Presented by Vagia Mastrogiannopoulou
In track Posters

Sarakenos cave is the longest- lived cave excavation in Greece, with an uninterrupted stratigraphical sequence (Middle Palaeolithic to Middle Bronze Age). Human activity evidently related to the varying environment of Lake Kopais, the strategic position but also to the particular configuration of the cave itself, all in all constituting a communal, focal point for local societies.
Among the categories of finds, the painted pottery speaks of several prolonged, universal and exclusive craft traditions across mainland Greece, primarily exhibiting conservatism and standardization. Several important issues concerning the neolithic material culture are examined such as a) the mode of production of painted pottery through typological analysis b) the manners of pottery consumption in the context of the cave c) the interpretation of interregional, common traditions.
It is suggested that painted pots were neither intended nor treated as special items but rather related to food culture (procurement, production, preparation and consumption), challenging their proposed importance as valuable goods.
The scarcity of burial places or other ritual- related, non domestic contexts has inevitably directed the quest for places of symbolic behaviour towards caves, automatically transformed to a uniform “type” of wild places juxtaposed with the domestic area. In the case of Sarakenos cave however, diverse and multiple activities are documented.
The rural frame, poses human movement and activity not just inside the cave itself but more importantly, beyond the confines of the settlement. A second variable is inserted, the communal, inter- regional space as an arena of social interaction.
Lastly, the continuity of the stratigraphy allows the monitoring of some debated economic and cultural transformations. The economic dimensions of painted pottery traditions are related to the ongoing debate on prehistoric economies. In this light, the examination of a cave contributes multiply as these sites have been closely related with several socio-economic shifts which lead to an acclaimed evolution.