During the 1950ies V. Milojčić applied in Greek prehistoric research the method of comparative archaeological analyses based on relative chronological schemes. Although he was the first to send charcoal samples for radiometric dating to the radiocarbon laboratory in Heidelberg in 1959, he nevertheless did not accept this method. It was only much later that absolute chronology became widely applied – yet good sequences for statistical modelling are still very few. Nevertheless, the relative chronology of the Early Neolithic in Greece relies on the sequences elaborated by V. Milojčić and D. Theocharis based on evidence from limited trenches or soundings, excavated according to methods of the past century.
Between 1950 and 1970 concepts deriving from Near Eastern archaeology were applied in Greek archaeology as well. The “Preceramic” was defined by V. Milojčić after K. Kenyons and R. Braidwoods investigations of Pre-Pottery-Neolithic layers in Jericho and Jarmo respectively; the term “Aceramic” was introduced by J.D. Evans shortly after J. Mellaarts excavations in Hacilar. Also the concept of the “Neolithic Package” played a major role in explaining Neolithisation processes in the Aegean. Besides such concepts also assumption were largely involved, for example the assumption that Neolithic inventories with monochrome pottery devoid of decorations, belonged exclusively to the earliest phase of the Early Neolithic (EN I) or that all items belonging to the Neolithic Package were in use from the very beginning, but because of the small size of trenches not always detected.
These approaches favoured roughly created pictures and broad narratives, prominent among them being the swift and complete colonization of Greece from Anatolia. Yet, a re-evaluation of old and new data, freed from assumptions and seen in a broader Aegean perspective, has led to a different view of the beginnings of Neolithic life in Greece. Certain networks and traditions can be traced back to the Mesolithic, for example, the distribution of obsidian from Melos in the Aegean, the use of microliths even in the Middle Neolithic (MN) or the prevalence of burial practices. A considerable time-depth of nearly 600 years, from the first signs of Neolithic life up to the beginning of the MN (ca. 6600 to 6000 calBC), saw the successive incorporation of new “stuff” and habits. It is therefore appropriate to introduce other concepts (mobility, interaction, face-to-face contact), and narratives (the spread of innovations) to the discussion of the Neolithisation process.
Communities, Landscapes, and Interaction in Neolithic Greece
International conference 29-30 May 2015
