the aegean in the neolithic, chalcolithic and the early bronze...

ANKARA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CENTER FOR MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY (ANKÜSAM)

Publication No: 1

Proceedings of the International Symposium

The Aegean in the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age

October 13th – 19th 1997, Urla - İzmir (Turkey)

Edited by

Hayat Erkanal, Harald Hauptmann, Vasıf Şahoğlu, Rıza Tuncel

Ankara • 2008

ANKARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ / ANKARA UNIVERSITY SUALTI ARKEOLOJİK ARAŞTIRMA ve UYGULAMA MERKEZİ (ANKÜSAM)

RESEARCH CENTER FOR MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY (ANKÜSAM)

Yayın No / Publication No: 1

Ön kapak: İzmir - Höyücek’de ele geçmiş insan yüzü tasvirli bir stel. M.Ö. 3. Bin. Front cover: A stelae depicting a human face from İzmir - Höyücek . 3rd Millennium

BC. Arka kapak: Liman Tepe Erken Tunç Çağı II, Atnalı Biçimli Bastiyon. Back cover: Early Bronze Age II horse-shoe shaped bastion at Liman Tepe.

Kapak Tasarımı / Cover Design : Vasıf Şahoğlu

ISBN: 978-975-482-767-5

Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi / Ankara University Press İncitaşı Sokak No:10 06510 Beşevler / ANKARA

Tel: 0 (312) 213 66 55 Basım Tarihi: 31 / 03 / 2008

CONTENTS

Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………………………............ xi Preface by the Editors ………………………………………………………………………………… xiii Opening speech by the Mayor, Bülent BARATALI …...……………………………………………......... xxiii Opening speech by Prof. Dr. Ekrem AKURGAL ……………………………………............................... xxv Opening speech by Prof. Dr. Christos DOUMAS……………………………………………………….. xxvii LILIAN ACHEILARA

Myrina in Prehistoric Times …..……………………………………………………………. 1 VASSILIKI ADRIMI – SISMANI

Données Récentes Concernant Le Site Prehistorique De Dimini: La Continuité de l’Habitation Littorale depuis le Début du Néolithique Récent jusqu’à la Fin du Bronze Ancien ……………………………………………………………………………… 9

IOANNIS ASLANIS

Frühe Fortifikationssysteme in Griechenland ………………………………………………. 35 PANAGIOTA AYGERINOU

A Flaked-Stone Industry from Mytilene: A Preliminary Report …………………………… 45 ANTHI BATZIOU – EFSTATHIOU

Kastraki: A New Bronze Age Settlement in Achaea Phthiotis …………………………….. 73 MARIO BENZI

A Forgotten Island: Kalymnos in the Late Neolithic Period ……………………………….. 85 ÖNDER BİLGİ

Relations between İkiztepe by the Black Sea Coast and the Aegean World before Iron Age ……………………………………………………………………………... 109

TRISTAN CARTER

Cinnabar and the Cyclades: Body modification and Political Structure in the Late EB I Southern Cyclades ………………………………………………………............. 119

CHRISTOS DOUMAS

The Aegean Islands and their Role in the Developement of Civilisation ………….............. 131 ANTHI DOVA

Prehistoric Topography of Lemnos: The Early Bronze Age ………………………………. 141 NIKOS EFSTRATIOU

The Neolithic of the Aegean Islands: A New Picture Emerging ………………….............. 159 HAYAT ERKANAL

Die Neue Forschungen in Bakla Tepe bei İzmir ..…………………………………………. 165 HAYAT ERKANAL

Liman Tepe: A New Light on the Prehistoric Aegean Cultures …………………………… 179 JEANNETTE FORSÉN

The Asea Valley from the Neolithic Period to the Early Bronze Age …………….............. 191 DAVID H. FRENCH

Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Pottery of Southwest Anatolia ………………............. 197

Contents

viii

NOEL GALE Metal Sources for Early Bronze Age Troy and the Aegean ………………………............. 203

BARTHEL HROUDA

Zur Chronologie Südwestkleinasiens in der 2. Hälfte des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr ............... 223 HALİME HÜRYILMAZ

1996 Rettungsgrabungen auf dem Yenibademli Höyük, Gökçeada / Imbros …………….. 229

ERGUN KAPTAN Metallurgical Residues from Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Liman Tepe ………………………………………………………………………….......... 243

ANNA KARABATSOLI and LIA KARIMALI

Etude Comparative Des Industries Lithiques Taillées Du Néolithique Final Et Du Bronze Ancien Egéen : Le Cas De Pefkakia ………………………………………….. 251

NECMİ KARUL

Flechtwerkgabäude aus Osttrakien ……………………………………………………….. 263 SİNAN KILIÇ

The Early Bronze Age Pottery from Northwest Turkey in Light of Results of a Survey around the Marmara Sea ………………………………………………………….. 275

OURANIA KOUKA

Zur Struktur der frühbronzezeitlichen insularen Gesellschaften der Nord- und Ostägäis: Ein neues Bild der sogenannten “Trojanischen Kultur”…………….. 285

NINA KYPARISSI – APOSTOLIKA

Some Finds of Balkan (or Anatolian) Type in the Neolithic Deposit of Theopetra Cave, Thessaly …………………………………………………………………. 301

LAURA LABRIOLA

First Impressions: A Preliminary Account of Matt Impressed Pottery in the Prehistoric Aegean ………………………………………………………………………… 309

ROBERT LAFFINEUR

Aspects of Early Bronze Age Jewellery in the Aegean …………………………………… 323 KYRIAKOS LAMBRIANIDES and NIGEL SPENCER

The Early Bronze Age Sites of Lesbos and the Madra Çay Delta: New Light on a Discrete Regional Centre of Prehistoric Settlement and Society in the Northeast Aegean ……………………………………………………........................ 333

YUNUS LENGERANLI

Metallic Mineral Deposits and Occurences of the Izmir District, Turkey ………………… 355 EFTALIA MAKRI – SKOTINIOTI and VASSILIKI ADRIMI – SISMANI

Les Sites Du Neolithique Recent Dans Le Golfe Pagasetique : La Transformation Des Sites De L’age De Bronze En Sites Urbains (Le Cas De Dimini) ……………………. 369

ELSA NIKOLAOU, VASSO RONDIRI and LIA KARIMALI

Magoula Orgozinos: A Neolithic Site in Western Thessaly, Greece ………………………. 387 EMEL OYBAK and CAHİT DOĞAN

Plant Remains from Liman Tepe and Bakla Tepe in the İzmir Region ……………………. 399

Contents

ix

DEMETRA PAPACONSTANTINOU Looking for ‘Texts’ in the Neolithic Aegean: Space, Place and the Study of Domestic Architecture (Poster summary) ………………………………….......... 407

ATHANASSIOS J. PAPADOPOULOS and SPYRIDOULA KONTORLI – PAPADOPOULOU Some thoughts on the Problem of Relations between the Aegean and Western Greece in the Early Bronze Age …………………………………………………. 411

STRATIS PAPADOPOULOS and DIMITRA MALAMIDOU

Limenaria: A Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Settlement at Thasos ……………………… 427 DANIEL J. PULLEN

