A Prehistoric Survey of Thessaly: New Light on the Greek Middle Paleolithic

Author(s): Curtis Runnels

Source: Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 277-290
Published by: Boston University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/530309
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 277

A Prellistoric Survey of Thessaly: New

Light on tlse Greek Middle Paleoliffiic

CurtisRunnels
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts

Aspartofa research programaimedat clarifying thedateoftheMiddlePaleolithicin

Greeceand its relationship withcontemporary industriesin theBalkans,a surveyofthe
LarisaareaofThessaly for Paleolithicremainswasundertaken in 1987. Theresultsofthis
surveyarereported, alongwitha reinterpretation oftheavailableevidence in Greecefor the
dateoftheMiddlePaleolithic.Thebanksand terracesystemofthePeneiosRiverweresys-
tematically searched alongwiththosepartsofThessaly withdepositsoldenoughto contain
prehistoricartifacts.In 1987, wediscovered 32 f ndspotsandcollected211 lithicartifacts.
ThelithicartifactsareMiddleand UpperPaleolithic types,andaredatedbytheirassocia-
tionwiththef uviatiledeposits exposed bydowncutting oftheriver.Radiometric datesfor
thef uviatiledeposits indicatean ageof45-27 KYA (thousands ofyearsago)for thePaleo-
lithicf nds.Otherdatesfor theMiddlePaleolithicin Greeceareon thesameorder.The
Thessalian Paleolithicindustryis a Levallois-Mousterianfacieswithbifacialleaftoints,side
scrapers,Mousterian points,denticulates,andAurignacian-type endscrapers, burins,re-
touchedblades,and bifacialleaftointswithroundedbases.TheThessalian industry,withits
m?xture ofMiddleand UpperPaleolithictypes,issimilarto otherassemblages in Greece.
TheGreekLevallois-Mousterian resembles theSzeletianofHungaryand is ofapproxi-
matelythesameage.It wasperhaps produced bylateNeanderthals in contactwithan
anatomically-modern humanpopulation. Late UpperPaleolithic Epigravettian and
Mesolithic industries werenotidentifedin Thessaly andarerarein Greece.Someareas
mayhavebeenuninhabitedorlittleuseduntil9 KYA whenthef rstNeolithicsettlements
appearin Thessaly.

