595-612

Recent investigation at the neolithic settlement of Makre : excavational season 1990

• Ευστρατίου, Νίκος

The excavation at the prehistoric mound of Makre on the coast of aegean Thrace,10 km west of the town of Alexandroupolis, continued the summer of 1990 for the third successive year. The dig covered the top of the mound which seems to be the centre of the settlement and is represented by the excavational Section B. In the summer of 1990the work continued at the old trenches while some new were opened. An interesting development was the opening of some trial trenches in some distance from the top area, north and east of it, in order to estimate the possible extend of the prehistoric habitation. A short account of the archaeological material uncovered during the 1990 period and some preliminary conclusions reached regarding the relative chronology of the settlement are presented below. The dig continued in the central area at the old trenches B5, the so-called «deep section» and B7. The excavation at the «deep section» after almost 4 m of Neolithic deposits reached the natural bedrock. The bottom phase, the earlier of the site, revealed interesting architectural remains: structures made of stones and wooden posts. It is an unusual feature regarding the building techniques employed at the site and the prevailing architectural tradition of the area. It is a characteristic which may be related to the nature of the earliest habitation at the site or represent changing patterns in the use of the communal space. No changes in the pottery typology were established in the 4 m deep archaeological deposit of trench B5.The excavation of trench B7 uncovered a number of well-defined plaster floors with a number of features found in situ: postholes, fire-places, pits, pottery. North of trench Δ1 where last year the plan of a rectangular post framed house was uncovered, three more trenches were opened, Δ2, and Δ4. Two are the most interesting finds from this area: a second house using the same building technique and situated parallel to the previous one, and a stone structure in the form of an enclosure. The latter has not yet been traced in other excavation units and its character remains unknown. The results of the opening of two trial trenches in the periphery of the mound, north and east of the central area, were revealing: underneath 2 m of earth deposits with no archaeological finds, habitation floors with stratified ceramics were uncovered. The implication of this finding for the estimation of the size and extend of the habitation at the site is obvious. However, more geomorphological work is needed before reaching firm conclusions. The pottery and the small finds recovered from the 1990 excavation were similar to the evidence of previous seasons. The ceramic wares —mainly monochrome pottery in different shades of black and brown, incised and fluted wares— falls within the 5thmillennium late Neolithic (chalcolithic) horizon of eastern Macedonia and coastal Thrace; only one painted black-on-red sherd is found while graphite decoration is extremely limited. Radiocarbon dates are still not available but the ceramic evidence to a one pointsperiod settlement, contemporary to the early phases of Sitagroi (I-III), Paradimi (ITI) and Proskinites in Greece, Karanovo III-Vesselinovo in Bulgaria, and the upper layers of Yarumburgaz (level 0), Toptepe and Hoca cesme in Turkey. The study of the stratigraphy of the site in relation to the ceramic material in the near future will lead to more accurate conclusions regarding the relative chronology of the site.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Νεολιθική εποχή, συνέδρια , Έβρος

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