THE MAN AND THE LAKE:LIVING IN THE NEOLITHIC LAKESIDE SETTLEMENT OF DISPILIO,KASTORIA, GREECE

Abstract

The relation between man and water is well established in prehistoric Balkans, as the marshy wetlands of the lakes constituted an advantageous environment for human settlements. In 1992 the University of Thessaloniki, under the direction of Professor G. Hourmouziadis, began systematic excavations in-the lakeside Neolithic settlement located at the bank of Kastorias lake.

This paper is an attempt to approach the Neolithic life way in this particular ecosystem. The site was inhabited from the Middle Neolithic until the Hellenistic era. The scientific study is determined by the abundance of the wooden piles and other wooden elements themselves, as the taphonomic conditions favour their preservation.

The Neolithic man in Dispilio seems to be primary a farmer and, especially, a stockbreeder. Fish bones and fishing tools are not lacking, especially in the later Neolithic, but they do not necessarily reflect a community of specialized fishermen.

Contacts with other settlements are suggested from archaeological and geological investigations in the direct and indirect vicinity.

The finds represent a dynamic society that managed to live in an imponderable, due to the wetland ecosystem. Dispilio, therefore, is a good example against approaches that regard Neolithic man as an 'occasional' human being who has lived under the fear of his environment and its seasonal variations and shortages.