Neolithic Enclosures in Neolithic Greece: A Geospatial Approach

Summary

The Neolithic in Europe is widely considered a key epoch. For the first time, societies got occupied with husbandry and settled for the cultivation of food-crops for sustenance. Thessaly (Central Greece) is of critical importance in this transformation serving as the gateway to what would become the widespread Neolithization of Europe which irreversibly altered the course of human history.

In this archaeological setting, enclosures were essential parts of many settlements. Were they built as defensive features due to conflict and emergence of a social hierarchy? Or were they used as an animal refuse area, as a burial place, or even as a cistern for water storage? Maybe they were more symbolic than functional. Despite their significance these features remain elusive for archaeologists.

The IGEAN (Innovative Geophysical Approaches for the Study of Early Agricultural Villages of Neolithic Thessaly) project revealed astonishing new information on Neolithic enclosures. Through an amalgamation of different geophysical approaches it was possible to indicate that the enclosures were significantly diverse in shape and size, but also probably in meaning and function. Geospatial modeling further suggest a connection between flood-farming and enclosing.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17223