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The Neolthc Materal (1) 27 CHAPTeR THRee The Neolthc Materal (1) inTRODuCTiOn TO THe neOliTHiC PeRiOD The vast majority of the Franchthi ground stone tools and related material, a total of 486 specimens (93%), derive (or probably derive) from the neolithic period. All neolithic phases and two of the interphases, and almost all trenches of both the cave and Paralia are represented in this material. The following brief introduction to the Franchthi neolithic is intended as a background to the presentation of the neolithic specimens, to which this and the following chapter are devoted. The neolithic period started at Franchthi around the beginning of the 7th millennium Cal. B.C., after a short hiatus that followed the Final Mesolithic (Table 3.1). By the start of the neolithic, sea levels had risen even higher, bringing the shore to less than 1 km from the cave. The earliest neolithic deposits belong to a distinct sedimentological stratum. They have been assigned to a phase Perlès called initial neolithic to distinguish it from the subsequent early neolithic. The initial neolithic Table 3.1. Radocarbon dates relevant to the Neolthc perod (by phase). Lithic Sample Excavation Uncal. B.P. Cal. B.C. phase no. unit initial neolithic P-2094 FAS:143 7930±100 7130–6500 P-1527 FF1:44B5 7900±90 7060–6500 P-1392 A:63 7790±140 7060–6400 en P-1525 FF1:42B1 7700±80 6680–6420 P-1667 H:37Y 7280±90 6370–5980 P-2093 FAS:129 6940±90 5980–5640 Mn i-6128 FAn:120 6855±190 6090–5420 P-1537 G1:11 6650±80 5650–5420 P-1824 FAn:137 6670±70 5650–5480 P-1922 FAn:129 6790±90 5820–5500 P-1922A FAn:129 6730±70 5730–5490 ln P-1662 FAn:114 6690±80 5720–5480 P-1661 FAn:97 6160±70 5240–4905 P-1630 FAn:89 6110±90 5240–4805 P-1920 FAS:83 6170±60 5240–4940 Fn P-1660 FAS:72 5260±60 4310–3970 P-1659 FA:39 5160±80 4230–3790 KeY: uncal.=uncalibrated, Cal.=calibrated note: This list was compiled on the basis of information provided by Jacobsen and Farrand (1987:Plate 71), and Vitelli (1993:Table 13, 1999:Table 9). Samples considered problematic by Vitelli are not included in this table. 28 Chapter Three remains are scarce but show elements of both continuity and discontinuity with the Mesolithic period. On the one hand, occupation is still limited to the cave, shellfish of the same kind as in the Mesolithic, as well as some of the traditional wild plant species , continue to be collected, and lithics for the most part remain unchanged. There is, moreover, no indication that the site is now used on a more permanent basis than before. On the other hand, the faunal remains are dominated by domesticated sheep and goats, whereas the botanical assemblage is marked by the appearance of domesticated emmer wheat, hulled two-row barley, and probably also lentils, and the disappearance of wild oats and barley. According to Perlès, the initial neolithic represents a brief episode of acculturation, with local hunter-gatherers coming into contact with established farming groups, acquiring new resources, and modifying their subsistence base accordingly (Perlès 1990:94–105, 1999:317, 2001:46–48, 2003:84; see also Hansen 1991:139–144). it is still unclear whether the initial neolithic represents a pre-pottery neolithic phase; it has not been possible to determine the intrusive or n stu character of the few sherds found in units dated to Ceramic interphase 0/1, as Vitelli calls the initial neolithic in her phasing system (1993:37–40). Only one ground stone tool, FS 74 (Pl. 174), was excavated in a deposit dated to this phase and even this comes from a unit contaminated by later material. The initial neolithic was followed, again after a hiatus, by the early neolithic (en). This phase started at Franchthi ca. the middle of the 7th millennium Cal. B.C. (Table 3.1) and represents a full-fledged Neolithic occupation. More specifically , the EN deposits produced the complete range of plant and animal domesticates found in Greece and indeed in quantities that leave no doubt that the main subsistence activities at the site were farming and animal herding. large quantities of sherds have also been excavated, confirming that clay vessels were made and used in this phase, although most likely...

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