Long-Term Settlement Dynamics and Land Use on the Mani peninsula of Southern Greece

DOCUMENT Citation Only William Ridge.

During the Final Neolithic (4500-3200 BCE) there appears to have been a major restructuring in the regional settlement networks of southern Greece. This included a general shift in activity from the north to the south with a significant increase in the number of of small, short lived sites in southern Greece, particularly in coastal locations. Trade and exchange also appears to have intensified, with exotic materials moved further and more frequently than in previous periods. Alepotrypa Cave,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael Galaty.

The concept of collective memory has received some attention in archaeology, but has not been systematically applied to processes of state formation and sociopolitical change. In this paper I model the evolution of collective memory systems in Greece from the Neolithic to Iron Age, with a focus on Mycenaean regions. The Argolid, Messenia, and the Mani – using The Diros Project’s excavations of a Mycenaean “ossuary” at Ksagounaki as a primary example – vary in terms of how collective memories...

DOCUMENT Citation Only William Parkinson. Anastasia Papathanasiou. Michael Galaty. Daniel Pullen. Giorgos Papathanassopoulos.

This paper summarizes the results of multidisplinary research conducted by The Diros Project in Diros Bay on the western Mani Peninsula of the southern Peloponnesos. The project centers around Aleptorypa Cave, a massive cave that was used for burials and other ritual and domestic activities throughout the entire Neolithic period (ca. 6,000-4,000 BC). Under the direction of Dr. Giorgos Papathanassopoulos (Honorary Ephor of Antiquities), The Diros Project was established by a team of international...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Danielle Riebe. Attila Gyucha.

Over the past five years, the Diros Project has conducted multi-disciplinary investigations in Diros Bay near the modern day town of Pyrgos Dirou on the Mani Peninsula, Southern Greece. Excavations aimed at gaining a better understanding of the chronological and functional relationship between the Neolithic Alepotrypa Cave and the contemporary external settlement on the nearby promontory. Excavation trenches were selected based on preliminary data recovered through surface collection and remote...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Julia Giblin. Anastasia Epitropou.

This study measures strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotope ratios in human and domesticated animal teeth from Alepotrypa Cave, a cave that was used for both shelter and burial of the dead from the Early to the Final Neolithic period (6000 – 3200 BC) in southern Greece. Previous radiogenic isotope research on archaeological material in Greece indicates that there are significant differences in 87Sr/86Sr ranges in the Aegean due to the complex geology (Nafplioti 2011;...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Aikaterini Psoma.

The Final Neolithic Period (FN) in the Aegean and the Greek mainland is characterized by the proliferation of settlements and the occupation of defensible sites. The Ksagounaki site, located at the northern entrance of the Alepotrypa cave at the Mani peninsula, appears to be a representative example of such a transition. In the present study we try and locate changes occurring in the entire spectrum of prehistoric life of the denizens of the site during the FN, drawing information from the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Chelsea Gardner.

This paper presents a new approach to studying ancient identity in the Mani peninsula, using a combination of archaeological and epigraphic evidence and existing theoretical paradigms. Mani can be classified as an 'ahistorical historical' region – one that is inhabited within the historical period but which does not itself produce emic written evidence. Regions like Mani are often left out of typical inquiries into ancient Greek identity, which are overwhelmingly divided between studies of a)...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Daniel Pullen.

The southern Greek Final Neolithic period extends for over 1500 years, ca. 4700 – 3200 cal BC, but has resisted satisfactory subdivision in largely due to the lack of stratified excavations. Nevertheless most scholars follow Phelps’ 1975 division into an earlier and a later phase, each with distinct ceramic features, but this division combines data from many different regions, and finds from surface surveys or from poorly dated contexts. A series of stratified radiocarbon dates from Ksagounaki,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Panagiotis Karkanas.

Alepotrypa cave is one of the few examples of deep caves being intensively occupied throughout its extension during the Neolithic of Greece. The study of the microstructure and the microstratigraphy of the sediment revealed that the front entrance chambers consist of occupational deposits characterized by constructed clay surfaces and occupational debris. In addition to the several burials, frequent reorganization of the space in the form or fillings, leveling and resurfacing has resulted to...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Rebecca Seifried.

In the past 50 years, a great deal of archaeological research in Mani has focused on its Byzantine churches and the enigmatic abandoned settlements that surround them. Far less has been written about the centuries following the collapse of the Byzantine Empire (i.e., the post-Medieval period), when the Ottoman Empire took control. This paper gives a brief overview of the most important sources of historical information about the post-Medieval settlements in Mani. A reassessment of a list dated...