New Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in the eastern Aegean: the Karaburun Archaeological Survey Project

Çilingiroğlu, Çiler; Dinçer, Berkay; Uhri, Ahmet; Gürbiyik, Cengiz; Baykara, İsmail; Çakırlar, Canan

doi:10.15184/aqy.2016.168

Cited by 15 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Each of these groups presents continuity during the transition from foraging to farming, and admixture only happened to significant levels later during the Copper and Bronze Age 38 , 39 . Whilst the SPDs for western Anatolia and the Aegean basin are difficult to interpret given the small sample size, it is clear the diffusion of farming across this area happens relatively quickly during the first half of the 9 th millenium cal BP 40 – 42 , and upon a background of limited preceding Mesolithic population 43 . This process exhibits regional variation, for instance in terms of stock-breeding strategies 44 , but from a population point of view, the picture looks different.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amplitude of travelling front as inferred from 14C predicts levels of genetic admixture among European early farmers

Silva

Linden

2017

Sci Rep

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Large radiocarbon datasets have been analysed statistically to identify, on the one hand, the dynamics and tempo of dispersal processes and, on the other, demographic change. This is particularly true for the spread of farming practices in Neolithic Europe. Here we combine the two approaches and apply them to a new, extensive dataset of 14,535 radiocarbon dates for the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods across the Near East and Europe. The results indicate three distinct demographic regimes: one observed in or around the centre of farming innovation and involving a boost in carrying capacity; a second appearing in regions where Mesolithic populations were well established; and a third corresponding to large-scale migrations into previously essentially unoccupied territories, where the travelling front is readily identified. This spatio-temporal patterning linking demographic change with dispersal dynamics, as displayed in the amplitude of the travelling front, correlates and predicts levels of genetic admixture among European early farmers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amplitude of travelling front as inferred from 14C predicts levels of genetic admixture among European early farmers

Silva

Linden

2017

Sci Rep

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“…Although recurrent field surveys in the Aegean have increased significantly the number of late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites known from this area (see Fig 1A and 1B ) the number of excavations remains comparatively low (see recent overviews by Sampson [ 5 ] and Çilingiroğlu et al [ 6 ]). Additionally, in the southern Aegean most late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites sampled for archaeobotanical remains have produced scanty non-wood but more abundant wood charcoal macro-remains [ 7 – 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of environmental change on Palaeolithic and Mesolithic plant use and the transition to agriculture at Franchthi Cave, Greece

2018

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The multi-period (~38,000–6000 cal BP) site of Franchthi Cave, located in the Argolid peninsula of southern mainland Greece, is unique in the Eastern Mediterranean for preserving a long archaeological sequence extending from the Upper Palaeolithic through to the end of the Neolithic period. In this paper, we present new anthracological (carbonized fuel wood waste) evidence from Franchthi Cave with which we reconstruct the changing ecology of woodland vegetation in its environs during the late Pleistocene and the early-mid Holocene. The integrated archaeobotanical record (charred wood and non-wood macro-remains) demonstrates that in the Lateglacial the now-submerged coastal shelf of the southern Argolid peninsula was covered by steppe grassland vegetation dominated by junipers, almonds, cereals and legumes. The rapid climatic amelioration that marked the start of the Holocene brought about the disappearance of juniper and the expansion of deciduous woodland, cereals and lentils. This woodland-grassland biome bears no analogues in the modern and historical vegetation ecology of the Aegean basin. Instead, it is directly comparable to the steppe woodland biomes exploited by late Pleistocene and early Holocene hunter-gatherers in Southwest Asia, and points to the convergent evolution of late Pleistocene and early Holocene plant exploitation strategies between the two regions. Continuous sea-level rise during the early Holocene led to the gradual extinction of this unique palaeohabitat, which acted as the catalyst for the selective introduction of domesticated cereal crops at Franchthi Cave in the early 9th millennium cal BP. Our meta-analysis of the non-wood archaeobotanical data puts into question the concept of the wholesale introduction of a crop “package” by pioneer settler groups arriving from the East. It is proposed instead that selective cereal crop introduction formed part of a complex pattern of sociocultural interactions that brought together indigenous and immigrant groups into new communities.

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“…While Naxos was insular for at least some of the Middle Paleolithic, indirect evidence from elsewhere in Greece argues that Neanderthals were capable of short-distance waterborne crossings ( 42 ). Moreover, recent discoveries of putatively Lower Paleolithic material from western Anatolia’s Karaburun peninsula (currently undated) ( 43 ) and the nearby island of Lesbos (continental at the time), dated to 164 ± 33 and 258 ± 48 ka ago ( 41 ), indicate the presence of nearby populations that might have entered the Aegean Basin from the east (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earliest occupation of the Central Aegean (Naxos), Greece: Implications for hominin andHomo sapiens’ behavior and dispersals

et al. 2019

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We present evidence of Middle Pleistocene activity in the central Aegean Basin at the chert extraction and reduction complex of Stelida (Naxos, Greece). Luminescence dating places ~9000 artifacts in a stratigraphic sequence from ~13 to 200 thousand years ago (ka ago). These artifacts include Mousterian products, which arguably provide first evidence for Neanderthals in the region. This dated material attests to a much earlier history of regional exploration than previously believed, opening the possibility of alternative routes into Southeast Europe from Anatolia (and Africa) for (i) hominins, potentially during sea level lowstands (e.g., Marine Isotope Stage 8) permitting terrestrial crossings across the Aegean, and (ii) Homo sapiens of the Early Upper Paleolithic (Aurignacian), conceivably by sea.

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New Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in the eastern Aegean: the Karaburun Archaeological Survey Project

Cited by 15 publications

References 1 publication

Amplitude of travelling front as inferred from 14C predicts levels of genetic admixture among European early farmers

Amplitude of travelling front as inferred from 14C predicts levels of genetic admixture among European early farmers

The impact of environmental change on Palaeolithic and Mesolithic plant use and the transition to agriculture at Franchthi Cave, Greece

Earliest occupation of the Central Aegean (Naxos), Greece: Implications for hominin andHomo sapiens’ behavior and dispersals

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