Introduction alsoappearto be 50-40 KYA in age.A casecanbe made

Recentdatesfor the Levallois-Mousterian in Greece
suggestthatthe MiddlePaleolithic in Greeceis consider-
ablylaterthanwasoncethought(Pope,Runnels,andKu
1984). Evidencefor its date and stratigraphic position,
however,is very rare.MiddlePaleolithicartifactsfrom
Thessalyfoundin the 1960s were assignedto the last
interglacial,ca. 125-118 KYA (thousandsof yearsago)
and,if thisis confirmed, the industrywouldbe theoldest
one in Greece(Milojcicet al. 1965). A new surveyin
Thessalywas undertaken in 1987 to obtaina morepre-
cise understanding of the characteristics
andage for the
Levallois-Mousterian in that region.A reanalysisof the
lithicartifactsfromThessalyandradiometric determina-
tionsof theiragearepresentedin thispaperandprovide
thebasisfordatingtheGreekLevallois-Mousterian to the
lastinterstadial,ca. 50-32 KYA. Thisconclusionis consis-
tent with evidencefromotherpartsof Greece:Middle
Paleolithicsitesin thesouthernArgolidandEpiruswould
thattheGreekLevallois-Mousterian is a lateindustrythat
closelyresembles the Hungarian Szeletian.
New datesfromIsraelhaveprompteda re-evaluation
of the chronologyof the Neanderthals in the NearEast
(Valladas et al. 1987, 1988). It is thoughtthatNeander-
thalsenteredtheNearEastafter60 KYA, andthatanatom-
icalmodernswerepresentin thatareaasearlyas 100 KYA.
Researchin Greece,muchof whichhas beenconducted
in the last20 years,hasproducedevidencethatindicates
that a MiddlePaleolithicLevallois-Mousterian industry,
probablyproducedby late Neanderthals, appearedin
Greecelaterthan60 KYA, aboutthe sametimeas Nean-
derthalsenteredthe NearEast.Artifactsolderthan60
KYA in Greecearerare.
TheGreekLevallois-Mousterian containselementsthat
tie it to otherBalkanMiddlePaleolithicindustries, espe-
ciallythe Szeletianof HungaryandBulgaria(ALlsworth-
Jones1986).It hasbeensuggestedthatthe Szeletian was
278 Surreyof Thessolly:
the GreekPolleolithiclRunnels
a productof Neanderthals who were in contactwith
anatomically-modern humansbetween43-32 KYA, but
thisis onlya hypothesis. The Szeletianandrelatedindus-
triescouldalso be the productsof anatomical moderns,
who areattestedin the Balkansas earlyas 38 KYA (Smith
1982).The evidencefromGreece,however,canbe used
to argueagainstthe latterhypothesis. TheMiddlePaleo-
lithicLevallois-Mousterian hasa differentdistributionin
GreecethanlaterPleistoceneindustriesof Gravettian or
Epigravettian type, whichbelongprincipally to the last
glacialmaximum andafter,ca.20-13 KYA. TheLevallois-
Mousterian, abundantin lowlandareasnearthe present
shoreline,disappears(on presentevidence)by 30 KYA.
LaterPleistocene industriesof UpperPaleolithic typeare
rareand areverypatchyin theirdistribution. Theyare
foundmainlyin Epirus,often at high elevationsin the
uplandvalleys(Baileyet al. 1984),in Bocotia,andin the
Argolid(Perles1987).Someareas,suchasThessaly, have
producedno evidellceof laterPleistocene industries.
In this paper,it is arguedthat the GreekLevallois-
Mousterian industrymayrepresent a relativelylatemove-
mentof archaicHoznosapiens,presumably Neanderthals,
fromCentralandSE Europeinto Greeceafterthe begin-
ningof the lastglacial.The presenceof bifacialleafpoints
connectstheGreekLevallois-Mousterian withtheBalkan,
andevenSE European,industries.UpperPaleolithicin-
dustriesin Greecearelater,andareof a completelydif-
ferentcharacter thanthe Levallois-Mousterian. Thislast
factis consistentwith the hypothesisthatthe Levallois-
Mousterian wasproducedbyNeanderthals andtheUpper
Paleolithicindustriesby anatomical moderns.The disap-
pearanceof the GreekLevallois-Mousterian wouldbe a
consequence of the disappearanceof the Neanderthals.
Neanderthals and anatomical modernsmayhavebeen
in Greeceat the sarnetime,butif so theyoccupieddiffer-
ent territoriesand had differentexploitationstrategies.
GreekMiddlePaleolithic sitesarepredominantly open-air
andarefoundat low elevations(FIG. 1). Lateglacialsites,
however,areoftenfoundat higherelevations,almostal-
waysassociatedwith cavesor rockshelters(Baileyet al.
1983).
New Paleolithic Finds in Thessaly
A reassessmentof the date and characteristics
of the
GreekLevallois-Mousterianwasthe objectiveof a survey
in Thessalyin 1987. Nothingwasknownaboutthe Pa-
leolithicinhabitants
of Thessalyuntilstonetoolsof Paleo-
lithictype were discoveredby chancein 1958 eroding
fromthe banksof the PeneiosRivernearLarisa(Milojcic
et al. 1965). Chancefindsin the 1960s addedto the
numberof tools, but little information was availableto
placethe industries in timeor to assesstheirsignificance
foranunderstanding of Thessalianprehistory (Theocharis
1967).Milojcicandhis colleagues(Milojcicet al. 1965)
believedthatthe faunalremainsfoundwith the tools in
the riverindicateda last interglacial age (ca. 125-118
KYA) for the MiddlePaleolithic industry,but it was also
clearthatelementswerepresentcharacteristic of the Up-
per Paleolithicor even laterperiods.No otherfindsof
Paleolithic stonetoolsin the PeneiosRiveror otherparts
of the Thessalian plainwerereported,andthe pictureof
Paleolithic Thessalyremained incomplete.
Thesurveyin theLarisadistrictwasundertaken in order
to obtaina betteridea of the natureand date of the
Paleolithicin Greece(FIG.1). The purposeof the survey
was to systematically searchthe banksof the Peneios
River,theterraces alongtheriver,andotherselectedareas
in Thessalycontainingdepositsof late Quaternary age
(FIG. 2). The precisesurveyareaswere identified from
geologicalmapspreparedby Demitrack(1986) in the
courseof hergeologicalinvestigation of thePeneiosRiver
system.In additionto the PeneiosRiver,elevenother
areaswith relictalluvialpaleosols(alluvialfansthathad
not beendestroyedor obscuredby post-Pleistocene ero-
sionor alluviation) weresearched.
The surveywas carriedout with a fieldtearnof four
personsandemployedmethodsdevelopedfor the semi-
aridMediterranean region(RunnelsandvanAndel1987).
In a fieldseasonof one month,32 findspotswereidenti-
fied (FIG. 2), eachconsistingof a concentration of flints
(the principalrawmaterialusedfor tools in Thessalyis
jasper).A collectionof 211 lithicartifacts wasmade.The
numberof artifacts is smallbecauseflintsarerareon the
surfacein Thessaly. Thisreportis basedon the analysis of
theseartifacts,andthe analysisof another33 flintsin a
privatecollectionin Larisathatwasmadebetween1967
and 1987. Another100 (of 664 flints)from previous
collections(Milojcicet al. 1965; Theocharis1967) and
storedin theVolosarchaeological museum(Freund1971)
wereexamined. Theanalysis of theflintsgivesa reasonably
clearpictureof thenatureof theThessalian industry. The
majorityof the flintscollectedfromthe banksof the Pe-
neiosRiveror fromthe terracesthatborderthe riverare
Middleor UpperPaleolithictype$.Surfaceflintswere
foundin 1987 in otherpartsof the Larisadistrictbut it
is not certainthattheyareprehistoric.
The numberof artifactsrecoveredis too smallfor a
statisticalanalysis.Sincethe tools arefromsurfacesites,
the computation of typologicalindices,e.g. the Levallois
index,would not be meaningful.It is best to relyfor
interpretation uponthepresence or absenceof typefossils.
 15, 1988 279
JournollofFieldArcholeoloflylVol.

Figure1. Map showingthe distributionof Levallois-Mousterian findspotsin Greece.Findspotsmarked

with a filledcirclehavea Leallois-Mousterianindustrywithoutbifacialleafpoints.Findspotsmarked
with a starhavean industrxTwith bifacialleafpoints.Squaresmarkfindspotswherebifacialelementsof
uncertainnTpewere found in a late MiddlePaleolithicor earlyUpperPaleolithiccontext.