Connecting the Early Bronze I and II Periods in the Aegean ……………………………….. 447

JEREMY B. RUTTER Anatolian Roots of Early Helladic III Drinking Behaviour …………………………………. 461

VASIF ŞAHOĞLU

New Evidence for the Relations Between the Izmir Region, the Cyclades and the Greek Mainland during the Third Millennium BC …………………………………. 483

ADAMANTIOS SAMPSON

From the Mesolithic to the Neolithic: New Data on Aegean Prehistory ……………………. 503 EVANGELIA SKAFIDA

Symbols from the Aegean World: The Case of Late Neolithic Figurines and House Models from Thessaly …………………………………………………………... 517

PANAGIOTA SOTIRAKOPOULOU

The Cyclades, The East Aegean Islands and the Western Asia Minor: Their Relations in the Aegean Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age …………………….. 533

GEORGIA STRATOULI

Soziale une ökonomische Aspekte des Chalkolithikums (spätneolithikum II) in der Ägäis aufgrund alter und neuer Angaben …………………………………………….. 559

GEORGE TOUFEXIS

Recent Neolithic Research in the Eastern Thessalian Plain, Greece: A Preliminary Report ……………………………………………………………………….. 569

RIZA TUNCEL

IRERP Survey Program: New Prehistoric Settlements in the Izmir Region ……………….. 581 HANNELORE VANHAVERBEKE, PIERRE M. VERMEERSCH, INGRID BEULS, BEA de CUPERE and MARC WAELKENS

People of the Höyüks versus People of the Mountains ? …………………………………… 593 KOSTAS VOUZAXAKIS

An Alternative Suggestion in Archaeological Data Presentations: Neolithic Culture Through the Finds from Volos Archaeological Museum ……………….. 607

Closing Remarks by Prof. Dr Machteld J. MELLINK ………………………………………………. 611 Symposium Programme ……………………………………………………………………………… 615 Memories from the Symposium……………………………………………………………………… 623

The Early Bronze Age Sites of Lesbos and the Madra Çay Delta: New Light on a Discrete Regional Centre of Prehistoric

Settlement and Society in the Northeast Aegeani

Kyriacos LAMBRIANIDES & Nigel SPENCER

ABSTRACT: This paper describes the evidence for Early Bronze Age (henceforth EB) settlement on the northeast Aegean island of Lesbos and at Altınova on the mainland coast of northwest Anatolia. Altınova lies at the heart of the Madra Çay Delta between Ayvalık and Dikili opposite the east coast of Lesbos. Previous investigations of prehistoric settlement on Lesbos have concentrated on the EB site of Thermi, which can be seen clearly from the Madra Çay Delta, on a low promontory on the eastern shore of Lesbos. There has been an almost total neglect of useful information from many other EB sites on the island, which are described for the first time here. EB sites in the Madra Çay Delta near Altınova have also been ignored before our own studies, and the result has been a distorted picture of EBA settlement in this region. Our initial findings, both on Lesbos and in the Madra Çay Delta, increasingly suggest that this area may have been an autonomous and equally dynamic centre of EB settlement and society as the regions of Troy and the Gediz Valley cultures and not simply one of their peripheral outposts. In particular, the communities of Lesbos, Altınova and the sites of the Bakır Çay valley appear to have formed very close ties in the EB.

Introduction

The Northeast Aegean island of Lesbos and the coast of Turkey a mere 20 km directly to the east remain one of the least explored natural regions of prehistoric western Anatolia. On Lesbos, the only EB site to which any attention is usually paid even today is that of Thermi on the island’s east coast 10 km north of Mytilene, a site excavated nearly 70 years ago by Winifred Lamb1. On the mainland opposite Thermi, the fertile flat fields of Altınova and the delta of the Madra Çay, is undoubtedly an area rich in prehistoric settlement. Yet it has tended to remain in the shadow of spectacular discoveries in the vicinity of İzmir to the south and of those in the Troad to the north (Fig. 1).

The region of Lesbos and Altınova became the focus for the present authors' detailed investigation for several reasons. First, it is a fertile region on the western edge of Anatolia and the Near East. It consists of a rich alluvial coastal plain and an offshore island (Lesbos), separated from the mainland by a

1 Lamb 1936a.

marine invasion during the early Holocene2. Second, it was considered important to investigate the role of this part of the northeast Aegean and coastal west Anatolia as an active frontier zone in the EB, across which contact and interaction was taking place between the early cultures of the Aegean and those of the Anatolian Plateau, via the great natural routes of the main river valleys (Bakır, Gediz and Menderes). And third, there is a longstanding and imperative need to examine in detail the cultural relationship between Lesbos and its mainland peraia. As long ago as the 1920s and 1930s, Winifred Lamb had begun a serious study of the nature of the relationship between Lesbos and the mainland. She summed up her excellent work by arguing that the first settlers of Thermi had, in the EB, come to the island from the east, crossing the narrow Lesbos channel from western Anatolia and bringing with them the distinctive black burnished pottery culture which she found at Thermi3. Indeed, Lamb sought the origins of the builders of Thermi by going inland, as far as Karataş on the Anatolian Plateau, where she uncovered a

2 Lambrianides & Spencer 1996a; 1997a, 624-5 and fig.

8; 1998, 214, and fig. 18.4. 3 Lamb 1936a.


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site related to Thermi4. However, no-one has yet attempted to continue Lamb's work and there has been no subsequent systematic study of the abundant archaeological evidence on the mainland coastal plain at Altınova opposite Lesbos (for the geographical proximity, see Fig. 2), and this is a major aim of our long-term investigations both in the Madra Çay Delta and on Lesbos itself.

The region of western Anatolia illustrated in Fig. 1 (from where Lamb suggested the original settlers of Lesbos came) is generally considered as belonging culturally to the wider community of EB sites spread across the whole Northeast Aegean maritime area (shown on the map here), including coastal Troy I, Samothrace, Chios further south, and the inland Northwest Anatolian ceramic groups in the Balıkesir and Akhisar-Manisa basins and the lower Gediz valley. Surprising at it may appear, until our initial soundings at the EB mound of Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe near Altınova in the summer of 1997, there were no excavated sites in this region, with the exception of Thermi on Lesbos and Gavurtepe / Alaşehir southeast of Sardis on the southern edge of the Gediz Valley.

This short paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, we examine the island of Lesbos, highlighting the much wider pattern of EBA settlement that is now known to exist on the island beyond the well-known coastal site of Thermi. Then, in part two, we present some of the evidence from our own fieldwork in the Madra Çay Delta at Altınova on the mainland immediately opposite. It should be borne in mind that this is still a very early stage of the fieldwork and only very preliminary results can be presented here.

