Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic Coastlines of Greece and the Aegean

Biogeography, land snails and incomplete data sets: the case of three island groups in the Aegean Sea

“…The area was connected with Asia Minor, at least until 21,000 years ago. Later, around 11,000-9000 years ago, it was disconnected from the coasts of the Asia Minor but remained part of an elongated landmass which included the island of Leros and the island group of Arkoi (Van Andel and Shackleton 1982;Lambeck 1996;Perissoratis and Conispoliatis 2003). Hence, the formation of the island group is quite recent, no older than 5000 years, while some of the islands were formed during historical times, such as Telendos and Kalavros (Papageorgiou 2001).…”

“…For instance, Dermitzakis (1990) claims that the area was submerged about 4.5-3.5 mya ago. As far as the formation of the island group is concerned, Ofidousa and Pontikousa islets were the first to be isolated either at 22,000 years ago (Perissoratis and Conispoliatis 2003) or 14,000 (Lambeck 1996), while the rest of the islets were formed during the Holocene (Van Andel and Shackleton 1982;Lambeck 1996;Perissoratis and Conispoliatis 2003). The geology of Astypalaia island is quite complex.…”

“…According to Dermitzakis (1990) the isolation of the landmass, the fragmentation of which led to the formation of the archipelago of Skyros, occurred 4.5 mya ago, but there is uncertainty regarding the geological history of the island of Skyros itself (Melentis 1973;Dermitzakis 1990). Nevertheless, the fragmentation of that landmass and the formation of the archipelago are supposed to have occurred by the early Holocene (Van Andel and Shackleton 1982;Perissoratis and Conispoliatis 2003).…”

Re-investigating fish consumption in Greek antiquity: results from δ13C and δ15N analysis from fish bone collagen

“…BC (Mesolithic) and continues through to the 4th millennium (Final Neolithic) with a few chronological hiatuses, while sporadic installations of later times have also been identified (Sampson, 2011). It is estimated that the sea level in the region was 60e30 m lower than today (Van Andel and Shackleton, 1982;Sampson, 2011), and the sea was possibly cooler and more productive (Luz, 1982;Powell, 2011). Although hunting (birds and other wild animals) and early husbandry (mainly pigs and caprines) are evidenced in the site during prehistoric times (91 516 NISP, Trantalidou, 2011), the important role of fishing is supported by a rich shell (54 824 NISP belonging to 30 marine species, Karali, 2011) and fish bone assemblage (8603 NISP, Mylona, 2011;Powell, 2011), with several bones belonging to marine mammals (Trantalidou, 2011).…”

Biogeographic patterns of tenebrionid beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) on four island groups in the south Aegean Sea

“…The same rationale explains also the poor representation of endemic plus subendemic elements on Nisyros and the absence of Balkan affinities on the same island. Kalymnos is a continental archipelago and, although recently isolated from the Anatolian coast (Van Andel and Shackleton 1982;Lambeck 1996;Perissoratis and Conispoliatis 2003), it always had its own established fauna with an evident dominance of Anatolian elements.…”