Thessaly

The Stones of Greece

Theopetra Cave***
48 000 - 3000 BC
Paleleolithic-Neolithic Site
9 km southeast of Kalambaka (Meteora)

Theopetra Cave during excavations,
Price-winning photo by Alex Mitrakoulis, flickr.com

On the road from Trikala to Kalambaka, 3 kilometres before reaching Meteora, a huge lime rock rises above the village of Theopetra. On its northwesternt side there is a cave bearing the same name. It is a prehistoric site situated in the western part of the Thessalian plain, at the foot of the Chasia mountain chain, the natural boundary between Thessaly and Epirus.

The cave is situated approximately 100 metres above the surface of the plain and 280 metres above sea level. The Lithaios River, a tributary of the Peneios River, flows in front of the cave. The mouth of the cave is 17 x 3 metres whereas its main chamber, measuring 500 square metres, is rectangular and has side niches.
Text: ime.gr/chronos

The 6 metre deep sequence of archaeological deposits in Theopetra Cave witnessed intermittent hominid occupation from the early Upper Pleistocene, 50,000 years ago, through to the abandonment of the cave as a place of settlement in the Chalcolithic, at about 3000 BC. The chronology of occupation in the cave is well established through more than 50 radiocarbon dates, catalogued in this volume by Facorellis and Maniatis (the dates were subsequently published in the journal Radiocarbon by Facorellis et al., 2001). The copious artefactual and environmental evidence from the cave is augmented by human remains from burials dated to 14,500 and 7,000 BC, as well as a unique set of footprints that were possibly made by Neanderthals.
From a Book Review: "Theopetra Cave. Twelve Years of Excavation and Research 1987-1998."
Edited by Nina Kiparissi-Apostolika. Institute for Aegean Prehistory, Athens, 2000.
For another cave with similarly long human record see Franchthi Cave in the southern Argolis (20 000- 3000 BC)

Petralona Cave (Macedonia)
200 000-300 000 BC
Southeast of Thessaloniki

A skull supposedly from 70 000 BC was found here. more likely it is from 300 000 to 200 000 BC. Controversy surrounds the interpretation of this cranium, and it has been variously classified as Homo erectus, as a classic Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis), and as an early representative of Homo sapiens sapiens in a generalized sense (Day 1986: 91-95). The consensus among paleoanthropologists today is that the cranium belongs to an archaic hominid distinguished from Homo erectus and from both the classic Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (Day 1986: 95; Stringer, Howell, and Melenitis 1979).... Whatever the final classification may be, the cranium has been provisionally dated to ca. 200-400 kyr (Day 1986: 94 Hennig et al. 1981, 1982; Wintle and Jacobs 1982), and it is thus possible that the Petralona hominid represents the lineage responsible for the Thessalian Lower Paleolithic sites.

A Greek Story
The Petralona Cave and Anthropological Museum is privately owned by the "Anthropological Association of Greece", founded and first presided over by Aris Nickos Poulianos then by his son, who have held the concession for the exploration of the cave since the beginning of the 1960s. Poulianos from Ikaria, in his youth a member of ELAS and the DSE, later with a doctorate in Anthropology from Moscow, named the hominid scull Archanthropus europeaus petraloniensis, and estimated its age to be around 700,000 years old!
From aee.gr
and Aris Poulianos, Wikipedia

Franchthi Cave (Argolis)*
20 000-3000 BC
Argolis

The cave was occupied from the Palaeolithic circa 20,000 BCE (and possibly earlier) through the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, being abandoned about 3000 BCE (Middle Neolithic). It is one of the very few settlements in the world that shows continuous human occupation for more than 20,000 years.

It also contains some of the earliest evidence for agriculture in Greece. The first inhabitants were probably hunter gatherers, but from around 11,000 BCE almonds, pistachios, bitter vetch, and lentils all appear at the same time, while wild oats and wild barley appear from 10,500 BCE, while from 7,300 BCE peas and wild pears also appear. None appear to be native to the region, while two are certainly from Asia Minor. This would seem to indicate that the farming of legumes and nuts preceded that of grain in Greece, if not in Asia Minor at least. This would make this area the oldest known agricultural site in Greece.
Wikipedia
A detailed and informed article on Paleo/Neolithic Caves in Greece

Neolithic Sites in Greece – Sesklo**
6500 - 3200 BC

Neolithic sites in Greece, ime.gr/chronos

Sesklo gives its name to the first Neolithic culture of Europe, which inhabited Thessaly and parts of Greek Macedonia. The oldest fragments researched at Sesklo place the civilization's development as far back as 6850 BC with a +/- 660 year margin of error (uncorrected radiocarbon). The first settlements, which predate the 6th millennium BC, are referred to as proto-Sesklo (main group) and pre-Sesklo (secondary groups with differentiated characteristics) and they show an advanced agriculture and a very early use of pottery that rivals in age those of the Near East, especialy Anatolia in an area geographically close to the Petralona cave and the Archanthropus living environment.

The peoples of Sesklo built their villages on hillsides near fertile valleys, where they grew wheat and barley, also keeping herds of mainly sheep and goats, though they also had cows, pigs and dogs. Their houses were small, with one or two rooms, built of wood or mudbrick in the early period. Later the construction technique becomes more homogeneous and all homes are built of adobe with stone foundations. In the 6th millennium BC, the first houses with two levels are found and there is also a clear intentional urbanism.