Early Bronze Age Settlement on Lesbos

(Fig. 3)

As we have emphasised elsewhere5, in order to gain a broader understanding of Lesbos' EB settlement pattern, our studies of the island's prehistory have systematically

4 Lamb 1936b; 1937.

5 Lambrianides & Spencer, 1997a; 1997b; in press; Spencer 1995.

collected, analyzed and tabulated all the available evidence from EB sites throughout Lesbos, whereas hitherto scholarly emphasis had been placed solely on Thermi. This latter emphasis was quite understandable initially, for when it was excavated nearly 70 years ago6 Thermi was particularly prominent as only the second site of this dark-burnished ceramic culture to come to light after Troy itself. However, although Thermi remains the only systematically excavated EB site in the island (even today), surface surveys by the island's own Archaeological Ephoreia, together with two trial excavations and chance finds by local inhabitants over the past 40 years, have greatly increased our knowledge of prehistoric settlement patterns throughout the whole island. Although full excavation is still required to determine the precise chronology, nature and significance of many of these sites, the details already available from various surface finds, which we present here, can provide a more realistic context for Thermi and a useful introduction to the wider EBA settlement pattern that is so little-known outside Lesbos itself. When we later add the evidence from the mainland in the second part of this paper, the wider regional context of Thermi (and EB Lesbos as a whole) will also become more realistic.

We shall now briefly review the evidence for EB pottery at eight of what appear from surface inspections (and in two cases, trial excavations) to be the most important EB sites in the island apart from Thermi. This review is intended to highlight both the geographical distribution and the topographical variation of settlement in the island in the EB, a variation which has never been systematically studied7.

On the east coast of the island, apart from the much-discussed site of Thermiii, three important sites have been located through survey work and chance finds which all deserve further attention. From north to south, these are Angourelia Sarakinas (northeast from modern Mandamados); Plati (near Nees Kydonies); and a cave site near a chapel of Agios Bartholomaios, south from Mytilene, which has

6 Lamb 1936a. 7 Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 75, & n. 5.

The Early Bronze Age Sites of Lesbos and the Madra Çay Delta: New Light on a Discrete Regional Centre of Prehistoric Settlement and Society in the Northeast Aegean

335

now also been the subject of a trial excavation (Fig. 3).

Angourelia Sarakinas lies some 4 km northeast from Mandamados, in a relatively rugged and barren location 3 km from the island's east coast, with a commanding view over the coastal region to the east. On a prominent rocky ridge, EB sherds including pithoi and tubular lugs similar to Thermi and Troy I were found, together with fragments of millstones, suggesting that this was an inland agricultural site8. Similar material has been reported on the dominant coastal acropolis known as Plati near the modern village of Nees Kydonies, where among the ruins of a Medieval kastro are a number of similar EB sherds, including pithoi, incurved bowl rims, and horizontally-pierced lug handles9.

The site in eastern Lesbos which has the potential to offer the best insights into the process of EB settlement in Lesbos is that of Agios Bartholomaios, a cave site high up in the hills of the Amali peninsula to the south of Mytilene, between the Gulf of Yera and the east coast of the island (Fig. 3). The topographical location of the cave is particularly significant as it lies at the very highest point of the only natural route over these hills (a route which is followed by a single modern road passing through the hills and linking Mytilene with the villages to the west on the Gulf of Yera). From this vantage point there are panoramic views both to the west (over the Gulf of Yera far below) and eastward across the narrow Mytilene (or Lesbos) Channel to Altınova and the Madra Çay Delta.

Inside the cave a number of whole EB vessels were found. Many of the pieces are now on display in the Museum of Mytilene, and they were first described and illustrated in the Archaiologikon Deltion periodical of 1960 (Fig. 4)10.iii The material is particularly worthy of description and illustration here because at no other site in the island have so many whole EB vessels been recovered.

8 Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 89-90. 9 ibid., 89; Spencer 1995, 4-5. 10 Charitonidis 1960, 235, pls. 206ς'-07.

Of the thirteen whole pots illustrated, eleven are handled jugs or cups, one is a globular jar, and one a simple shallow bowl. All of these shapes are reminiscent of the ceramic repertoire found at many sites on the west Anatolian mainland, and also found widely elsewhere in the East Aegean. Similar miniature jugs and tankards can be found at Tigani on Samos (from phases I-IVB), on Chios (at Emporio VII-VI and in the Lower Cave of Agio Gala), and parallels can even be seen on the Anatolian Plateau at Demircihüyük near Eskişehir (in LCH Ware 'F' and EBA Ware 'F1')11. The jugs from Agios Bartholomaios which exhibit straight, horizontal spouts are infrequent at Thermi, and seem to pre-date those with rising spouts which appear at Kum Tepe IC, Emporio VII-VI, and the EB I levels at Beycesultan. Examples of the spout found at this cave site on Lesbos are also known from Tigani IVB on Samos, at sites in the Bakır Çay valley, and also at Beycesultan LCh levels 1-412. Finally, the simple bowl from Agios Bartholomaios finds many parallels in both the LCh and EB material of several other sites13.

Taking the evidence of EB settlement from the east coast as a whole, it can be said that, apart from Thermi itself, the most significant finds known today are the whole pots from the cave site of Agios Bartholomaios. This material (particularly some of the jug forms) may well pre-date the earliest ones found at Thermi - but it is also possible that the forms from the cave are simply cruder and more basic versions of the Thermi forms, perhaps produced quickly to serve a seasonal or other short-term purpose, and may therefore not represent any genuinely pre-Bronze Age shapes. Hopefully such issues will be clarified by the current excavations at the cave, now being conducted jointly by the island's Archaeological Ephoreia and the Speliological Institute, whose reports we await keenly.

Another important focus of early (including perhaps pre-EB) settlement in the island has been found on the sheltered and

11 Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 88, nn. 80-86. 12 ibid., 88-9, nn. 87-93. 13 Tigani IV, Beycesultan LCh, and also at Thermi: ibid.,

89, nn. 96-9.


336

fertile coastal plains around the Gulf of Kalloni in central Lesbos (Fig. 3). The topography of this central area contrasts sharply with the east coast of Lesbos, where there are relatively few attractive locations for settlement (this might well be a major reason the lower density of EB sites on the east coast compared to the central gulf area, see Fig. 3). On the east coast as a whole, hills generally extend close to the shore and those early settlers who chose to live near this shore were forced to perch their settlements either on promontories with limited extents of cultivatable land nearby (eg. Thermi), or on rocky hilltops (eg. Plati). Instead, the Gulf of Kalloni is more reminiscent of the extensive, fertile coastal fields of Altınova and the Madra Çay Delta, and important sites in the gulf worthy of mention are Chalakies, Kourtir, Profitis Ilias (Agia Paraskevi), and Makara, which we will now review in turn.

Before describing the sites themselves, it is important to mention one other particularly significant feature of this central region of Lesbos. Namely that, topographically at least, the central area of Lesbos is somewhat cut off from the sites already described on the east coast of the island by the high plateau of the Olympus range which extends northeast towards Mandamados, and then joins the southern slopes of the Lepetymnos mountain near the north coast of the island (the 200 m high plateau clear on Fig. 3 which cuts off the Gulf of Kalloni from the east coast of the island). In fact, the much more natural direction for communication from the Gulf of Kalloni is the sea route which faces south, where the narrow corridor at the mouth of the gulf leads out directly towards the island of Chios (the neighbouring island which is clearly visible from the southern point of Lesbos).

This topographical orientation south towards Chios is a very important factor when considering the colonization of Lesbos, particularly as this part of the island in the Gulf of Kalloni appears to have been the most densely settled area in the EB.iv In contrast, and probably due to her ignorance of the density of the EB remains around the Gulf of Kalloni, Winifred Lamb emphasised the more direct eastern origin for the whole island's EB

colonization, spreading gradually out from Thermi after the mainlanders had crossed from the Madra Çay Delta and established their beach-head at coastal sites such as Thermi14. This is an issue to which we shall return below.

