The Prehistoric Stones of Greece: A Resource from Field Survey
Paraskevi Elefanti, Gilbert Marshall, Clive Gamble, 2015. https://doi.org/10.5284/1028984. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Dr Paraskevi Elefanti, Dr Gilbert Marshall, Prof Clive Gamble unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
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- ADS Collection: 1620
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1028984
- How to cite using this DOI
Survey overview
Under the AHRC Resource Enhancement Programme we set out to collate in a standardized way, the results of archaeological field surveys in Greece, with particular emphasis on those with chipped stone artefacts dated to the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. Our objectives were to:
- Assess the scale of archaeological field survey in Greece
- Map the areas covered by these surveys and to locate the sites
- Document their methods and results in a standardised way
- Make this database available as a web resource.
We set out to include all land based field surveys carried out in Greece, currently numbering 144 although this number continues to grow as new projects are initiated and added. They cover a range of chronological periods from the Lower Palaeolithic to recent, and involve a number of investigative techniques applied at variable levels of intensity; field walking, mapping of architecture, geophysics, and limited excavation. The information recorded included the location and scale of the survey project, their aims, methods and results in terms of sites and findspots identified and artefacts collected.
Site coverage
The SOG database includes the majority of sites and findspots in Greece which have produced Palaeolithic and Mesolithic chipped stone artefacts. We have also entered those sites discovered through field survey where Neolithic material was found, but excluded those Neolithic sites not discovered through field survey. This is an important distinction which needs to be remembered when using our database to investigate Neolithic distributions.
Only those sites or findspots which could be reasonably accurately and securely located on the ground were included, and given a six figure grid coordinate and an estimate of accuracy. We are confident that our coordinates are within a few hundred meters of the actual position in the worst case, with most to within meters. Sites or findspots which could not be accurately positioned were excluded for the moment (with a very few notable exceptions).
Once a site or findspot had been selected for inclusion on the basis of the above criteria, it was recorded in its entirety. This included all chronological phases and categories of material, with information including location, method of investigation, nature of the area, and artefacts and any ecofacts. For surface scatters the finds are presented without any chronological division. For excavated sites for which information was available, finds were grouped separately into broad chronological phases.
Acknowledgements
SOG was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) under their Resource Enhancement Programme. Additional funding was awarded by The Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) during 2010 under their publication award scheme. We are extremely grateful to both these bodies for their support. SOG benefited from the advice and expertise of a specialist steering group whose members were Curtis Runnels, John Cherry, Eleni Panagapoulou, Michalis Fotiadis and Stelios Andreou. Thanks are due to staff in the Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London including Nick Branch, Xingmin Meng and particularly Weili Wang for his work on the website and database search facilities. Particular thanks are due for the support of the British School at Athens and its directors during the course of the project, James Whitley and Cathy Morgan. The library facilities of both the British School at Athens and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens were invaluable sources of published and grey literature.
We are grateful to the following individuals who have permitted us to use their records or have provided assistance and advice. Evgenia Adam, Alexandra Alexandri, Geoff Bailey, Andreas Darlas, Jack Davis, Oliver Dickinson, Merkourios Georgiadis, Marina Giasta, Katerina Harvati, Amalia Kakissis, Katerina Kopaka, Kostas Kopanias, Georgia Koutressi-Philippakis, Janusz Kozlowski, Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika, Evangelia Kyriatzi, Stefanos Ligovanlis, Christos Matzanas, Garifalia Metallinou, Lucia Nixon, Ourania Palli, Antigoni Papadea, Vaggelis Papakonstantinou, John Prag, Colin Renfrew, Adamantios Sampson, Kostas Sbonias, Leonidas Vokotopoulos, the late Berit Wells, Todd Whitelaw, James Wiseman and Konstantinos Zachos.
