Short manual of GREEK PALEOGRAPHY. January 2024 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Smith, D.M. (2013b) Mainland Greece (Prehistoric). Archaeological Reports 59, 22-34.
The absence of the prehistoric Peloponnese and central Greece from last year's new format Archaeology in Greece has provided a slightly larger volume of data for this year's report than might otherwise have been expected, although the ongoing financial difficulties faced by Greece and the recent uncertainty over the status of the Archaeological Service itself continue to have a substantial impact on archaeological research and its dissemination through traditional channels; a problem which e-publication and webcasting is going some way toward addressing. In light of this, the decennial volume of the former Ministry of Culture and Tourism (www.yppo.gr/0/anaskafes), the appearance of which was noted in last year's AG, represents a welcome summary of excavation undertaken by the service between 2000 and 2010 to add to the newly-published volume of ADelt covering the Peloponnese. Some of this work has previously been reported in AG, although this is certainly not true of all.Several other publications have appeared since 2011 which offer new data or new perspectives on the prehistory of the Greek mainland, several of which are discussed below. Of particular note are two volumes which will go some considerable way toward furthering our understanding of the Early Bronze Age in southern Greece: Daniel Pullen's The Early Bronze Age Village on Tsoungiza Hill (2011) and Elizabeth Banks' The Architecture, Settlement and Stratigraphy of Lerna IV (2013), the companion piece to Jeremy Rutter's 1995 volume detailing the pottery from the Early Helladic III settlement. Banks' volume, unfortunately, has appeared too late to be properly incorporated into this year's AG.
This paper examines the history and disciplinary trajectory of geoarchaeology in Greece. Comprising one of the most complex and tectonically active geological settings and entailing one of the richest and most important archaeological records in Europe, Greece was among the first places where the discipline of geoarchaeology was originally applied. The peninsular and maritime character of the country, the extensive coastlines and the pronounced sea-level oscillations occurring in the Quaternary explains why geoarchaeological approaches were at first employed on famous archaeological sites situated along or near the coast. Geoarchaeology in Greece never lost its 'coastal focus', but it did enter a second phase during the 1980's, when there is a shift of interest towards the study of humanenvironment interactions. This phase initiates a long-lasting debate over landscape instability and the anthropogenic versus climatic impact as major drivers of alluviation and soil erosion during the Holocene. The third stage in the history of the discipline is marked with a dual emphasis on both broad, landscape-scale perspectives and site-specific, micro-scale applications. Particularly during the last decade, geoarchaeological investigations in Greece have been characterized by pioneering studies of site formation processes, archaeological sediments and the micro-stratigraphic context.
The Palaeolithic record of Greece: A synthesis of the evidence and a research agenda for the future
The Palaeolithic record of Greece remains highly fragmented and discontinuous in both space and time. Nevertheless, new surveys and excavations, along with the revisiting of known sites or old collections, and the conduction of lithic and faunal laboratory analyses, have altogether enriched the Greek Palae-olithic dataset with important new evidence and novel interpretations. The goal of this paper is threefold: 1) to critically review the most important aspects of the Greek Pleistocene archaeological record, from the Lower to the Upper Palaeolithic; 2) to provide a synthesis of current knowledge about the Palaeolithic of Greece and in the framework of broader discussions in human evolution research; and 3) to put in prospect the Greek record by addressing a research agenda for the future. The review of the evidence shows that Palaeolithic research in Greece has expanded its focus not only geographically but also temporally: it now includes investigations at previously under-studied areas, such as the insular settings of the Aegean and Ionian Seas, as well as formerly overlooked targets, such as Lower Palaeolithic open-air sites. The synthesis and discussion which follows offers a state-of-the-art perspective on how the primary Palaeolithic data can be assessed within local or regional geomorphic, paleoenvironmental and chronological contexts; here, our focus is on spatio-temporal discontinuities, trends in subsistence strategies and lithic technology, as well as potentially emerging biogeographical patterns. Finally, we highlight the complex topography and mosaic landscapes of the Greek peninsula in order to address two major themes for a future research agenda: the potential role of Greece as a glacial refugium, and how the Greek record could contribute to our knowledge of early hominin mobility patterns.