The sites of Chalakies and Kourtir both lie on the fertile band of coastal plain on the east coast of the Gulf of Kalloni, both are coastal promontory sites, and both are particularly important because they provide material which may well predate that found at Thermi or anywhere else on the east coast of the island. Interestingly, it also appears to be earlier than any found so far at Altınova on the mainland coastal plain.

Chalakies lies further to the south than Kourtir, 2 km southwest along the coast from Skala Polichnitos, and was known as early as 1960 when Serapheim Charitonidis (the island's Ephor of Antiquities at the time) visited the site15. The material seen on the promontory by Charitonidis left him with the impression that the site dated primarily to the EB, but possibly also the end of the Neolithic period, with similar material to that found at Agio Gala on Chios16. One large, amphoroid grey ware jar (now on display in Mytilene Museum) which was recovered whole during the drilling of a well at the site, may well be pre-Bronze Age, since many examples similar to it were found in level VIII at Emporio17. Our recent detailed examination of other previously unknown sherd material from the site18, also tended to back up Charitonidis' conclusions, the majority clearly belonging to the EB, but with the possibility that a few pieces may belong to an earlier period19.

The site of Kourtir, located approximately 7 km north from Chalakies along the same coastline, has the potential to be one of the most important prehistoric sites anywhere in the island. In size alone it is impressive, with one previous survey estimating it to be five times greater in area 14 Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 75 & n. 6. 15 Charitonidis 1960, 237; cf. Lambrianides & Spencer

1997b, 90. 16 ibid., both references. 17 Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 93. 18 ibid., 90-93. 19 ibid, particularly sherd 9, pp. 92-3, and fig. 10.


337

than Thermi20. Moreover, in addition to its large EB component, reported to be the period most significantly represented at the site by previous surveys, an assemblage of Late Neolithic ceramics was reported also, supported by a sherd in the archives of the British School at Athens with strong similarities to the fabrics of the Middle to Late Chalcolithic periods described by Seeher as the 'Beşik-Sivritepe – Gülpınar – Kum Tepe IA' horizon21. Further-more, a large number of Middle-Late Bronze Age ceramics were also found (including a large collection of important Mycenaean wares)22; a human skeleton was also recovered in one of the only 3 trial trenches ever dug at the site; and submerged remains offshore were said by Prof. John Coleman, the excavator of Kephala on Keos, to have included 'Chalcolithic' house remains,23

In contrast to these two sites on the east side of the gulf, perhaps the most impressive EB site at the head of the Gulf of Kalloni amongst a cluster of apparently smaller, inland settlements is a hilltop site known as Profitis Ilias, near the village of Agia Paraksevi. The EB component of the long-known ancient remains on the hill was first reported in detail in 1975 by Miltis Paraskevaidis and Basileios Kalaitzis24. Their surface survey of the hill revealed a large number of EB sherds with parallels with the material from Thermi and other sites throughout the island (Fig. 5)25 Makis Axiotis revisited the hill recently, reporting that the EB material was especially dense on the east slope and also that there were house foundations eroding out of the slopes in association with the EB sherds26 A number of diangostic EB pieces from the site were also found in the archives of the British School at Athens (Fig. 6), which showed closest similarities with Thermi Classes A-B, Troy I, Emporio V and material from the Bakır Çay valley near Pergamum27.

20 ibid., 93. 21 ibid, 94 22 ibid, 93-4. 23 ibid. 24 ibid., 96. 25 ibid. 26 ibid. 27 Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 96-9, figs. 12-4.

Finally, around the small coastal plain of Makara at the west mouth of the Gulf of Kalloni, a whole series of ancient remains are scattered across the whole valley dating from the prehistoric to the Ottoman periods28. French identified sherds from this site in the BSA as being of Troy I date (Fig. 8 a-b), and the fabric, shape and treatment of these sherds leaves little doubt that they belong to the same period as Thermi Classes A and B, and also find parallels at Tigani IV, Kum Tepe IB, and Poliochni Blue29. It is not clear from precisely where in the coastal plain these sherds came, but another major feature at Makara is a group of three large cist graves on the bay's south-east arm (known as 'Koukos')30. The tombs are still visible today as small, open tumuli standing on both sides of the road as it turns sharply west at the mouth of the plain, and the largest cist was recently illustrated by Axiotis (Fig. 9). Given that the tombs have been completely robbed, it is unclear whether they are indeed of Mycenaean date (as Charitonidis suggested31, citing similar burials on Psara and at Eleusis), or whether parallels should be drawn more with the Early Cycladic cist tombs on Keos, Naxos and Paros, and many other Aegean islands, where this is the principal form of burial32. Certainly no other Mycenaean period finds have been reported from Makara, and the EB sherds do suggest that a settlement in the coastal plain here may be that to which this impressive cemetery is related.

Outside the two main regions of EB settlement in Lesbos highlighted here, important evidence was recently found for another focus of settlement in the western part of the island near modern Eresos. This region of the island is particularly rugged and inhospitable, apart from a limited number of fertile coastal plains in which settlements have clung throughout history until the present day. In one of the largest and most fertile coastal plains lies the village of Eresos, at the head of the valley some 4 km from its modern-day

28 Spencer 1995, 28-9. 29 Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 99-100. 30 Spencer 1995, 28; Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b,

100-01. 31 Charitonidis 1961/2, 265. 32 Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 100-01.


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skala on the coast. Midway between the upper and lower villages two hill-top sites were located recently by Schaus with prehistoric material whose closest affinities are to Thermi Class A-B pottery33. Material in the British School at Athens was also identified by David French as being of 'Troy I' type, and the new sites discovered by Schaus supports the assertion of French, indicating material related to Thermi I-III, including inverted rims and tubular lugs34.

Two main points arise from this survey of the Lesbos EB settlement pattern. First, the topographical evidence suggests that all the EB sites reported on Lesbos fit into one of the two topographical categories described by Renfrew for the EB Aegean35. Renfrew observed that Aegean EB sites tend be either on coastal promontories or hilltop sites, presumably determined by their main type of economy36 Thus, Thermi, Plati, Chalakies, Kourtir and Makara are clearly coastal and closely connected with the sea and a marine economy, whilst Angourelia Sarakinas, Profitis Ilias, and Eresos are examples of inland, hilltop sites and exploit an agricultural economy. It is interesting that all the sites found in the Madra Çay Delta on the mainland, to which we now turn, are certainly closely connected to the sea, and there is abundant evidence of their marine exploitation (sea-shell middens have been found close to the sites). However, due to the remarkably fertile soil of the delta, they were also able to exploit an agricultural economy - again there is ample evidence from seeds and other botanical finds, both on the surface and also from sealed excavation strata and the augur cores drilled at the EB mound of Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe in 1997.