Themostsignificant findingsof thesurveymaybesum- that Paleolithicartifactsare to be found along the entire

marized asfollows.Flintsof MiddleandUpperPaleolithic
tvpewerefoundfor the firsttimeon old terracesof the
Peneiosriver,the Niedertewasse(paleo-floodplain)de-
scribedby Schneider(FIG. 2: findspots[FS] 9, 10, 11,
12, 30; Schneider1968, 1979). New findspots(FIG. 2:
FS 4, 5, 14, 29, 31) with flintsof Middleand Upper
Paleolithictype wereidentifiedin the Peneiosriverbed,
andsomecouldbe correlated withthestratification visible
in the riverbanksof the lowestterraceof the river.New
collectionswerealsomadefromsitesdiscovered in 1958-
1960 by V. Milojcicand his associates(Milojcicet al.
1965;FIG. 3: FS 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 17). It is clear
length of the Peneios River from west of the Stena Ka-
lamakiou(FIG. 3) to Larisa,and north from Larisato the
Steno Rodhias(at FS 31, FIG. 2).
All of the certainMiddle and Upper Paleolithicflints
were found on the gravelbarsin the Peneios riverbedor
on the fossil terracespreservedin the river gorges west
and north of Larisaat a height of ca. 15-40 m abovethe
presentriver.The Middle Paleolithicflints appearto be-
long to a late faciesof the Levallois-Mousterianfound in
Epirus and the Peloponnese and dated to 50-40 KYA
(Baileyet al. 1983; Pope, Runnels,and Ku 1984; Reisch
1982). The ThessalianLevallois-Mousterian(FIGS. 4, 5)
280 Sutveyof Thessaly:the GreekPaleolithiclRunnels

Figure2. Locationof findspotsin Thessalyinvestigatedin 1987.

resembles the typicalBaLkan Mousterian andis character-

Carefulsearchingof old and new findspotsin the river
izedbyMousterian points,a widevarietyof sidescrapers,
bedandtheoldriverterraces detectedfewcoresorcortical
pieces.Levalloisflakesare morecommonin the earlier
includingsmalloffsetside scrapers(dEjete), denticulates,
rareLevalloisbladesand flakes,and bifacialleafpoints collections,probablybecausethe collectorsretrievedthe
(Gamble1986: 160-179). The Levalloistechniqueis largerandmorediagnosticspecimens.The overallinci-
present,but rare.The UpperPaleolithictypeshaveAu- denceof the Levalloistechnique,however,appearsto be
rignacian affinitiesandincludeendscrapers on flakesand low.Thereis littledoubtthatthe artifacts
relatively were
blades,bladeswithmarginal derivedfromthe exposeddeposits.The artifactsarefor
retouch,buskedburins,den-
ticulates,and,rarely,bifacialleafpoints(FIGS. 4, 5). themostpartsharpandunrolled;manyshowsandpolish
typicalof 100 or 200 m of low velocitytransport in the
river(Tj. H. van Andel,personalcommunication), but
The ThessalianLevallois-Mousterian theywerenot transported overlong distances.It is pos-
The lithicartifactsfromthe gravelbedsin the Peneios siblethatsomematerialmayhavebeenderivedfromthe
Riverwerederived,alongwithfossilanimalbones,from fossilterracesin the StenaKalamakiou (heavily-eroded
layersof conglomerates exposedin the riverbankswest terraceslopeswereobserved,andsometoolswerefound
of Larisa.The findsfromthe Peneiosterracesandbanks on smallalluvialfansthat haveformedin recenttimes,
includea high proportion(>40%) of retouchedpieces. e.g., at FS 10 [FIG. 3]). Thefindsareconsistentwiththe
 X - \ /

'<
w ln

X - t (J

DJUSg

0-X fS120 ^ °°e

<'
: fS10 /
(
fS13
FS17
M7 FS7
\ X fS11 X M1 FS6
\ rA r1 fS9
-- K ;6 FS14

9L

2 == wxM-1

-
-
_ bi X ss FS4&;0
FS3 M II j2)

.
fS32 (iM-3 /
0 2.5
l
KM
eI VE R
-

<-

WoL

Figure3. Locationof findspotson the PeneiosRiverin the Larisadistrictof Thessaly.Milojcic(M)

19581959 findspotsand 1987 findspots(1iS)shown as filledcircles.Probablefindspotsfor Theocharis
collectionareshown as filledsquares:the findspotsfor artifactsin the Theochariscollectionwere not
recorded.
 282 Surreyof Thessaly.the GreekPaleolithic/Runnels

The Greekleafpointsaresimilarto Szeletianones from

HungaryandBulgariathatarenow regardedas evolved
MiddlePaleolithic(Allsworth-Jones 1986). At Findspot
6 (FIG. 3) in Thessaly, however,a leafpointthat has a
roundedbase and an ovateoutlinewas foundin asso-
clatlon principallybut not exclusivelywith Upper
. .

