Mending Fragments: Stone Vessels From Franchthi and Other Greek Neolithic Sites

Abstract

Stone vessels represent one of the rarest artifactual categories of Neolithic Greece. Only several dozen specimens (mostly fragmentary) have been recovered from 65 sites. These objects are also some of the least studied; with few exceptions, they are known only through superficial reports. Thus, their potential to shed light on social and economic aspects of Neolithic life remains unexploited. In this article, I address this problem in two ways. First, I focus on a specific stone vase assemblage: that from the well-known site of Franchthi in the north-eastern Peloponnese. This is one of the largest assemblages and is presented here in detail. Secondly, I use the Franchthi assemblage as a point of departure to attempt a synthesis of the available information on Greek Neolithic stone vases.

Sourcing macrolithics: Mineralogical, geochemical and provenance investigation of stone artefacts from Neolithic Avgi, north‐west Greece

“…Macrolithic artefacts made of marble, malachite and amber are characterized as 'exotic' (Melfos, personal communication, 2004). The presence of 'exotic' raw materials in macrolithic assemblages is also attested at other Neolithic sites and at most times was the result of the interaction between communities through communication and exchange networks (Arias et al, 2006;Melfos & Stratouli, 2016;Melfos et al, 2020;Michailidou & Dogan, 2008;Stroulia, 2020). It seems that they were favoured due to the artistic aesthetic fulfilment they offered to the producers and the final owners (Bekiaris et al, 2017).…”

“…Across the Aegean and the Greek mainland, examples of these Neolithic social and exchange networks are the chipped stone artefacts made of Melian obsidian and, rarely, of Carpathian obsidian, and the grinding implements found at sites in the Peloponnese, Dodecanese Islands and Crete made of andesites from the Argolis Gulf (Bekiaris et al, 2020; Karimali, 2001; Perlès, 1992). Moreover, stone vases and ornaments of Cycladic marble have been unearthed in many Neolithic sites in the Aegean, Ionian and mainland Greece (Herz, 1992; Maniatis et al, 2009; Melfos et al, 2020; Stroulia, 2020).…”

Tracing Interaction on Samos Island: Pottery Traditions and Connectivity at Kastro-Tigani and the Heraion During the Aegean Late–final Neolithic/Western Anatolian Middle–late Chalcolithic

“…Moreover, the workshop at Kulaksızlar seems to be contemporary with typologically comparable examples (Takaoğlu 2004) of the late fifth millennium BC (FNL) from Kephala on Keos (Coleman 1977, 106, pls 23, 67; Coleman and Facorellis 2018, 41). Given the highly specialised manufacture, and their low frequency primarily in domestic contexts of the MCh, the pointed conical beakers could be considered as high-valued containers, most likely for the use of liquids (Stroulia 2020), owned by a few members of MCh societies. The transformation of this type into more elaborate, thin-walled and flat-based beakers and their limited use in the LCh–EBA I point to the transfer of value in such containers and use in special contexts.…”

“…Furthermore, their morphological features in addition to the vertical lugs and early pointed base further strengthen such a claim. While suspension of the pointed-based beakers was a functional requirement, the later flat-based vessels suggest the continuation of their social significance in the social display of such high-valued containers, most likely for the use of liquids (Stroulia 2020).…”