The second important conclusion arising from our studies on Lesbos concerns the dense concentration of sites in the centre of the island. The cluster of prehistoric sites now known to exist around the Gulf of Kalloni, some of the ceramics of which appear to (partially, at least) pre-date the sites on the east coast, casts a

33 Schaus 1996, 56-67, fig. 2 and pls. 5-10. 34 Ibid., cf. Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 104, 107. 35 Renfrew 1972, fig. 14.15. 36 ibid.

whole new perspective on the island's earliest possible colonization. It is now even possible to suggest that settlement first took place here, in the centre of the island, rather than, as Lamb thought, on the east coast (see above). If this is shown to be true through subsequent, systematic excavation of prime sites such as Kourtir, it would be difficult not to accept that Chios (where the early site of Agio Gala is a prime candidate) was a major source of influence and colonists. This possibility also raises new questions concerning the role of Altınova and the Madra Çay Delta in this process. Perhaps this part of the mainland formed one area of settlement with the east coast of Lesbos, (including, of course, Thermi), while the Gulf of Kalloni sites in the centre of the island formed a separate grouping with Chios and other Aegean islands, and perhaps also with the Karaburun peninsula (including Liman Tepe, Bakla Tepe and related sites) and, ultimately, the Gediz valley.

Early Bronze Age Sites in the Madra Çay Deltav (Fig. 10)

Until our current investigations, the EB archaeology of the Madra Çay Delta had remained largely unexplored37. The initial stages of our own research therefore focused upon various aspects of the region's early prehistory. In 1995 our geomorphological fieldwork had the objective of laying the foundations for subsequent archaeological studies (conducted from 1996-97). We examined the delta's formation processes and its interaction with both the sea and the streams flowing through the area in the early Holocene. The most important conclusion arising from the 1995 geomorphological fieldwork was that the sea was indeed a major influence on early human settlement and archaeology in the area, particularly as a result of a major marine transgression in this area during the period of 6000-5000 BP38.

Our archaeological fieldwork included a wide-ranging survey of EB sites throughout the

37 Except for one trial excavation 50 years ago which was

never fully published, and from which the material is now lost, Kökten 1949.

38 Spencer & Lambrianides 1995; Lambrianides & Spencer 1996a; 1997c; 1998; cf. Kayan 1988, 1991.


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delta from Ayvalık to Dikili, and also in the foothills of the Madra Dağı rising high above the delta to the east39. However, we will concentrate the discussion here on two impressive EB mound sites in the central area of the delta near Altınova, Hüyücektepe and Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe (Fig. 10), upon which our attention had been focused by the results of the geomorphological fieldwork of 1995.

Topographically, both are artificial mounds located in fertile fields near the sea. Hüyücektepe, now 4 km from the coast, was much closer to the sea in the EB, but was never on the shoreline itself and seems to have been located so as to be above the river flood plain. Indeed, our geomorphological team suggested that this location may have been chosen by early settlers because it consisted of an outcrop of the delta's bedrock and therefore was perhaps a more stable and reliable location for settlement at a time when much of the surrounding area was more marginal and subject to seasonal flooding40. In contrast, Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe lies on the north side of the Madra Çay near the town of Altınova, in the part of the delta which our analysis from our 1995 boreholes suggested had been more seriously affected by the sea's incursions41. The mound is now 2.5 km from the coast, but in the EB seems to have been on the very boundary of the land and the sea.

The artificial mound of Hüyücektepe (a previously unexplored site) lies west of the modern village of Bahçeliköy and the main highway from Bergama and Dikili to Ayvalık and Çanakkale. It rises 9 m above the surrounding plain (22.9 m above sea-level) and measures in total some 220 x 150 m (Fig. 11). In 1996, we carried out the first systematic surface survey of this mound’s archaeological remains. A grid of 10 m squares was established over the large area of dense artefactual remains (visible largely as an extensive scatter of predominantly hand-made pottery). The scatter extended into three separate fields and is limited on the north side

39 Lambrianides & Spencer 1996a; 1996b; 1997a; 1997c;

1998; in press; Spencer & Lambrianides 1996. 40 Lambrianides & Spencer 1996a, 185. 41 ibid., 185-88.

by a well-worn track leading from the main road towards the shore. The maximum dimensions of the grid were 180 m (east-west) by 190 m (north-south) and within this area all cultural materials (including stone, flint and metal objects, as well as the pottery) were systematically picked up and counted for later examination and recording. Densities of pottery sometimes measured over 2000 individual pieces in a single 10 m square, and discrete areas of the mound also had extremely high densities of sea-shells (mostly Cardium sp.). Other finds included a large number of pithoi fragments and some significant pieces of grind-stones, indicating food-preparation activities at the site.

A preliminary assessment of the pottery clearly indicated that the whole upper area of the mound consisted predominantly, if not entirely, of EB occupation. Typical forms in the EB ceramic assemblage at Hüyücektepe were incurved rims from bowls, horizontally-pierced lug handles, tripod cooking pot feet, and pithoi fragments (Figs. 12-14), all of which are typical forms at many of the EB sites throughout Lesbos, as has been indicated above. The similarities are also clear with the EB cultural communities of the Bakır Çay valley 30 km to the south42, the Yortan cemetery further inland43, and to many sites in the Akhisar-Manisa basin44. This large EB mound is of particular interest because it is largely representative of a single-period. Later remains (including collections of Hellenistic, Roman and Ottoman sherds) are chiefly to be found lower down in the fields surrounding the mound, and it is a curious fact of the EB mounds found in this delta that they all seem to represent a single period of occupation in the EB, more or less contemporary with the main phases of Thermi. However, these are questions which only further exploration, plus excavation, and additional geomorphological studies can answer satisfactorily.

The area covered by EB occupation on Hüyücektepe is impressively large (measuring between 2.8-3.4 hectares), dwarfing the EB

42 Driehaus 1957. 43 Kamil 1982. 44 French 1969.


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component at some other sites on the Aegean coast of Turkey, and many in Lesbos (possibly including Thermivi). Several noteworthy metal artefacts were found here (including a bronze pin). An unusual ceramic find was a red-slipped sherd (quite different to the usual black and brown burnished pieces which predominate) on the inside of which are striations in an apparent pattern, reminiscent of pattern-burnishing). Such decoration is rare in this area and could be dated to an earlier period, but equally it could be later and it is difficult to draw conclusions from one small piece45. This subject will be examined in greater detail in a later publication, with full illustrations.

A similarly intensive survey and topographic study were carried out at the much more disturbed mound site of Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe which, as can be seen in Fig. 10, lies about 4 km away on the north side of the Madra Çay. This mound rises 8 m above the plain (13.3 m above sea-level), has total dimensions of c. 100 m x 90 m (Figs. 15-16), and has suffered much damage through the construction of a municipal su deposu on top of the mound's central area (Figs. 15-17). It became clear from the topographic survey that the present-day mound is only about half its original size. As the plan in Fig. 16 shows, on the west in particular a large proportion of the site has been lost due to farming - ploughing and cultivating. This also explains the high density of EB sherds and shells in the cotton fields on the west side of the mound. Disturbance of the topography is also clear to the south where recent earthmoving is clearly indicated by the extremely abrupt contour lines near the mound.