Paleolithic-type artifacts.Thisovateleafpointis significant

as it resemblesspecimensfrom the UpperSzeletianat
SzeletaCaveand from Aurignacian levelsat Istallosko
Cavein Hungary.In theabsenceof anyclearstratigraphic
indications, it is not possibleto be certain,but as a hy-
pothesisthe largerandhigher-quality leafpointsmaybe
regarded asolder,andthesmaller, morecarelessly-worked
specimens maybe younger.Thisconclusionis supported
by evidencefromotherGreekLevallois-Mousterian sites
Figure4. Levallois-Mousterian artifactsfromfindspotson the Peneios (see below). Leafpoints are not found on all Levallois-
RiveroThessaly:bifacialleafpoints(top row); offsetside scraper(de- Mousteriansites, and this shouldoccasionno surprise.
jete) and convergentside scraper(bottomrow). Theyareperhapsassociated with someof the morespe-
cializedsites.Fragments of leafpointsmaybe expectedat
huntingstandsor killsites,whereweaponswererepaired
or the pointswerelost.
conclusionthat preparedblanksandfinishedtools were Sourcesof rawmaterial in Thessalywerelocal.Onewas
broughtto thispartof Thessalyandwerediscarded along found at Findspot30 (FIG. 2), a flint-working atetier
the banksof the Peneiosafterverylittleuse, and there (workshop)on a gravelterraceoverlookingthe entrance
they becamemingledwith bonesof animals,principally to a rivergorgenorthof Larisa.Cobblesof jasperup to
thoseof preyspecies.Therarityof coresandcorticalpieces 20 cm in sizeoccurin the terracegravels,andtheywere
mayindicatethatfinishedtoolsweremainlyonesbrought workedinto tools at this place.Artifactsof Middleand
here in the courseof huntingforayswithinThessaly, UpperPaleolithic type(vix.,Levalloisflakes,endscrapers,
whereanimalswere ambushedor scavengedalongthe
river,especially at thosepointswherethe riverenteredor
emergedfromsteep-sided gorges.
TheThessalian Levallois-Mousterian artifactsaresmall
in scale.The largestflakesandtoolswerecollectedin the Figure5. Levallois-Mousterian artifactsfrom findspotson the Peneios
yearsbetween1967-1987. The materialfroma private River,Thessaly:convergentside scraper(top leE); buskedburin(top
right);bifacialleafpoints(middlerow); end scraperon a flake(lower
collectionin Larisaincludesartifactswith lengthsup to left); end scraperon a blade(lowerright).
10 cm, but the meanlengthof largertools andflakesis
on theorderof 5.5-6.5 cm.Themeanlengthsof elements
collectedin 1987, whensizewasnot a factorin recogni-
tion,areon theorderof 4.0-4.3 cm.Thusthesizeof the
Thessalian industryis similarto Kokkinopilos in Epirus,
wherea meanlengthof 4.5 cm for flakesis recorded
(HiggsandVita-Finzi1966:22).
Themostdistinctive artifactof theThessalian Levallois-
Mousterian is a bifacialleafpoint.Leafpointsarewidely
distributedin Greece,and they are associatedwith the
Levallois-Mousterian (PIG. 1; TABLE 1). The Greekleaf-
pointsare variablein typologyand size. Al1havebeen
flakedby soE-hammer directpercussion(an observation
basedon the authorns replicative experiments). Complete
specimensrangein sizefrom5.1 to 9.8 cm.The charac-
teristicformis thatof a laurelleaf,pointedat bothends.
 15, 1988 283
JournalofFieldArchaeologylVol.

of bifacialleafpointsin Greece.
Table1. Distribution
Re,gion Site No. References
Macedonia Palaiokastro 1 Dakaris,Higgs, and Hey 1964
Epirus Kokkinopilos 8 Higgs and Vita-Finzi1966
Morfi 1 Higgs andVita-Finzi1966
Corfu Site 18 1 Sordinas1969
Elis Amalias# 17 1(?) Chavaillon,Chavaillon,and
Hours 1967
Vasilaki 1 Reisch 1982
Southern
Argolid B85 2 Pope, Runnels,and Ku 1984
Thessaly
(Larisa) Peneiosriver 7 Theocharis1967

alongwith coresand flakingdebriswere

denticulates), 9.0 m belowthe plainon the bankoppositethevillageof
recoveredhere.The rawmaterialsmatchthoseof tools Arnygdhalea 1968: 34). The beginningof the
(Schneider
foundalongtheriver,andFS 30 wasevidentlythesource depositionof the Niederterrassefluvialsequence,there-
for muchprehistoricraw material.Anothersourcefor fore, can be placedearlierthan45-40 KYA. The upper
darkreddish-brown
high-quality, jasperis reportednear limitfor the Niederterrassedepositis indicatedby dates
Trikalain the PindhosMountains(K. Theodoropoulos, derivedfrom pedogenicnodulesof calciumcarbonate
personalcommunication). The collectionof rawmaterial (CaCO3)formedin a soil on the Niederterrasse. Demi-
fromboththesesourcesmayhavetakenplacein thecourse trackobtainedtwo U/Th (uraniuSthorium)disequili-
of the plainon huntingforays.
of seasonalexploitation briumassays:27,000 + 8,000 b.p. fromnearthe baseof
the soil, and 18,000 + 8,000 b.p. fromnearthe top of
the soil, andshe concludesthatthis soil beganto form
Datingthe ThessalianLevallois-Mousterian before27 KYA, afterthe fluviatiledepositionhadceased.
Thanksto the research carriedout by AnneDemitrack Thus an age rangeof 45-27 KYA iS in orderfor the
on the lateQuaternary depositspriorto the survey,it is depositionof thesediments, withinwhicharefoundfossil
possibleto placethe Peneiosfindsinto a datedsequence bonesandlithicartifacts.
basedon their position in the fluviatilestratification. Thereis someevidencefor the positionof the lithic-
Demitrackobtainedradiocarbon assaysfor shell (Unio bearingdepositswithinthe fluviatilesequence.Flintsand
batavusandCorbicula
crassus fuminalis)anduranium-se- fossil boneswere observedin situ by Milojcicand his
riesassaysfor pedogeniccarbonates fromdifferentparts colleagueserodingfromconglomerate layersat the base
of theNiederterrasse(TABLE 2; Demitrack 1986,personal of the sequence,at depthsof 6-9 m. Fossilbonesand
communication). Radiocarbon determinationsweremade artifacts, bothhavingconglomerate adheringto theirsur-
on Unioshellstakenfroma loosely-cemented sandat 7.7- faces,werefoundin 1987 on riversandbars whereit was
8.0 m belowthe levelof theplainat thevillageof Amyg- clearthattheyhadbeenderivedtogetherfromthe same
dhalea(38,000 + 1,500 b.p.), andon shellsof Corbicula nearbysource.Fewof the artifactsshowsignsof having
JiuminalisnearMikrolithos(42,000 + 3,500 b.p.)froma beenrolledandtumbledin the river,andthe associated
comparable depth,nearthe baseof the Niederterrasse. fossilbonesusedfor relativedatingaremostlyunbroken.
Schneider obtaineda similardate(44,100 b.p. [no stan- Finally,lithicsof UpperPaleolithictype werenoted in
darddeviationcited])on a lignitebedat a depthof 7.0- situ in the uppermemberof conglomerate at Findspot

