303-310

A neolithic settlement in the grounds of the International Fair, Thessaloniki

• Παππά, Μαρία

The excavation of another part of Thessaloniki's Hellenistic and Roman cemetery in 1992-3 brought to light a hitherto unknown Neolithic settlement in the centre of the city. Initial evidence dates it to the Middle and Late Neolithic and it is the oldest site yet found in Thessaloniki. The area that was investigated had previously been the site of the fun-fairand is now occupied by the new conference centre. The prehistoric earth fill consisted in a greyish-brown stratum quite rich in finds, below the archaeological layer of the historical period and the debris of the contemporary era. The only remains of the settlement, in the area of 800 m2 that was investigated, consisted in pits of various shapes and sizes that had been dug in the ground. Most were cylindrical, with vertical walls, and filled with various types of refuse. The top had often been sealed with stones. In a few other cases, the pits were in fact multiple, irregularly intersecting trenches, though their contents were undifferentiated. In one isolated case, a shallow elliptical pit, full of pestles and mortars, offered a direct reflection of activities connected with home handicrafts. A large number of finds were salvaged from the pits, and one of the most interesting Neolithic collections was thus secured. The sparse distribution of the pits and the presence of only one habitation layer indicates that here too we have the flat extensive type of settlement that prevailed, recent data suggest, in Macedonia

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

Νεολιθική εποχή, Θεσσαλονίκη, συνέδρια

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