Nea Nicomedeia

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Nea Nicomedeia is an excavation site two kilometers from the refugee village of Nea Nicomidia . It is of the greatest archaeological importance as it contained early Neolithic remains of Europe's first farming culture. The excavator believed based on a very early date around 7200 BC. BC that it was by far the oldest Neolithic settlement in Europe. The settlement is now dated between 6190 and 6050 BC. At the end of the Early Neolithic the settlement was abandoned, only to be inhabited again in the Late Neolithic .

The Neolithic Settlement

Excavations on the two-meter-high tell or settlement hill, which extended over more than 24,000 m², took place in 1961, 1963 and 1964 under the direction of Robert J. Rodden . It turned out that the settlement was originally on the Thermaic Gulf and that it was the oldest rural settlement in Europe at the time.

It was dated between 6250 and 6050 BC. Dated. The dates varied considerably, so that they were between 6650 and 5730 BC. Chr. Were. The vast majority of the C-14 dating , however, resulted in a dating between 6190 and 6050 BC. The population of the 1690 m² settlement was estimated at 500 to 700.

The square timber frame houses measured 8 by 8 m and were grouped around a larger house of 12 by 12 m. Twelve figurines were found in it, so that one thought of a kind of sanctuary. The finds included tools such as flint blades and stone axes, female clay figurines with crossed arms, seal-like stamps that were possibly intended for body decoration and tools for spinning wool.

The settlement apparently built up supplies, because there were large clay containers of up to 60 cm in height and a capacity of 85 l. Grains and pulses were planted . These included barley , emmer , lentils, peas and vetch . Sheep, goats, cattle and pigs could be occupied on domestic animals.

In addition to farming, hunting continued, with the prey animals mostly red deer , wild boar, but also turtles, birds and fish. Above all, berries and nuts or acorns were collected.

literature

  • Robert J. Rodden (Ed.): Nea Nicomedeia. The Excavation of an Early Neolithic Village in Northern Greece 1961-1964. Volume 1: Gillian Pyke, Paraskevi Yiouni: The Excavation and the Ceramic Assemblage (= The British School at Athens. Supplementary. Vol. 25). British School at Athens, London 1996, ISBN 0-904887-19-7 .
  • Stella G. Souvatzi: A Social Archeology of Households in Neolithic Greece. An Anthropological Approach. Cambridge University Press, New York NY 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-83689-0 (v. A. P. 63 ff.).

Remarks

  1. ↑ Stella G. Souvatzi: A Social Archeology of Households in Neolithic Greece. 2008, p. 64.
  2. ^ Nea Nicomedeia ( Memento from June 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), Foundation of the Hellenic World.
  3. ↑ Sarunas Milisauskas: Early Neolithic, the First Farmers in Europe, 7500-5500 / 5000 BC. In: Sarunas Milisauskas (Ed.): European Prehistory. A survey. 2nd edition. Springer New York, New York NY 2011, ISBN 978-1-4419-6632-2 , pp. 153-221, here p. 182.
  4. ^ Douglass W. Bailey: Balkan Prehistory. Exclusion, Incorporation and Identity. Routledge, London et al. 2000, ISBN 0-415-21597-8 , p. 86.

Coordinates: 40 ° 36 '  N , 22 ° 16'  E