625-639

Kolokynthou : a new riparian neolithic settlement in Kastoria prefecture

• Τσουγγάρης, Χ.Γ.
• Σαλωνίδης, Θεόφιλος
• Δουμά, Α.
• Σαρρηγιαννίδου, Χ.

The settlement of Kolokynthou, a riparian settlement near the Aliakmon, was excavated because the new perpendicular stretch of the Egnatia highway is scheduled to pass through the site. Though comparatively small, the excavation site yielded information about how the settlement was structured, as also about the economy, the buildings, and the use of pottery and stone in the area. A number of pits of various sizes were uncovered, both for storage and for refuse, with probable signs of re-use. The houses were pile-dwellings, as evidenced by the large number of post-holes uncovered (71), though we have not been able to determine the ground plan of any specific building.The majority of the finds consist of pottery, which is associated with the Middle and Late Neolithic, though the stratification of the site occupied by the settlement did not allow us to distinguish these phases. The various types of pottery discovered connect the settlement with the rest of Macedonia, as also with the wider area of the Balkans.Many are small finds, the most important being figurines. These are either anthropomorphic or zoomorphic, the former being either flat-bodied or steatopygous. There are also figurines with incised and with plastically rendered features. Some of these reflect the settlement’s contacts with the Balkans, with Servia, and with Thessaly.The stone flake tools are manufactured from local flint, and the ground tools from local serpentine. The bone tools come from the long bones of large animals (handles for tools or parts of composite tools) or from the long bones of sheep or goats in the case of needles or awls. There is also evidence of the use of various kinds of animal horns as tools for agricultural work, such as wedges.There is a considerable amount of jewellery: part of a bracelet, beads, and fragments of pendants.Few vegetal food remains were found in the pits: a few grains of com, a lentil, and probably a pea.The chronological data are somewhat unclear, since it was not possible to record the stratigraphy of the excavated area and, wherever we explored, the excavational layers gave the impression of a single uniform entity. Nonetheless, the settlement must be dated to the end of the Middle to the Late Neolithic, with signs of abandonment or impermanence during this long period.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία
• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Νεολιθική εποχή, Καστοριά

Περιέχει εικόνες και κατόψεις