Chapter
Early Holocene Greece: a difficult environment for hunter-gatherers?
The cultural originality of the Greek Mesolithic
CHAPTER 3 THE INTRODUCTION OF FARMING: LOCAL PROCESSES, DIFFUSION OR COLONIZATION?
Indigenist models and the claims for the local domestication of plants and animals
A long-lasting misinterpretation: the local domestication of plants at Franchthi
The claims for animal domestication in Europe
Can the Neolithic spread by ‘cultural diffusion’?
The exchange of livestock, seeds and techniques: an encyclopedic knowledge
Local processes: the demographic problems
An inescapable hypothesis: the presence of foreign colonists
Interactions between farmers and local hunter-gatherers
Continuity and discontinuity of occupation at Franchthi
The role of Mesolithic groups in the development of farming
CHAPTER 4 FOREIGN COLONISTS: WHERE FROM?
The ‘random’ parallels between Greece and the Near East
Farming expansion and the loss of cultural identity
The colonization of Greece: an insular model
Of multicultural pioneer groups
CHAPTER 5 THE EARLIEST NEOLITHIC DEPOSITS: ‘ACERAMIC’,‘PRE-POTTERY’ OR ‘CERAMIC’?
The sites and excavations
Characterization and homogeneity of the ‘pre-pottery’deposits
A ‘Ceramic’ Neolithic: baked clay figurines and artefacts
The uncertain status of the ‘pre-pottery’ sherds
14C dates: arguments for a discrete phase
Archaeological contexts and internal consistency with in each site
Consistency among the different laboratories.
Internal consistency of the ‘pre-pottery’ dates
Comparisons with the Mesolithic dates
Comparison with the Early Neolithic dates
From chronology back to pot production: Greece and the Near East
CHAPTER 6 THE SPREAD OF THE EARLY NEOLITHIC IN GREECE: CHRONOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS
The definitions of the Early Neolithic in Greece
Chronology and duration of the Early Neolithic
Dates seemingly too young
Early Neolithic subphases and facies
Human implantation and settlement patterns: a contrasted distribution
Hills and sedimentary basins
CHAPTER 7 A CASE STUDY IN EARLY NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT PATTERNS: EASTERN THESSALY
The geology of the Larissa plain
The representativeness of the distribution of sites
The problems of chronological attributions
Regional distribution of the sites
Distance of each site to its nearest neighbour
A non-random distribution
Theoretical ‘areal’ territory.
The contemporaneity of the sites
From environmental to socioeconomic factors
The abandonment of EN2/EN3 settlements
CHAPTER 8 EARLY NEOLITHIC SUBSISTENCE ECONOMY: THE DOMESTIC AND THE WILD
The exploitation of wild plant resources
The exploitation of wild animals
CHAPTER 9 THE EARLY NEOLITHIC VILLAGE
The nature of the settlements: mound settlements or flat sites?
Village size and population
The general layout of the village
The architecture of the buildings
A first stage: pit-houses?
The typical EN buildings: plans and dimensions
Raw materials and building techniques
‘Storage pits’, or clay-digging pits?
Hearths, fire-pits and ‘ovens’
The variability of Early Neolithic architecture in Greece: a few remarks
CHAPTER 10 CRAFT SPECIALIZATION: THE CONTRASTING CASES OF CHIPPED-STONE TOOLS, POTTERY AND ORNAMENTS
The production of chipped stone tools
Formal and informal tools
The organization of raw material procurement
The organization of production
Rate and organization of production
Pottery and group identity
The circulation of pottery
Ornaments and carved stone artefacts
Carved stone and shell artefacts
Beads: discussions around a specialized workshop at Franchthi
CHAPTER 11 A VARIETY OF DAILY CRAFTS
War weapons or shepherds’ implements? The ubiquitous sling bullets
Forest clearance or multipurpose tools: the polished stone blades
Bone: a versatile raw material
The selection of species and anatomical parts
Grinding, pounding and polishing
Spinning and spindle whorls
Weaving: of elusive loom-weights, bobbins and sherd-dics
CHAPTER 12 RITUAL INTERACTION? THE MINIATURE WORLD OF ‘DOLLS OR DEITIES’
The anthropomorphic figurines
The emergence of the human figure
Distribution between sites and regions
Context of recovery and modalities of use
Human representations on vessels
Collective ritual buildings?
CHAPTER 13 INTERACTING WITH THE DEAD: FROM THE DISPOSAL OF THE BODY TO FUNERARY RITUALS
The norm? Burial ground and cremations at Soufli
Accounting for the exceptions: intra-settlement pit-burials
Ossuaries, secondary burials or ancestor cults?
CHAPTER 14 INTERACTIONS AMONG THE LIVING
The status of the individual
Interaction within the village community
Interaction between communities