris: Ecole francaised'Athenes/De Boccard. Albert J. Ammerman, (1) Nikos Efstratiou, (2) Maria Ntinou, (3)Kosmas Pavlopoulos, (4) Roberto Gabrielli, (5) Kenneth D. Thomas (6)& Marcello A. Mannino (6) (1) Department of the Classics, Colgate University Colgate UniversityPrivate university in Hamilton, N.Y. It was founded in 1819 as a Baptist-affiliated institution but became independent in 1928. 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