Excavations at Prehistoric Elateia, 1959

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.(PLATES 49-70) T HE Neolithic period in Central Greece-that is in Boeotia and Phokis-is known chiefly from large quantities of material excavated mainly during the first decade of this century. Two series of excavations were responsible: 1) those of Soteriades at Chaeronea, Ayia Marina and the sites around Drachmani (now Elateia), and 2) the Bavarian excavations at Orchomenos and other sites on the rim of the Copaic Basin. Only preliminary reports, which present a very small fraction of the finds, have appeared for the excavations of Soteriades.' While an account of the German excavations soon appeared,2 the Neolithic pottery was not published until more than two decades later,3 and then without the help of stratigraphic indications except those obtained in a small test excavation done as part of the publication. It was not until the excavation of Eutresis (1924-1927) that Neolithic remains were again found in Boeotia in controlled circumstances, but there were only small quantities from the very bottom of a deep Bronze Age accumulation.4 A recent test of the lowest levels at Eutresis revealed more of this Neolithic deposit, and the publication gives reliable stratigraphic information for the latter part of the Central Greek Neolithic period.5The need for a well stratified sequence covering the entire span of the Neolithic period in Central Greece remained paramount. In considering the possibilities of many sites which had already been tested or which were known from surface indications, or both, one site seemed especially suitable. This was the low mound, situated about a mile to the northeast of modern Elateia, which was tested by Soteriades between 1904 and 1910 and referred to by him as the mound on the property of Dr. Chevas.i Especially intriguing was his statement7 to the effect that, while both monochrome and painted pottery occurred in the top two meters of the deposit, in the last meter to virgin soil the painted pottery stopped altogether and only monochrome 1 EXCAVATIONS AT PREHISTORIC ELATEIA, 1959 159 ware appeared; thus he was able to distinguish two periods. While Early Neolithic levels without painted pottery may now be appearing in Thessaly, I know of no others in Central Greece or the Peloponnesos. The promise of this mound northeast of Elateia was certainly sufficient to warrant another test, and it was decided to make one in the spring of 1959.8 EXCAVATIONOn June 1, 1959, the grain was ripening in the fields about Elateia, but on the prehistoric mound we had chosen...

Neolithic Painted Ware in the Adriatic

“…Patterns are both geometric and curvilinear, the latter including spirals and meanders, some of which stand out plain against an incised background Some of the incised ware shapes-like the rhytons, which spread as far north as Caverna del Muschio, near Trieste-are exotic and would surely suggest eastern connexions. The closest parallels for these Danilo cult vessels are found in Central Greece at Drachmani, Corinth, and Elateia [25]. At the latter site, the type first comes into use at the end of the local Middle Neolithic (alongside urfirnis ware and the last of the red-on-white pottery) and seems to continue into the earlier part of the Late Neolithic which is characterized by polychrome decoration in red and black, including a pattern of red bands bordered with black dots, although not in the Ripoli manner.…”

Creating identities in the mortuary arena of the Greek Final Neolithic: a contextual definition of practices in Central and Southern Greece

“…1). However, archaeological investigation here was limited and its unpublished material is known through Weinberg's (1962) preliminary report.…”

“…15.15) on the island of Euboea (Sampson 1993), where small built graves were investigated. The rest of our information comprised preliminary reports on material from excavations both at open air sites and in caves of the central and southern Greek mainland and the islands, such as that from the Acropolis North slope (Immerwahr 1971), Eutresis (Group II) in Boeotia (Caskey, Caskey 1960), Lerna (Caskey 1957;1959;1960) and the Franchthi cave in the Argolid (Vitelli 1999), the Zas cave on Naxos (Zachos 1999) and many other sites, such as those included in Phelps' study of the Neolithic pottery sequence in the Peloponnese (Phelps 1975;. The evidence for the Final Neolithic has improved notably through intensive surface surveys (van Andel et al 1986;Runnels, van Andel 1987;Wells et al 1990;Runnels et al 1995;Cavanagh et al 2002), while new excavated domestic remains include the fortified sites at Zagani in Attica (Steinhauer 2001) and Strophylas on Andros (Televantou 2008), where occupation seems to continue into the Early Bronze Age (but the material is currently under study).…”

Interpreting Radiocarbon Dates from Neolithic Halai, Greece

“…The earlier stages of the Neolithic period are not well documented in central Greece (the region between Thessaly and the Péloponnèse) (Perlés 2001). Besides Halai, the only open sites with earlier Neolithic deposits known in any detail in central Greece are Orchomenos (Kunze 1931), Elateia (Weinberg 1962), and Nea Makri (Pantelidou-Gopha 1991, 1995. Early excavations in Phokis at Ayia Marina (Soteriades 1911) and in Boeotia at Chaironeia-Valoumenou (Soteriades 1908) did not lead to published stratified sequences, and recent excavations at Ayios Vlasis in Phthiotis are not yet published.…”