The people of the village of Neolithic Halai, on the shores of the northern part of the North Euboean gulf at the east side of the bay of Atalanti, interacted with both the marine and terrestrial environment. Sea level probably rose about 10 m. during the Neolithic occupation, from ca. 600-5300 B.C., and people gradually lost some of their farm land. Marine resources were probably a significant part of the diet, including large fish (one bone is of a tuna aout 2 m. long) and shellfish. Shells, besides being a food source, were also worked into ornaments, including Spondylus. Spondylus was exported throughout Europe during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods from Aegean sites like Halai, both as a raw material and as finished ornaments, especially bracelets.
The terrestrial area around Halai is one of low hills and small valleys which satisfied most of the needs of the community for food for themselves and their animals. Local raw materials such as wood and stones for tools and clay for pottery covered most of the community’s needs. The main exernal commodity attested is obsidian, which was imported in significant quantity in the form of partly prepared nodules, which were worked into tools on site. Food resources included the usual Neolithic crops and animals and scientific research is on-going concerning the human and animal diet.
The bay of Atalanti and the immediate area of the North Euboean gulf together form a basin-like area which is ringed with Neolithic villages, mostly dating to the MN and LN periods, i.e., contemporary with the occupation at Halai. The topography is ideal for local interactions by sea and it is open at either side to the great sea route (θαλασσινός δρόμος) that provided long-distance communication along the eastern side of the Greek mainland throughout history. The Middle Neolithic pottery from Halai and other sites around the bay of Atalanti has close parallels in the interior areas of Phokis and Boeotia (e.g., Elateia, Chaironeia, Orchomenos), with which there was easy communication via the pass leading WSW from Atalanti. Parallels with Thessaly are somewhat less close and there are relatively few with the Peloponnese until the advent of Matt Painted ware in the Late Neolithic period. We may tentatively conclude, therefore, that in the Middle Neolithic there was active interaction between the North Euboean gulf and the immediate inland areas of central Greece by land and more limited interaction, probably mainly by sea, with Thessaly, as documented by the distribution of obsidian. In the Late Neolithic interactions increase between all these areas.
Communities, Landscapes, and Interaction in Neolithic Greece
International conference 29-30 May 2015
