Sesklo

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Representation of a female upper body as a terracotta torso, Sesklo culture, 6th to 5th millennium BC BC ( National Archaeological Museum , Athens )

The Neolithic settlement Sesklo was named after the place of the same name near the archaeological site. Sesklo is located about 10 km west of Volos in Thessaly , Greece . Due to extensive ceramic finds, the name Sesklo is also used to denote a Neolithic period in Greece. The Sesklo culture dates back to the 7th and 6th millennium BC. BC (about 6300 to 5300 BC) and is at the beginning of the ceramic Neolithic in Greece.

Research history

Research into the Greek Neolithic can be linked to Christos Tsountas (1857–1934). Between 1899 and 1906 he carried out extensive excavations in Sesklo and Dimini and compiled an initial list of sites. A publication followed in 1908 (in Greek). In the following decades, further research took place mainly in the context of Mycenaean, Minoan and classical-ancient excavations.

Time stages of the Sesklo culture

The Sesklo culture is divided into three levels, Protosesklo, Vorsesklo and Sesklo , according to its pottery , which was found in 30 unearthed of several hundred tells . At the time of the Protosesklo, the ceramics were mostly painted in monochrome reddish to brownish colors and were well polished. Simple ornamentation , such as zigzags, waves, and rhombuses , can also be observed. For the Vorsesklo time is Impressoware (typical of the Adriatic area) in addition to continuing use monochrome goods, characteristic. In the Sesklo period, the traditions of the Protosesklo period were resumed. Line ribbons, wolf tooth on zigzag and checkerboard patterns were popular motifs for decorating ceramics.

The Neolithic Settlement

Finds of the Sesklo culture, around 5300 BC BC (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

A little inland from the Gulf of Volos in Thessaly, the remains of two Neolithic settlements, Sesklo and Dimini, were uncovered, which were of decisive importance for the later development of fortified settlements in the Greek cultural area.

The place seems to have been since the 7th millennium BC. To have been inhabited. At the time of the Protosesklo there were post houses and adobe buildings with stone foundations in the settlement. During the Sesklo period, the place with its over 500 houses was a considerable size for that time. The houses, adobe buildings with stone foundations, were laid out in squares and some of them had post constructions inside. The Neolithic settlement was probably founded in the 5th millennium BC. Destroyed by fire. The Dimini culture that followed the Sesklo culture repopulated the square.

The castles of Sesklo (5800-5300 BC) and the younger Dimini, which are related in plan, already show the basic scheme of a feudal manor. The lower town of Sesklo was dominated by the Acropolis, which was surrounded by two oval ring walls (width approx. 40 m, length approx. 55 m). The center of the development was the megaron oriented exactly north-south. The building was based on a net-like modular structure (three × six modules = 30 × 60 feet = 8.80 × 17.60 m, one module = 10 feet). The aspect ratio corresponded to a harmonic rectangle with an aspect ratio of 1: 2. You entered the royal building via a pillared vestibule (one × three modules) with two round wooden supports between the ante. Behind it was the prince's square hall (three × three modules) supported by three round wooden supports. In the western half was the stove, the fire of which was never allowed to go out. Another room was attached to the rear (1.5 × three modules). The rear walls of tongue are also found on Trojan Megara. The type of construction is reminiscent of the archetype of a rectangular nomad tent (front and main tent), with the vestibule-like canopy supported by wooden poles that were also used inside. For Braun this is a development that should gradually lead via the Mycenaean-Homeric megaron to the Antentepel.

literature

  • Gerd Braun: From Bît Hilani to the hall of the Wartburg. Volume I: The advanced cultures in the ancient Orient and in the Aegean. Mainz 2018. ISBN 978-3-961760-24-4 .
  • Marija Gimbutas : The civilization of the goddess . Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-86150-121-X .

Web links

Commons : Archaeological site of Sesklo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heide Göttner-Abendroth: Society in Balance: Gender Equality Consensus Culture in matrilineal, matrifocal, matriarchal societies: Documentation of the 1st World Congress for Matriarchy Research 2003 in Luxembourg. W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-1701-8603-5 , p. 196.
  2. ↑ Jakob Maurer: The Middle Neolithic in Greece , seminar text 2010.

Coordinates: 39 ° 21 ′ 20 "  N , 22 ° 50 ′ 33"  E