In terms of the archaeological data, the great potential of Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe to inform us about the history of human occupation during the past 5000 years in this area cannot be doubted. Intensive surface collection from a systematic 10 m grid (similar to that used at Hüyücektepe) revealed a quality of EB pottery comparable to the best found on Lesbos and in the Bakır Çay valley. Generally it appeared to be of a significantly higher

45 cf. the discussion in Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b,

83-4.

quality than that found at Hüyücektepe, but this preliminary impression requires verification through detailed study. A large number of red burnished pieces were found at the site in addition to the more common, but usually high quality, black and brown burnished wares. (These sherds will be illustrated and discussed comparatively in the project's full publication which is now being prepared.)

After conducting the survey in 1996, we decided to focus initially on this mound for trial excavations in 1997. There were several reasons for this decision. The quality of the finds from the survey of the tell; the possibility that this had been the mound excavated by Kökten in 1949; and the immense palaeo-geomorphological interest of the mound (following up Prof. Kayan's hypothesis that this site may have been located at the frontier of land and sea in the EB).

In 1997, three trenches were dug (Fig. 17). Trench 1 was cut as a long step-trench on the west side of the mound in order to obtain a clear stratigraphic section in the highest part of the site. From this a number of significant finds were made. In the disturbed deposits near the top of the trench, there was a marble figurine (Fig. 18.2) virtually identical in form to that found at Thermi in Lesbos46 and at Troy47. A ceramic figurine was also found with a brown burnished finish (typical of EB ceramics) with short legs and one arm preserved (Fig. 18.3). Also near the top of the trench a number of fairly recent burials were uncovered, but without grave goods, and for this reason cannot be dated. However, from their state of preservation, the burials can be no earlier than the late medieval period and (most probably) later. Not far below these burials, approximately a metre down, we reached the topmost undisturbed EB levels. The most impressive feature of these levels were the extremely thick stone walls which continued down for several metres, changing their orientation and quality several times (Fig. 19). Another marble figurine was also found here (Fig. 18.1), together with a number of dark burnished spindle whorls of typical

46 Lamb 1936a, pl. XXVI, 31.98. 47 Blegen et al. 1950, pl. 41, Type 2.C.


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Thermi/Troy I fabric, many of which exhibited incised decoration (Fig. 20).

The lower step excavated in this trench went down for 4 m, and through all of this distance a large mud-brick wall could be traced passing obliquely through the trench. More EB pottery (including one nearly complete tripod cooking pot Fig. 21) was found in this lower step. There was a very prominent burnt level running through all three baulks in this lower step, with associated patches of ash, sealing all the lower levels in an undisturbed context. Exposed in the bottom of this trench was a round hearth inside a room formed between two mud-brick walls (Fig. 22).

A second sounding was opened to the southeast of Trench 1, which also revealed a recent burial with a well preserved skeleton of similar orientation (head to southwest and feet to northeast) and also without grave goods as in Trench 1. Below this were, once again, some solid stone walls, just as had been found in Trench 1, but this time forming the corner of a room with a stone-built hearth and associated EB pottery (Fig. 23). This architecture closely paralleled the houses found at Thermi in Lesbos48. Similarly, our third sounding, Trench 3, also produced a recent burial near the surface, below which were large stone walls associated with EB pottery, running obliquely through the trench (Fig. 24).

The 1997 excavations were terminated at this point, in order to plan a more systematic campaign for the future. This is made necessary by two considerations. In the first place, some of the stone walls are massive and very reminiscent of the substantial houses found by Lamb at Thermi, where as is well-known, there is a substantial settlement. Secondly, this mound is so badly damaged by farming and other building that it is not clear what remains of the actual settlement. As noted above, the whole centre of the site has been removed to build a su deposu and the outer deposits have been removed by farming activities. In spite of this, it cannot be denied that much valuable information can still be obtained from this site.

48 cf. Lamb 1936a, plan 5.

A series of intensive geomorphological sondages (5 cm in diameter) was also carried out in 1997 to explore the formation processes of the mound and its context by İlhan Kayan and his team from the Geography Department of Ege University İzmir. Their aim was to investigate the stratigraphy of the mound down to its foundations and to explore the process of human occupation on and around the mound. Initial results suggest that on the west side of the mound the lowest cultural levels may be two metres below the present surface of the delta. Furthermore, below the lowest level, more than 12 m below the present surface, a marine environment surrounded the mound, on top of which lay the first archaeological deposits. The results also suggested that several smaller (and probably earlier) sites of human occupation were scattered around the main mound. We await the full report of Kayan’s many intriguing discoveries with great excitement, especially as they promise to reveal some of the most perplexing secrets of the earliest colonization of this complex region.

Conclusions

We can confidently conclude that our investigations both on the island of Lesbos and especially in the Madra Çay Delta on the mainland near Altınova have revealed the first concrete traces of a distinct and discrete centre of EB settlement that should be regarded as autonomous from other well-known regional centres, such as Troy, İzmir, or the Gediz valley.

The core of this occupation was on the east coast of the island of Lesbos and around the modern town of Altınova, in the vicinity of which have been found at least four or five EBA single-period mounds. The most important two of these have been discussed above, to which can be added here Donbay Tepe and Başantepe, both further south in the Madra Çay Delta towards Dikili and the EB sites of the Bakır Çay valley. Beyond this core of sites, the most closely related sites in our opinion (but at present this is merely a proposal and a working hypothesis) are located together in another discrete group in the centre of Lesbos, around the Gulf of Kalloni. This


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“Kalloni group” has strong affinities with sites on Chios, which, in turn, are closely connected to sites in the Karaburun Peninsula and İzmir (eg Liman Tepe), and in the Gediz valley (not to mention their affinities with Samos further southwest in the Aegean). As is widely discussed nowadays, the Gediz valley and the Akhisar-Manisa sites have close ties with the Bakır Çay valley itself and Başantepe near Dikili. Interrelations between all these groups cannot be doubted, but equally, the “Madra Çay and East Coast of Lesbos” group should now be

regarded out as a discrete entity with its own separate developments and ramifications, all of which require close attention and much additional study. KYRIACOS LAMBRIANIDES & NIGEL SPENCER Institute of Archaeology, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1, 2PG, UK


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Settlements. Vol. I, parts 1-2 (text and plates). Princeton, University Press. Broodbank, C. 1989, “The Longboat and Society in the Cyclades in the Keros-Syros Culture”, AJA 93, 319-37. Broodbank, C. 1993, “Ulysses Without Sails: Trade, Distance, Knowledge And Power In The Early Cyclades”, WorldArch

24, 315-31. Charitonidis, S. 1960, “'Αρχαιότητες και μνημεία νήσων Αιγαίου, Μυτιλήνη” ArchDelt 16, Chronika 235-43. Charitonidis, S. 1961/2, “Αρχαιότητες και μνημεία νήσων Αιγαίου. Α' Λέσβος” ArchDelt 17, Chronika 261-5. Cherry, J. F. 1981, “Pattern and Process in the Earliest Colonization of the Mediterranean Islands”, ProcPrehistSoc 47, 41-

68. Cherry, J. F. 1985, “Islands Out of the Stream: Isolation and Interaction in the Early East Mediterranean Insular Prehistory”,

in: Knapp, B. & T Stech (eds.) 1985, Prehistoric Production and Exchange: the Aegean and East Mediterranean, 12-29 (Institute of Archaeology, Monograph XXV, University of California): Los Angeles.

