12. Stratouli G., Facorellis Y. & Y. Maniatis, 1999. Towards understanding the Late Neolithic and the Chalcolithic in the Ionian Islands, Western Greece: 14C evidence from the “Cave of Drakaina”, Poros, Cephalonia, στο J. Evin, C. Oberlin, J.-P. Daugas & J.-F. Salles (dir.), «14C et Archéologie», Actes du 3ème Congrès International, Lyon 6-10 avril 1998. Mémoires de la Société Préhistorique Française Tome XXVI, 1999 et Supplément 1999 de la Revue d’ Archéométrie, 273-278. (original) (raw)
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Recent archaeo!ogica! investigations, sti!! ßç progress, ofthe ÑrehßstïÞc deposits ofthe "Cave ofDrakaina" at Poros ïç Cepha!onia has cïntÞbuted significant!y to the enÞchment of our data conceming the prehistory in this region. Ôhese data combined with the radiocarbon resu!ts of stratigraphica!!y control!ed charcoa! samples, actua!!y permit the estab!ishment of a safe chronological framework for the ear!y phases of the Late Prehistory ßç the Ionian region, more precise!y for the ÑeÞïds be!onging, according to the conventiona! archaeo!ogica! termino!ogy, to the Late Neo!ithic (or Late Neo!ithic É) and Cha!co!ithic (or Late Neo!ithic ÉÉ or Fina! Neo!ithic). Éç this way, more know!edge is acquired conceming the late phases ofthe Neo!ithic ßç Westem Greece, which are sti!! rather unknown.
New evidence for the cave occupation during the Late Neolithic period in Greece
Recent archaeo\ogica\ research showed that during the \ate part ofthe Late Neo\ithic É period (4800/700-4200 BC) and the ear\y part ofthe Late Neo\ithic 11 period (4200-3800 BC) the use ofthe caves ßç Greece was very frequent. óç the contrary, duÞng the \ate part ofthe \atter it reduces drastica\\y, tending to an even more important attenuation during the Ear\y He\\adic É (transition from the Neolithic to the Cha\co\ithic period). A\though the radiocarbon dates from the specific period are not numerous yet, they confirm the above observation and coincide at about the midd\e ofthe 4" mil1ennium BC.
The Peloponnese has played a key role so far in the discussion regarding the sociocultural changes that characterize the period from the end of the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age II in the Aegean world, and the Greek mainland in particular. Relative ceramic chronologies, especially for the early stages of the EBA, were based on stratigraphic sequences of various Peloponnesian sites, which still define our understanding of the way that these sites evolved and changed throughout time. In this paper, I re-examine previous archaeological research on the early stages of the EBA at sites such as Zygouries and Lerna, as well as more recent work in Tsoungiza Nemea and the NE Corinthia. Pottery-culture groups from the above sites (e.g. “Talioti”, “Korakou”) are discussed in the context of new absolute dates for the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE around Greece. At the same time, these groups are compared with some of their northern equivalents, as evidenced in central Greece, Attica, and Thessaly (e.g. “Eutresis”, “Petromagoula-Doliana”), to understand if the change towards the more centralized and hierarchical societies of the EBA II, was one far-reaching and simultaneous event, as most of our chronological schemes suggest, or if we should be looking for independent, small-scale and chronologically variable phenomena taking place between the northern and southern parts of Greece, even within the Peloponnese itself. *Title is based upon an exchange of papers between C. Renfrew (1979) and J. Coleman (1979a, b): "Chronological and Cultural divisions of the Early Cycladic Period: A critical approach" (Coleman 1979a), “Terminology and Beyond” (Renfrew 1979) and “Remarks on Terminology and Beyond” (Coleman 1979b), in J. Davis and J. Cherry (eds.), Papers of Cycladic Prehistory, Monograph IV, Institute of Archaeology, UCLA.
Klissoura Cave 1 pre serves a long se ries of Mid dle Paleolithic, Up per Paleolithic and Mesolithic cul tural lay ers, inter rupted by at least three sig nif i cant ero sional hi a tuses. The sed i men tary fea tures, ar ti facts and an i mal re mains of the Upper Paleolithic though Mesolithic lay ers tes tify a wide range of on-site ac tiv i ties, with com plex cy cles of fea ture con struction and aban don ment. The in dus try of Layer V closely re sem bles Uluzzian as sem blages from south ern It aly. Its age remains un cer tain but al most cer tainly ex ceeds 39 kyrs BP. The most in tense use of the site oc curred dur ing the for ma tion of Aurig na cian lay ers IV and IIIe-g, dis tin guished by many su per im posed plain and clay-lined hearths, and in Layer IV, the rem nants of a small struc ture en vel op ing a dense con cen tra tion of per fo rated shell beads. Fire places were fed mainly with dicotyledonous wood and bark-pro duc ing plants, whereas grass re mains are con cen trated in other parts of the oc cu pied area. Post-dat ing the Aurig na cian are two non-Aurig na cian lay ers, fol lowed by an ephem eral Epipaleolithic oc cu pa tion and sub stan tial Mesolithic oc cu pa tions. The bo tan i cal, fau nal and geo log i cal data iden tify a grad ual trend to ward cli ma tic cool ing through the Up per Paleolithic se quence. Warmer, wet ter con di tions re turned only well af ter MIS 2, dur ing the Mesolithic. Fau nal data in di cate op por tu nis tic hunt ing of a va ri ety of un gu late spe cies, but mainly fal low deer, one or a few an i mals at a time. The pat terns of small game ex ploi ta tion re veal a trend of in creas ing di etary breadth that be gan in the early Up per Paleolithic and in volved pro gres sively greater use of an i mals such as hares and/or birds with time. Land snail ex ploi ta tion be came im por tant in the later Up per Paleolithic phases and peaked in the Mesolithic. Per fo rated shell or naments are pres ent in the Uluzzian layer (V) and in all sub se quent lay ers. The or na ments con sist al most ex clu sively of finished prod ucts, worn from use and lack ing ev i dence of pro duc tion de bris.
Mémoires de la Société …, 1999
Recent archaeological investigations, still in progress, of the prehistoric deposits of Drakaina Cave at Poros on Cephalonia has contributed significantly to the enrichment of our data concerning the prehistory in this region. These data combined with the radiocarbon results of stratigraphically controlled charcoal samples, actually permit the establishment of a safe chronological framework for the early phases of the Late Prehistory in the Ionian region, more precisely for the periods belonging, according to the conventional archaeological terminology, to the Late Neolithic (or Late Neolithic I) and Chalcolithic (or Late Neolithic II or Final Neolithic). In his way, more knowledge is acquired concerning the late phases of the Neolithic in Western Greece, which are still rather unknown.