The culture of Sesklo is crucial in the expansion of the Neolithic into Europe. Dating and research brought out the similarities between Sesklo and the Starčevo cultures of Serbia. Beyond modern national boundaries together they form the first Neolithic culture of the Old Europe, which is, as Gimbutas has pointed out, distinct from Anatolia. At least in part the late Neolithic Old Europe seems to have spread from this complex.

Archeological finds and dates show that the Sesklo culture lasted only until 5000 BC when it was violently conquered by people of the Dimini culture. The "invasion theory" maintains that the Dimini culture is different from that found at Sesklo. However, Professor Ioannis Liritzis provides a more detailed analysis of the late "Seskloans". He, along with R. Galloway, compared ceramic materials from both Sesklo and Dimini utilizing thermoluminescence dating methods. He discovered that the inhabitants of the settlement in Dimini appeared around 4800 BC, four centuries before the fall of the Sesklo civilization (ca. 4400 BC). Lyritzis concluded that the "Seskloans" and "Diminians" coexisted for this period in time.
With modifications from Wikipedia
More informative and images,etc.: Neolithic Greece, ime.gr.com

Achilleion (Thessaly)
6500-5800 BC
south of Farsala

The Goddess in her bird incarnation, 6000 BC, found at Achilleion
image from Marija Gimbutas "Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe", Univ. California, 1982

Achilleion is an early Neolithic site in Thessaly. It was excavated by the American archaeologist Marija Gimbutas in 1973-1983, and has been Carbon-14 dated (dendrochronologically corrected) to between 6500 and 5000 BC
Marija Gimbutas "Achilleion: A Neolithic Mound in Thessaly; Preliminary Report on 1973 and 1974 Excavations", Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 1, No. 3/4 (1974), pp. 277-302

Sesklo A**
Neolithic 7000-4000 BC

Plan of Sesklo A and B from HMTC Odysseus

Two villages have been unearthed in the vicinity; Sesklo A and Sesklo B. Sesklo A occupies the crown of Kastraki hill, and Sesklo B has been unearthed further to the southwest at a lower elevation

Middle Neolithic Megaron, Photo

The ruins of the Middle Neolithic megaron with its two rooms clearly visible. Large Neolithic buildings with two chambers are commonly called "megaron" that implies the residence of a leader, even though their use is unknown. These structures that were usually larger than the rest, and built in the middle of the settlement, could be also a communal space, or even a place of worship (their general outline resembles a later Greek temple). Visible at the background of this photo, is the impressive wall that supported the much larger later megaron which was built in the Late Neolithic period.
Photo and Text from Greek Landscapes

Sesklo B**
5000-4000 BC

Sesklo B is the settlement excavated on the western slope of the Kastraki hill where Sesklo A is located. Sesklo B is a Middle Neolithic settlement, contemporary in part to Sesklo A, and is part of an extensive network of Neolithic settlements in the extended area. It is much less attractive for the casual visitor, but it can be seen in the same visit.

Characteristic pottery shards from Sesklo (5th millenium BC!)

Photos and Text from Greek Landscapes

Dimini**
Late Neolithic II to Late Mycenean 4800-1400 BC
near Volos, Thessaly

Reconstruction of the late Mycenian settlement at Dimini 1400 BC

Polychrome pottery from the late Neolithic part of Dimini (before 4500 BC)

The site of Dimini covers an area of ca. 5000 sq. m and flourished during the Thessalian Late Neolithic period (ca. 4800 - 4000 B.C.). It is considered to have been inhabited by two separate people: The Seskloan culture being supplanted by newcomers after about 4400 BC. There appears a period of 400 years where the two groups coexisted (4800-4400 BC) The earlier Neolithic Sesklo period is represented at Dimini only by a handful of sherds and the post Neolithic remains consists of a few cist graves of Middle Bronze Age date and a Late Bronze Age tholos tomb (1400 BC)

The Mycenean Tholos Tomb (1300 BC)

Photos and Text from Greek Landscapes

The architecture of the 2nd phase at Dimini shows the same construction methods and same use of materials as seen at earlier Sesklo. Dimini, however, has a definite fortification system in the form of 6 or 7 concentric circuit walls. Some of these walls were as close together as 1 m and may have been rubble filled double-faced fortress walls. The original number of walls is unknown. They vary in thickness from 0.6 to 1.4 m, were possibly 2 to 3 m in height, and were made of rough stone set in mud. The walls follow the natural contours of the hill and have no corners or towers. At the center and highest part of the oval shaped hill there was an oval courtyard in which a megaron type building and a few smaller buildings stood. Possibly one additional megaron and several additional structures were scattered within the walls.
Additional text from Tufts University, Perseus

Volos-Iolkos, Archeological Museum****

The town of Volos is supposed to be the mythical Iolkos from which Jason (20th cent BC) embarked on the ship Argos to the Georgian Kolchis to bring back Medea and the Golden Fleece.

Photos from the Museum in Volos, the richest collection of finds from Neolithic Thessaly. Exhibits on display include jewelry, household utensils and agricultural tools, originating from the Neolithic settlements of Dimini and Sesklo, as well as clay statuettes and a wide variety of items from the Geometric period.

Other fascinating exhibits include tombs transported in their entirety from the archaeological sites where they were discovered, along with the human skeleton and the offerings placed around it. Just outside the museum there are some interesting reconstructions of the Neolithic houses at Dimini and Sesklo

Votive clay figures of the Great Goddess, 7000 - 5000 BC

Incised pebble Magoula Karamourlar (Stephanovikio, Magnesia) 6500-4500 BC

Photos from Volos Museum: Phase.com
See also: Wikipedia, Archeological Museum Volos