Cherry, J. F. 1987, “Island Origins', in: Cunliffe, B. (ed.) 1987, Origins. The Roots of European Civilisation, 16-29: London. Cherry, J. F. 1990, “The First Colonization of the Mediterranean Islands: A Review of Recent Research”, JMA 3, 145-221. Cherry, J. F. 1995, “Colonizations of Islands”, WorldArch 26.3. Driehaus, J. 1957, “Prahistorische Siedlungsfunde in der Unteren Kaikosebene und an dem Golfe von Çandarlı”, IstMitt 7,

77-101. French, D. H. 1969, “Prehistoric Sites in Northwest Anatolia II: The Balıkesir and Akhisar/Manisa Area”, AnatSt 19, 41-98. Kamil, T. 1982, Yortan Cemetery in the Early Bronze Age of Western Anatolia (BAR International Series 145). Oxford. Kayan, İ. 1988, “Late Holocene Sea-Level Changes on the Western Anatolian Coast”, Palaeogeography,

Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 68, 205-18. Kayan, İ. 1991, “Holocene Geomorphic Evolution of the Beşik Plain and Changing Environment of Ancient Man”, Studia

Troica 1, 79-92. Kökten, K. 1949, “1949 Yılı Tarih Öncesi Araştırmaları Hakkında Kısa Rapor”, Belleten 13, 811-31. Korfmann, M. 1983, Demircihüyük. Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1975-78, Bd. I: Architektur, Stratigraphie und

Befunde. Mainz.. Lamb, W. 1936a, Excavations at Thermi in Lesbos. Cambridge. Lamb, W. 1936b, “Excavations at Kusura near Afyon Karahisar”, Archaeologia 86, 1-64. Lamb, W. 1937, “Excavations At Kusura near Afyon Karahisar: II”, Archaeologia 87, 217-73. Lambrianides, K. & Spencer, N. 1996a, “The Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project First Preliminary Report:

Geomorphological Survey and Borehole Sampling of the Altınova Coastal Plain on the Aegean Coast of Northwest Turkey”, AnatSt 46, 167-200.

Lambrianides, K. & Spencer, N. 1996b, “Geomorphological Survey At Altınova In Northwest Turkey”, 12. ArST, Ankara, 177-99.

Lambrianides, K. & Spencer, N. 1997a, “Some Reflections upon the Origin and the Development of Early Bronze Age Settlement in Lesbos and Some New Evidence from Western Anatolia” in: Doumas Chr. G. & V. La Rosa (eds) 1997, Poliochni e l'antica età del Bronzo nell' Egeo settentrionale, 618-33: Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene/Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, Athens.

Lambrianides, K. & Spencer, N. 1997b, “Unpublished Material From the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut and the British School at Athens and its Contribution to a Better Understanding of the Early Bronze Age Settlement Pattern on Lesbos”, BSA 92, 73-107.

Lambrianides, K. & Spencer, N. 1997c, “Madra Çay”, Anatolian Archaeology 3, 18-9. Lambrianides, K. & Spencer, N. 1997d, “The Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project 1996 Season: Archaeological and

Geomorphological Survey at Altınova in Northwest Turkey”, 15. AST. I (26-30 Mayis 1997): Ankara, 397-417. Lambrianides, K. & Spencer, N. 1998, “Regional Studies in the Madra Çay Delta: Archaeology, Environment and Cultural

History on the Aegean Coast of Turkey from the Early Bronze Age to the Ottoman Empire', in: Matthews, R. (ed.) 1998, Ancient Anatolia: Fifty Years' work by the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, 207-23: Oxbow Books.

Lambrianides, K. & Spencer, N. (in press), “Archaeological Survey in an Alluvial Delta on the Aegean Coast of Turkey: Methodological Problems and Solutions”, in: Betancourt P. P, V. Karageorghis, R. Laffineur & W. D. Niemeier (eds.), Meletemata, Studies in Aegean Archaeology Presented to Malcolm H. Wiener as he Enters his 65th Year, Liege, 457-464


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Paraskevaidis, M. 1978, “Ο προϊστορικός οικισμός του λόφου Προφήτη Ηλία Αγίας Παρασκευής Λέσβου”, Λεσβιακά 7, 161-81.

Renfrew, C. 1972, The Emergence of Civilisation. The Cyclades and the Aegean in the Third Millennium BC. London. Schaus, G. P. 1996, “An Archaeological Field Survey at Eresos, Lesbos”, EchCl 40 (N. S. 15), 27-74. Spencer, N. 1995, A Gazetteer of Archaeological Sites in Lesbos (BAR International Series 623). Oxford. Spencer, N. & Lambrianides, K. 1995, “The Madra Çay Archaeological Project”, Anatolian Archaeology 1, 21. Spencer, N. & Lambrianides, K. 1996, “Madra Çay”, Anatolian Archaeology 2, 25-6. Spencer, N. & Lambrianides, K. 1998 “Madra Çay”, Anatolian Archaeology 4, 24. List of Illustrations: Fig. 1: The East Aegean and Western Anatolia. (Source: Nigel Spencer) Fig. 2: The Madra Çay Delta (foreground), Lesbos Channel (middle ground), and island of Lesbos (background), as seen

from the foothills at the eastern edge of the Madra Çay Delta (Source: Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project). Fig. 3: Prehistoric sites on Lesbos. Contours at 200 m intervals, all land above 200 m shaded. Key to site numbering (bold

text indicates a site to which reference is made in the current paper, and an asterisk indicates that the site is still in need of verification): 1 Thermi; 2 Plati; 3 Saliakas; 4 Mytilene; 5 Agios Bartholomaios; 6 Mitoilia; 7 Agios Phokas; 8 Vrysi tou Deliyianni; 9 Chalakies; 10 Damandri; 11 Kourtir; 12 Pyrrha; 13 Klopedi; 14 Profitis Ilias (Agia Paraskevi); 15 Gerna; 16 Palaiokastro (Arisbe); 17 Makara; 18 Palialona; 19 Krousos; 20 Profitis Ilias/'Hole Hill' (Eresos); 21 Pyrgo; 22 Agioi Archangeloi; 23 Leperna; 24 Methymna; 25 Angourelia Sarakinas; 26 Kara Tepe; 27 Skala Dipiou : 28 Paliopyrgos; 29 Mosyna 30 Taxiarchis tou Trouloti; 31 Tavari; 32 Megalonisi; 33 Tsefos; 34 Ovriokastro (Ancient Antissa); 35 Nisos Panayias; 36 Prasologos; 37 Bari; Profitis Ilias (Kremastis); Makryna; 40 Koukla; 41 Apastro; 42 Anemovouni; 43 Lapsarna; 44 Plakoures; 45 Kagia; 46 Akrasi; 47 Brakos tou Diabolou; 48 Kontisia; 49 Aetos; 50 Katsares; 51 Papados. (Source: Nigel Spencer).

Fig. 4: The Early Bronze Age pottery from Agios Bartholomaios as published in Charitonidis 1960, pls. 206ς'-07 (exact scale not given in the publication). We are grateful to Dr. Eleni Litina, the Editor of Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον, for permission to reproduce this photograph.