Greece.
Table2. Relevantdatesfor Paleolithic
Samplenumber A,ge (KIA) Site Reference

ST3547 (U/Th) 52,000+13,000 B27 (SouthernArgolid) Pope, Runnels,and Ku 1984

H 809 ( C) >44,100 PeneiosRiver Schneider1968
SMU 1465 (l4C) 42,000+3500 PeneiosRiver Demitrack1986
I 1957 (l4C) >39,9Q0 Asprochaliko(micro-Mousterian) Baileyet al. 1983
SMU 1466 (l4C) 38,000+ 1500 PeneiosRiver Demitrack1986
I 1958 (l4C) 37,000+4100 Asprochaliko(basalMousterian) Baileyet al. 1983
-2700
LIZ-2 (U/Th) 27,000+8000 PeneiosRiver(bottomof soil) Demitrack1986
I 1956 26,100+900 Asprochaliko(Gravettian,level 9) Baileyet al. 1983
ARG-2(M) (U/Th) 18,000+8000 PeneiosRiver(top of soil) Demitrack1986
 284 SurveyofThessaly:
theGreek
PaleolithiclRunnels

17, approximately 4 m belowthe presentsurface.It can carefulsearching of the erodeddepositsoutsidethe caves

be concludedthatthe industriesfoundin the riverspan yieldedonlyByzantine artifacts.
the periodrepresented by the depositionof the Nieder- In someplaces,e.g., theTempegorgeNE of Larisa,the
terrassematerials, andhavean ageof ca.45-27 KYA. caveshavebeenscouredby erosion,whichhas in some
casesundercutthe mouthsof the caves,removingany
depositswhichmayhaveonceexisted.Thisis not truefor
allof thecavesinthesurveyarea,however,andtheabsence
TheLatePaleolithicandthe Mesolithic of Gravettianor Epigravettian industriesis probablysig-
in Thessaly nificant.Elsewhere in Greece,latePaleolithicdepositsare
The collectionsof MilojcicandTheocharis consistof commonlyfoundin caves(RunnelsandvanAndel1987;
ca. 75%MiddlePaleolithic typesand25%UpperPaleo- Baileyet al. 1983, 1984).
lithictypes,althoughsome of the assignments of speci- No Mesolithicartifacts wereidentifiedin the 1987sur-
mensareonly tentative.Similarpercentages werenoted vey of Thessaly.It is evidentthat Mesolithicsites are
on Peneiosfindspotsin 1987.At firstglance,it appeared extremely rarein the Aegeanarea.Theonlyattestedsites
thatthereweretwo industries present.No findspots,how- areFranchthi CaveandSidhariin Corfil( Jacobsen1976;
ever,wereidentifiedwith UpperPaleolithictypesalone, Perles1987; Sordinas1969). Intensiveand systematic
exceptin the caseof strayartifacts(FS4, FS 12). Middle surveyselsewherein Greece,TurkishThrace,andYugo-
Paleolithictypeswerealwayspresenton the samefind- slaviahavefailedto detectany certainsites of this age
spots as UpperPaleolithictypes, and thereis a small (Cherry1985; Chapman,Shiel,and Batovic1987; Oz-
number(e.g., FS 3) of findspotsthathaveonly Middle dogan 1979; RunnelsandvanAndel 1987). Acarefill
Paleolithictypes.It is a possibilitythattheremaybe two searchin Thessalyfor the small-scale andratherarypical
faciesof one MiddlePaleolithicindustryin Thessaly:a Mesolithicindustrywas fruitless.Theocharis(1967) re-
typicalLevallois-Mousterian fromthe lowermemberof porteda site,Voivi,on the southernshoreof LakeKarla
conglomerate, andan industrywithbothMousterian and in Thessaly,whichhe assignedto the Mesolithicon the
Aurignacian typesfromthe upperconglomerate member. basisof the manysmall-scale piecesof flintandobsidian,
The leafpointsapparently belongto both facies,but the the fewgeometrictools,andthe absenceof pottery.This
onlyspecimensfromknownfindspots(FS 1, FS 6) were identification wasadvanced withgreatcaution,as the na-
associated withthefacieshavingmixedMiddleandUpper tureof Mesolithicindustriesin Greeceat thattimewas
Paleolithictypes.UpperPaleolithicindustries,with the unknown.It is now possibleto compareVoivi with
possibleexceptionof theAurignacian thathasbeenmen- FranchthiCaveand Sidhari,and the Voivi site can no
tioned,areabsentin Thessaly. longerbe consideredas Mesolithic.Geometrictools and
Stratified
depositswithAurignacian materialarerarein othersmall-scale lithicsareknownalso in the Neolithic
Greece.Thereis Aurignacian in Franchthi CaveandKef- andthe BronzeAge (Perles1984; Runnels1985). The
alariCavein theArgolid,andsimilarindustries havebeen lackof a Mesolithic industryin Thessalylendsconsiderable
recognized in ElisandCorfu(Perles1987).Noneofthese weightto the hypothesisthatthe earlyNeolithicvillage
occurrences hasbeendirectlydated,althoughatFranchthi farmingcommunities of Thessaly,andpossiblyfor other
Cavethe Aurignacian is olderthan25 KYA, andmaybe partsof Greece,arenot the resultof indigenousdevel-
as old as 38 KYA (Perles1987). opments,butaretheresultof earlyagriculturalists moving
LaterGravettian or Epigravettian industriescharacter- into uninhabitedterritories(Ammermanand Cavalli-
ized by the presenceof backedbladeletsandmicrolithic Sforza1984:34-84; Dennell1983:152-189;Theocharis
geometricsaremorecommonin Greece.DevelopedUp- 1973:33-110).
perPaleolithic industries datedto between26 and12 KYA
havebeenfoundat Kastritsa, Asprochaliko, andKlithiin
Epirus,at Gravasin Corfil,at Seidiin Bocotia,and at ThessalianIndustriesandIndustriesElsewhere
Franchthi Cave(Baileyet al. 1984; Gamble1986: 181; in Greece
Perles1987). In sharpcontrastto theseregions,Gravet- The Middle Paleolithicis very well representedin
tianor Epigravettian industrieswithbackedbladesappear Greece,especially in Epirus,Corfil,andElis,of whichthe
to be missingfromThessaly.One wouldexpectto find firstareais the best knownand most thoroughlypub-
suchmaterial, if it werepresent,in one of themanycaves lished.Theremay be two MiddlePaleolithicfaciesin
androcksheltersfoundin the region,butthe Thessalian Epirus.Findspotsin EpirusareKokkinopilos, Morfi,and
cavesappearto havebeenuninhabited in the Paleolithic; Karvounari (Dakaris,Higgs, and Hey 1964; Higgs and
 15, 1988 285
JournalofFieldArchaeoloflylVol.

