From archaeological sediments to human practice : a comparative geoarchaeological study of open areas in the Neolithic of northern Greece
Neolithic research in south-east Europe has focused on buildings and the household as fundamental social institution. Open areas in Neolithic sites remain largely unexplored and perceived as homogeneous, despite ethnographic studies highlighting outdoor space as multifunctional and fundamental in conditioning social practice. Furthermore, distinct coexisting site morphologies in the Greek/Balkan Neolithic, tells and flat/extended sites, are argued to represent different space-use strategies linked to different social organisation and ideology. The specific strategies that created these settlement types are still poorly understood, as many traces of activity, ecology, and continuity or change in practices are only detectable at the microscale. This project examines spatial and temporal configurations of activities, roles, and relationships in intra-settlement open areas, in order to assess their significance as social arenas within Neolithic communities; it also investigates site-formation processes in order to elucidate differences in settlement morphology. A high-resolution geoarchaeological approach, integrating micromorphology, phytolith, and elemental analyses, was applied on open-area stratigraphic sequences
Koromila, Georgia
From archaeological sediments to human practice : a comparative geoarchaeological study of open areas in the Neolithic of northern Greece. Neolithic research in south-east Europe has focused on buildings and the household as fundamental social institution. Open areas in Neolithic sites remain largely unexplored and perceived as homogeneous, despite ethnographic studies highlighting outdoor space as multifunctional and fundamental in conditioning social practice. Furthermore, distinct coexisting site morphologies in the Greek/Balkan Neolithic, tells and flat/extended sites, are argued to represent different space-use strategies linked to different social organisation and ideology. The specific strategies that created these settlement types are still poorly understood, as many traces of activity, ecology, and continuity or change in practices are only detectable at the microscale. This project examines spatial and temporal configurations of activities, roles, and relationships in intra-settlement open areas, in order to assess their significance as social arenas within Neolithic communities; it also investigates site-formation processes in order to elucidate differences in settlement morphology. A high-resolution geoarchaeological approach, integrating micromorphology, phytolith, and elemental analyses, was applied on open-area stratigraphic sequences
archaeological sediment human practice comparative geoarchaeological study open_area neolithic northern_greece neolithic south_east europe focus building household fundamental social_institution open_area neolithic_sit remain_largely unexplored perceive homogeneous despite ethnographic_study highlight outdoor space fundamental conditioning social_practice furthermore distinct site morphology greek balkan neolithic tell flat extended site argue represent different space use strategy link different social_organisation ideology specific_strategy create settlement type still_poorly understood many trace_activity ecology continuity_change practice detectable project_examine spatial_temporal configuration activity role relationship intra settlement open_area order_ass significance social arena within neolithic_community also_investigate site_formation process order_elucidate difference settlement_morphology high_resolution geoarchaeological integrate micromorphology phytolith elemental_analysis apply open_area stratigraphic_sequence