Periodic Reporting for period 3 - EXPLO (Exploring the dynamics and causes of prehistoric land use change in the cradle of European farming)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-03-01 al 2023-08-31
Contemporary European societies face unprecedented environmental challenges, and understanding past human responses to environmental changes requires an interdisciplinary approach. The EXPLO project, focusing on Northern Greece and the southern Balkans, employs innovative archaeological, biological, and mathematical modeling techniques. This initiative aims to revolutionize our understanding of Neolithic and Bronze Age societies, particularly through the exploration of preserved lakeshore settlements. These sites, with their exceptional preservation due to waterlogging, offer insights into climate, vegetation, and land cover changes. The primary goal is to comprehend the introduction and evolution of early agriculture in the region, utilizing archaeological, bioarchaeological, palaeoecological, and palaeoenvironmental approaches. The project outlines five research axes, including dendrochronology, precise chronologies, early cultivation activities, crop and livestock management, and land-use modeling.
Fieldwork in Albania, Greece, and Northern Macedonia (2019-2023) has yielded a substantial collection of archaeological materials. Ongoing examinations of sediment samples and palaeoenvironmental drilling aim to provide insights into vegetation development and human impact on the environment. Recent advances in dendrochronology, applied to Dispilio and Korça, Dunavec, mark the first highly precise dated Neolithic sites in the Mediterranean. Future efforts will include modeling early farming and pastoralist land use, positioning the EXPLO project as a pioneering initiative reshaping our understanding of the past.
The project, surpassing current standards, excels in dendrochronology, creation of archaeological sequences tied to precise site chronologies, high-resolution multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, and bioarchaeological reconstruction of cultivation and livestock practices. Dendrochronology: For the first time, subfossil wood samples from seven Neolithic and Bronze/Iron Age lakeside settlements, totaling approximately 2500 samples, were obtained. The majority are highly dendrochronologically usable, mainly oak, pine, and juniper, with many samples boasting over 100, and in some cases, over 200 annual rings. This abundance aids significantly in constructing tree ring sequences. Groundbreaking dendrochronological curves cover periods such as 5650-5600 BC and 2400-2150 BC. A milestone is the precise application of the Miyake event in 5259 BC, with a high-precision 303-year chronology from Dispilio ending in 5140 BC. Ongoing wood sample studies include planned excavations in 2024. Archaeological sequences tied to site chronologies: At Dispilio, the ceramic assemblage is categorized and documented by site phases, with advanced analysis of over 1500 vessels. Progress in studying macrolithic artifacts, chipped stones, and bone tools is ongoing. Context definition at Dispilio, based on excavation records, stratigraphy, and microstratigraphy, including a trial trench, is nearly complete. Additional sequences from Ohrid, Ploča-Michovgrad, Pogradec, Lin 3 are being processed for a dissertation. High-resolution multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental reconstructions: A groundbreaking study explores vegetation pollen representation across the ecological gradient. Surface samples from lakes along environmental gradients calibrate biogeochemical proxies. Ongoing palaeoecological analyses of sediment sequences from Lakes Zazari, Vegoritida, Orestias, Volvi, and Ohrid have yielded accepted or in-progress manuscripts. Bioarchaeological reconstruction of crop and livestock regimes: The advanced archaeobotany study at Ploča Mičov Grad confirms high-quality preservation comparable to circum-Alpine prehistoric lakeshore dwellings. Additional studies at Lin 3 and Dispilio validate excellent preservation and high bioarchaeological densities. Fieldwork and preliminary analysis pave the way for fulfilling the scheduled research.