Fig. 5: Early Bronze Age pottery from Profitis Ilias (Agia Paraskevi) (exact scale not given in the publication). Reproduced courtesy of M. Paraskevaidis 1978, fig. 2.

Fig. 6: Early Bronze Age Pottery from Profitis Ilias (Agia Paraskevi) in the archives of the British School at Athens. Scale 1:3. (Source: Nigel Spencer)

Fig. 7: Early Bronze Age Pottery from Profitis Ilias (Agia Paraskevi) in the archives of the British School at Athens. (Source: Nigel Spencer)

Fig. 8a: Early Bronze Age Pottery from Makara in the archives of the British School at Athens. Scale 1:2 (Source: Nigel Spencer)

Fig. 8b: Early Bronze Age Pottery from Makara in the archives of the British School at Athens. (Source: Nigel Spencer) Fig. 9: Large cist tombs at Makara. Reproduced courtesy of Dr. M. Axiotis from Περπατώντας τη Λέσβο II, pl. 62α

(Mytilene, 1992). Fig. 10: The Madra Çay Delta. Contours at 100 m (Source: Nigel Spencer) Fig. 11: The Early Bronze Age mound of Hüyücektepe. (Source: Ahmet Çatalbaşoğlu) Fig. 12: The 1996 survey of Hüyücektepe: Early Bronze Age bowl rims with internal ledge (top left, centre); pot foot (right);

vertically pierced lug handle (bottom left); and incised body sherds (bottom centre). (Source: The Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project)

Fig. 13: The 1996 survey of Hüyücektepe: Horizontally-pierced, flaring lug handles from Early Bronze Age bowls. (Source: The Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project)

Fig. 14: The 1996 survey of Hüyücektepe: Vertically-pierced Early Bronze Age lug handles. (Source: The Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project)

Fig. 15: The much-damaged Early Bronze Age mound of Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe from the north. (Source: The Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project)

Fig. 16: The Early Bronze Age mound of Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe. (Source: Ahmet Çatalbaşoğlu) Fig. 17: The three 1997 excavation trenches on the EBA mound of Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe. Buildings 'P' and 'T' represent the

two structures of the su deposu which have severely damaged the mound. (Source: Ben Claasz Coockson)


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Fig. 18: The two marble (top) and one ceramic (bottom) Early Bronze Age figurines from Trench 1 of the 1997 excavation at Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe (Source: Ben Claasz Coockson)

Fig. 19: An extensive stone-built wall in the Upper Step of Trench 1 at Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe. (Source: Ben Claasz Coockson)

Fig. 20: Three incised Early Bronze Age spindle whorls from the 1997 excavations at Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe. (Source: Ben Claasz Coockson)

Fig. 21: Early Bronze Age tripod cooking pot from the Lower Step of Trench 1 at Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe. Scale 1:2. (Source: Ben Claasz Coockson)

Fig. 22: Mud-brick wall and hearth in the Lower Step of Trench 1 at Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe. Scale 1:20. (Source: Ben Claasz Coockson)

Fig. 23: Stone-built wall corner and hearth in Trench 2 at Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe. Scale 1:20 (Source: Ben Claasz Coockson) Fig. 24: Stone-built wall in Trench 3 at Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe. Scale 1:20 (Source: Ben Claasz Coockson) Endnotes: i This paper derives from the regional studies of the authors in the northeast Aegean and Western Anatolia. Funding was

provided by the British Academy (in the form of a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship administered by the Academy and generously funded by Swan Hellenic/P&O); and the Wainwright Fund for Near Eastern Archaeology at Oxford (in the form of a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship). Worcester College Oxford gave generous grants for research visits to Athens to examine the British School at Athens and the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI) archives. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Mrs. A. Archontidou-Argyri and Mrs. Lilian Acheilara in Mytilene who granted a permit to study the topography of the island and its ancient sites in 1990. In 1992 and 1993 permission was also given to study prehistoric material on display in Mytilene museum and that kept in the museum's storerooms. Permission to publish material from the archives of the British School at Athens was kindly given by the Managing Committee in London, and permission to publish sherds from the DAI in Athens was granted by Prof. K. Fittschen. The assistance of Dr. Martin Kreeb is also acknowledged during the study of the sherds in the DAI in March-April 1995. Dr. Makis Axiotis and Mr Miltis Paraskevaidis kindly discussed details of their extensive research in Lesbos and both scholars generously gave permission for details of this research (which have appeared in a number of books and as articles in the periodical Λεσβιακά and Αρχαιολογία) to be discussed. We are also extremely grateful to the editor of Αρχαιολογία (Dr. Anna Lambraki) and the President of the Εταιρεία των Λεσβιακών Μελετών (Mr Pavlos Vlachos) for permission to mention details of this important research. Dr. Elena Litina, Editor of the Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον kindly gave permission to the authors to reproduce photographs of the Agios Bartholomaios material from the journal's 1960 volume. The second half of the paper reports on the work of The Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project, a collaboration between the Institutes of Archaeology in Oxford and London, and the Ege University in İzmir. The authors are extremely grateful to the General Directorate of Monuments and Museums in Ankara for permission to conduct the project and acknowledge the great assistance given by the Ministry's representatives from 1995-98. For logistical support we are grateful to the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara and London. The research was made possible in 1995-98 by general grants from the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) (New York), The Leverhulme Trust (London), Earthwatch, The Royal Society (London), The British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (London/Ankara), the British Academy (London), the Wainwright Fund (Oxford), The Craven Committee (Oxford), and The Meyerstein Fund (Oxford).

ii For a detailed review of Thermi and its material, see the discussion in Lambrianides & Spencer 1997b, 82-6. iii We are grateful to Dr. Elena Litina, editor of the Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον, for permission to reproduce the photographs of

this material. The pots from the site are stored in the Museum of Mytilene (both the pots here illustrated and other pieces from the site gathered more recently which still await publication).

iv Concerning EB contact and colonization in the Aegean between intervisible islands, see the various discussions by Cherry (1981; 1985; 1987; 1990; 1995); cf. Broodbank 1989; 1993 for interesting discussions of long-distance sea journeys in this period.

v The Madra Çay Delta Archaeological Project began in 1995 and conducted archaeological surface survey under the direction of the present authors from 1996-97. The 1997 excavation at Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe was carried out under the overall direction of Bayan Neriman Özaydın (Director of Balıkesir Museum) and her museum staff, to whom we give our grateful thanks. Mr. Ben Claasz Coockson of Bilkent University was technical supervisor and illustrator, and we are also grateful for the assistance of Mr. Osman Ermişler, Assistant Director of Konya Museum, and Dr Lucy Blue of Southampton University, who acted as trench supervisors. Prof. Dr. İlhan Kayan and his team from the geography department of Ege University, İzmir have directed geomorphological research throughout the delta since 1995, and on/around Yeni Yeldeğirmentepe in 1997.

vi At Thermi, perhaps half the site may have been eroded by the sea (see Korfmann 1983, 229 and fig. 364).


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Urla Kapak01 Kapak03 CONTENTS03_1 CONTENTS sonrası bos sayfa

28 Lambrianides resimliKYRIACOS LAMBRIANIDES &NIGEL SPENCERInstitute of Archaeology,

the aegean in the neolithic, chalcolithic and the early bronze...

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