Vita-Finzi1966; Higgs et al. 1967), wheretheyconsist smaller-scale materials, the sidescrapers

especially andthe
of red clay depositswith associatedflint scatters.The leafpoint, are similarto those from the Epirus surface sites
industryis a small-scale Levallois-Mousterian with side of Kokkinopilosand Morfi.The small-scaleLevallois-
scrapers,blades,denticulates, Mousterian points,andLev- Mousterian is evidentlymorecommonandis represented
alloiscores,points,andflakes.Sixbifacialleafpoints were on mostof the Corfilsites.
foundon the surfaceat Kokkinopilos, andanothercomes One or morefaciesof Levallois-Mousterian havealso
fromMorfi.Excavations at Kokkinopilos (siteB) yielded beenfoundat opensitesin Elis (NWPeloponnese)by a
two otherbifacialleafpointfragments in association with Frenchteam,whichrecognizesthe followingsequence
the Levallois-Mousterian. Theseleafpointsaremostsim- (Chavaillon, Chavaillon, andHours1969):a lowermem-
ilarto the smallerleafpointsfromThessaly. A dateof 43- ber (C) with a typicalMousterianof points and side
35 KYA iS suggestedfor this industryon the basisof scraperson Levalloisflakes,and an uppermember(B),
comparison of the ageof the redbedsin Greeceto those whichcontainsa morenumerousindustrycharacterized
of NorthAfrica(Dakaris,Higgs, and Hey 1964: 229). by sidescrapers andLevalloisflakes.The essentialdiffier-
Excavations at the rockshelterof Asprochaliko provide enceis thatin memberB Mousterian pointsarerarerand
the evidencethat the Middle Paleolithic may be divided the Levallois are
flakes narrow and much retouched. Two
intotwofacies(Baileyet al. 1983). A small-scale Levallois- sites (Amalias and Vasilaki) have bifacialleafpoints and
Mousterian (the"micro"-Mousterian) wasfoundin layer arethoughtto be earlierthanmemberB, althoughno
14. It was madeup of side scrapers,a few thickend reasonis givenfor makingthis stratigraphic distinction.
scrapers, andsmallMousterian points.TheLevallois tech- The Frenchteamconsidersthe memberB industryto be
niquewasrare,andtherewasa moreintensiveuseof raw an evolvedMousterian in whichsomeUpperPaleolithic
material:in other words,therewere few unretouched types,namelyend scrapers,havealreadyappeared. This
flakesor wastepieces.An older,andlarger-scale Mouster- industryis followedby an industryof few pieces,in bad
ian (the"basal" Mousterian) wasfoundin layers16 and condition,considered to be UpperPaleolithic andhaving
18-19. It is describedas typicalMousterian andis char- "classic" end scrapers,bladeswith continuousretouch,
acterized bylargeblades,sidescrapers, Mousterian points, smallbladeletcoresreusedas scrapers, andsmallcoreson
Levallois cores,anda highproportion of wasteflakes.The pebbles.Thesefindsare relatedby the Frenchteamto
Asprochaliko "micro"-Mousterian datesto ca.40-37 KYA thosein Epirusas follows:
(TABLE 2). Theexcavators considerit likelythattwo facies 1. A typicalMousterianin Asprochaliko(the Basal
arealsorepresented at theopensitesof Kokkinopilos and Mousterian), whichtheyregardas equivalent to the
Morfi,a hypothesis supported bya metricalanalysis of the Mousterian of theirmemberC.
artifactsthatsuggestsa broadrangeof size (Higgsand 2. A Mousterian with bifacialleafpointsfromKokki-
Vita-Finzi1966:21-23). nopilosvery similarto that which was found at
An isolatedbifacialleafpointwasfoundat Palaiokastro AmaliasandVasilaki.
in Macedoniaby Higgs and his team (Dakaris,Higgs, 3. A "micro"-Mousterian found in Asprochaliko and
andHey 1964:203) at an elevationof ca. 1000 m amsl, Kokkinopilos thatresembles theMousterian of their
perhapsmarking thepassageof Neanderthals fromEpirus memberB.
to ThessalyandMacedonia. This findis unusual,as the 4. An UpperPaleolithicfromAsprochaliko and Kas-
Levallois-Mousterian is otherwisefoundat lowereleva- tritsathatresembles thatfromElis(which they con-
tions,andnearthe presentcoast(FIG. 1). siderto be Gravettian in character,althoughlacking
Levallois-Mousterian artifacts,perhapsbelongingto theshouldered pointsfoundat Kastritsa). Theycon-
two differentfacies,wererecovered fromnumerous open cludethatenoughis now knownto placeGreecein
findspotsin Corfil(Sordinas1969, 1983).Thefindspots the prehistoricprovincethat comprehends "L'Eu-
arein the extensivebedsof erodedredclayson theisland ropeCentraledanubienne."
and along the presentshoreline,wherethey litterthe TheGermanexcavations at KefalariCavenearArgosin
pebblebeachesin the east,andon the fossildunesin the 1972 and 1975-1976 produceda stratified, but undated
west.Large-scale Levalloisblades,numerous sidescrapers, sequencethatspansthe transitionfromthe latestMiddle
Mousterian points,andothertypicalartifacts arereported, Paleolithic (levels27-28) to theearliestUpperPaleolithic
aswellas a typicalbifacialleafpointfromSite18 (FIG. 1). (levels21-26; Reisch1980;seealsoPerles1987forcom-
Thelargerbladesandimplements, suchas thosefoundat parisonwithFranchthi Cave).TheMiddlePaleolithic is a
Mesonghi(sites23-24, not shown),resemblethe typical small-scale Levallois-Mousterian richin sidescrapers. Typ-
Mousterian fromthe basaldepositsat Asprochaliko. The ical areverynarrowconvergentside scrapersandofEset
286 Surveyof Thessaly:the GreekPaleolithiclRunnels

