Warfare in Neolithic Thessaly: A Case Study

Abstract

Cross-cultural archaeological and ethnographic evidence for warfare in farming societies invites us to reconsider the traditional picture of the Greek Neolithic (ca. 7000-3400 B.C.) as a period of peaceful coexistence among subsistence farmers. Archaeological correlates of intercommunal conflict in the prehistoric American Southwest and the widespread evidence for warfare in Neolithic Europe suggest that warfare is also likely to have taken place in Neolithic Greece. The well-known Neolithic record for Thessaly reveals evi dence for warfare in defensive structures, weapons, and settlement patterns. Competition for resources such as arable land, grazing rights, and water may have contributed to the causes of Greek Neolithic warfare. Did warfare exist in Neolithic Greece?1 The question is difficult to answer because early warfare, apart from Bronze Age warfare, has received rela tively little attention from Aegean prehistorians.2 It is unlikely, however, that warfare began abruptly with the Bronze Age, and we believe that it is reasonable to trace the roots of warfare back to the Neolithic period. Until recently, it was thought that warfare was negligible in prehistoric times, but new research on prehistoric warfare, along with warfare among contempo rary foragers and farmers around the world, challenges this view.3 An ever increasing number of case studies have created a consensus that prehistoric warfare was widespread in the Old World in general, and specifically in Neolithic Europe.4 Indeed, if warfare could be shown not to be present in Greek Neolithic society, in light of current research on Neolithic warfare in Europe, Greece would represent an anomalous exception. On the basis

Multi-Sensor Geomagnetic Prospection: A Case Study from Neolithic Thessaly, Greece

“…Even though it is not possible to date the exact dating of this flooding event, the phenomenon immediately raises the relationship between flooding and the function of these ditches. This comes as an alternative hypothesis for enclosures as defensive features as suggested by Runnels et al [21]. The same phenomenon can be also argued for the enclosures of Perdika 1, albeit with less secure evidence of a flooding event.…”

“…Possibly, a ditch is documented to the east of the magoula, while the coverage to the west is not complete a similar anomaly is also observed, making a sharp 90 degrees turn to the east after running in north-south direction. Runnels et al [21] report on two similar concentric ditches at Late Neolithic Makriyalos and suggest these features were the manifestations of Neolithic warfare. However, the amorphous shape of the enclosure to the north can be attributed to (paleo) hydrology around the site.…”

Tell communities and wetlands in Neolithic Pelagonia, Republic of Macedonia

“…There are discussions on the density and absence of tells in particular regions. For the Thessalian tells, it is proposed that farming communities living there intentionally avoided particular areas or these were used as buffer zones (Perlès 1999;Runnels et al 2009).…”

“…Arrowheads are almost absent, thus confirming the preference for clay sling missiles for both hunting and fighting. Also their use in stockbreeding and controlling pasturing flocks or herds has been proposed (Perlès 2001), and the accuracy of sunbaked projectiles in combat has also been emphasised (Runnels et al 2009). In contrast to arrowheads, flint blades are more frequent and vary in shape and function, as well as a number of polished axes (Simoska, Sanev 1975;1977;Kitanoski 1977;Simoska, Kuzman 1990;Kitanoski 1989;Naumov, Toma∫ 2015;Naumov et al in print).…”

A Manifold Approach for the Investigation of Early and Middle Neolithic Settlements in Thessaly, Greece

“…The demarcation is the most evident when there is an enclosure around a Neolithic settlement as the results of the IGEAN project suggest. The interpretation of enclosures which amounts to a growing presence in recent archaeological data, directly affects the image of the relations between communities (e.g., warfare [22]) or within the community (e.g., neighbors [23]). Second, it is now clear that ditch-enclosures were not static features despite their monolithic sizes, but they were part of the settlement dynamics.…”