It has long been acknowledged that material culture in prehistory served, among other functions, as a means of demonstrating individual, group, and regional identities. The Neolithic populations of Northern Greece developed diverse cultural traditions, but they were always in close contact and shared a great deal in common. Communication and exchange have been the focus of considerable attention and research over the last decades. However, within a puzzling network of sites where evidence is often scanty and fragmentary it is indeed difficult to come up with answers and figure out actual connections and interrelations.
This paper focuses on communication and interaction among Neolithic people of Northern Greece from the perspective of the chipped stone industries. Chipped stone is a durable and variable material that is encountered in all Neolithic settlements. At the same time, it is a dynamic tool of analysis and knowledge because the production sequence can be studied and reconstructed in its totality. Lithic raw materials are, in addition, assignable to specific or potential sources (local, regional, or distant) on the grounds of geochemical and petrographical evidence.
The primary aim of this study is to analyze the different aspects and characteristics of the chipped stone assemblages in order to look more closely into patterns of acquisition, production, and exchange. Within this framework, emphasis will be placed on shifts in chipped stone patterns during the settlements’ lifespan. Evidence that comes from lithic procurement sites and activity areas, although partial and preliminary, may also contribute towards a better understanding of the production contexts and the lithic resource management from a territorial perspective. In this regard, chipped stone analysis is expected to provide an insight into the changing conditions in which the Neolithic farmers interacted with each other.
Communities, Landscapes, and Interaction in Neolithic Greece
International conference 29-30 May 2015