side scrapers(dejete).Thereare also denticulates, rare dustryin the Argolid,andin Elis,Epirus,andThessaly,

Mousterian points,anda few Levalloisflakes.TheUpper thatis similarto the Szeletian.
Paleolithicindustryis dominatedby typicalAurignacian The othersites in the southernArgolidare open-air
end scrapers(both keeledand unguiform),bladeswith locationsnearsourcesof chertor alongroutesleadingto
continuousedgeretouch,andburins.A fragmentof one thecoastallowlands(RunnelsandvanAndel1987).These
bifacialtool fromlevel23, possiblyof a leafpoint,is clas- siteshavea small-scale Levallois-Mousterian industry
with
sifiedas a scraper(Reisch1980:Tafel26,8). It is perhaps Mousterian points,sidescrapers, denticulates, andbifacial
significant thatMiddlePaleolithictypeswerealsofound leafpoints.It is not certainthatthesefindspotsarecon-
in the earliestUpper Paleolithiclevels 21-26. Reisch temporary, butpedogeniccalciumcarbonate nodulesfrom
wouldplacethe MiddlePaleolithic of levels27-28 in an F25 andB27 yieldedU/Thagesof ca. 50 KYA (TABLE 2;
interstadial of the lastglaciation,perhaps50 KYA. In the Pope,Runnels,andKu 1984).The Levallois-Mousterian
absenceof radiometric dates,the excavators remainun- fromKefalari(levels27-28), Elia,andthe southernAr-
certainwhetherthe firstUpperPaleolithiclevels21-26 golidareverysimilar,especially in the smallscaleandthe
representa transitional phase,or only a latermixingof presenceof bifacialelements,andan estimateof ca. 60-
the two industries.The materialis very similarto the 40 KYA for an ageis plausible.
Thessalian finds,theKokkinopilos industryin Epirus,and
thememberB industry in Elis,andI interpretthisindustry TheMiddlePaleolithicin Greeceandthe Balkans
as transitional, in the sensethatAllsworth-Jones (1986) In a recentreviewof Paleolithicsettlementin Europe,
considersthe Szeletianto be so. Certainly thepresenceof Gamble(1986:367-383) concludesthatEuropean Nean-
a bifacialtool in level 23 (earlyUpperPaleolithic)at derthals werelesscapablethananatomically-modern Homo
Kefalari wouldserveto strengthen thisconclusion. sapiensin adaptingto the polardeserticconditionsof the
Reisch(1982) alsoreportsa typicalLevallois-Mouster-lastglacial.The Neanderthals appearto haveabandoned
ian industryassociatedwith a Neo-Tyrrhenian raised CentralEuropeat the onsetof glacialconditionsca. 60-
beachdepositnearEliain the southernPeloponnese. At 50 KYA, whereaslateranatomically-modern humanpop-
leastone bifacialtool fragment, possiblyfroma leafpoint, ulationspersistedin the faceof similarglacialconditions
is associated withthisindustry,whichmaydateto ca. 55 ca.30-12 KYA. Neanderthals evidentlyfollowedretreating
KYA. It is worthnotingthatReischreports a smallnumber vegetationbeltssouth,andenteredthe NearEastafter60
of weathered tools,alsoof Levallois-Mousterian character, KYA, wheretherewere alreadypopulationsof anatomi-
whichhe believesareassociated with the Eu-Tyrrhenian cally-modern humans(Valladas et al. 1987, 1988).A sim-
raisedbeachat Elia.Thismaterial couldbe older,perhaps ilarpatterncanperhapsbe detectedin Greece.An influx
datingto the lastinterglacial, 120-118 KYA. of Neanderthals,or at leastarchaicHomo sapiens (Smith
At leastfiveoccurrences of MiddlePaleolithic materials 1982),intoGreeceafter60-50 KYA, presumably triggered
havebeenreportedfromthe southernArgolid( Jameson, by the onsetof glacialconditionsin northernEurope,is
Runnels,andvanAndelin press;Perles1987;Pope,Run- perhapsresponsible for the distribution of the Levallois-
nels,andKu 1984;RunnelsandvanAndel1987).Fifteen Mousterian. No unequivocal evidencehasyet beenfound
artifactsarereportedfromFranchthi Cave,includingLev- in Greecefor anatomical modernsbeforethe lastglacial
alloisflakes,a Levalloiscore,andanelongated Mousterian maximum.The isolatedskullof an archaicHomo sapiens
point(Perles1987). Somecamefromthe lowestunitsof at Petralona andanAcheulian-type handaxe,bothsurface
the excavations, wheretheywerefoundwith UpperPa- findsfromMacedonia, maybe 200 KYA in age,but they
leolithicmaterials. Theywererecognizedpartlyby their remainisolatedfinds (Dakaris,Higgs, and Hey 1964;
typologyand partlyby theirpatinatedappearance; the Henniget al. 1981, 1982;Stringer, Howell,andMelentis
otherscamefromsurfacedeposits.It is not clearwhether 1979;WintleandJacobs1982). An industrywithchop-
thesefewpiecesareto be regarded asintrusive,orwhether persandchoppingtools, andprobablyof LowerPaleo-
the earliestUpperPaleolithic containedelementsof Mid- lithicage,has beenreportedfromYarlmburgaz
..
Cavein
dle Paleolithictype.It shouldbe notedthatthe number TurkishThrace(Ozdoganand Koyunlu1986), but no
of specimens fromthe lowestlevelsof the excavation was Lower Paleolithicartifactshave been recognizedin
extremelysmall,and firmconclusionsare not possible. Greece.
But the presenceof stratigraphically-distinct units at TheNeanderthals wereattracted to theextensive coastal
Franchthi andKefalari withMiddleandUpperPaleolithic plainthatappeared alongthe west andeastcoastsas sea
typesreinforcesthe conclusionthattheremaybe an in- levelwasloweredby as muchas 100 m or more.These
 15, 1988 287
JournalofFieldArchaeoloflylVol.

coastalplainsprovidedan abundance of plantandanimal industrywithbifacialleafpointsanda flaketraditiondated

resources.The climatein Greecebetween118-32 KYA broadlyto 43-32 KYA (Allsworth-Jones 1986).Leafpoints
wasconsiderably drier,andthe vegetationwasanA^*em- arealsoassociated with an UpperPaleolithicindustryof
isiol steppe,exceptfor the more sheltered,and better Aurignacian typedatedto ca. 39 KYA or laterat Istallosko
watered, coastal lowlands (Gamble 1986: 90-103; Cave,and it is clearthat the Szeletianmay be in part
Shackleton,van Andel,and Runnels1984). Abundant contemporary withtheAurignacian in the Balkans(other
Levallois-Mousterian findspotsin Greecehavebeende- datesfor the Aurignacian are ca. 32-29 KYA at Bacho
tectedon the marginsof this now submerged territory, Kiro,andca. 34 KYA at Pesko;Allsworth-Jones 1986).It
e.g., Corfu,Kefallinia,and Epirus(Baileyet al. 1983; is notablethatthe higher-qualityandlargerleafpointsin
Kawadias1984;Sordinas1969).Gamblenotesa similar earlierthanthe smaller
the Szeletianarestratigraphically
Neanderthal preferencefor lowlandsin Spainand Italy leafpoints.Smallovate leafpointssimilarto the small
(1986: 171-176). The coastallowlandswouldhavesup- Greekleafpointsarealsofoundat SzeletaandIstallosko.
porteda richfauna.GreekPleistocene fauna,represented Allsworth-Jones(1986) regardsthe Szeletianas a distinct
by findsin ThessalyandEpirus,includeaurochs,steppe industrywhichis, atleaston thebasisof presentevidence,
ass, Saigaantelope,ibex, roe, fallow,and red deer,rhi- a productof late Neanderthals. It shouldbe notedthat
noceros,and, more rarely,elephantand hippopotamus the associationof this industrywith a particular fossil
(Baileyet al. 1983: 34; Milojcicet al. 1965: 42-58; populationis uncertain,and this industrycould be the
Schneider1979). productof anatomical moderns.
MiddlePaleolithicfindsare rareeast of the Pindhos
Mountains, andit seemslikelythatpenetration Conclusions
of therest
of the Greekpeninsula came somewhat later,
after 50-45 The Levallois-Mousterian is widely distributedin
KYA, when therewere huntingforaysto Thessaly, Greece(FIG. 1, TABLE 3). A facieshavinglargertoolsbut
the
southernArgolid,andthe Peloponnese(Pope,Runnels, no leafpoints,and makinggreateruse of the Levallois
and Ku 1984; Reisch 1982; Runnelsand van Andel technique,is representedat Asprochaliko(the "basal"
1987).Suchextensions to otherpartsof Greece
of activitwr Mousterian), Corfu,andElia (the Eu-Tyrrhenian beach
maxr havebeenrequiredby the contraction of the coastal
assemblage). A second,laterfaciesrichin side scrapers,
plainsduringoxygen-isotope stage3. At thistimeshore- points,denticulates,andleafpoints,is foundat Kokkino-
linesmayhavereachedlevelssimilarto thosefoundearly pilos,Asprochaliko, Corfu,Elis, Elia, Kefalari,and the
in the Holocene,some 40 m below presentsea level southernArgolid.Metricalanalysisshowsthatthisfacies
(Shackleton,vanAndel,andRunnels 1984;vanAndel in size(HiggsandVita-Finzi1966:22;
is verysmall-scale
andShackleton 1982). Pope,Runnels,andKu 1984).A comparison of the pub-
lishedleafpointsshowsthatthey aresimilarin typology
The Levallois-Mousterianin the Balkans andsize.TypicalUpperPaleolithic typesarefound
artifact
The GreekLevallois-Mousterian closelyresemblesthe withthissmallLevallois-Mousterian at bothcavesitesand
BalkanLevallois-Mousterian thathas beendatedto 55- opensites.
53 KYA andlater(Allsworth-Jones 1986). The presence The following sequencemay be hypothesizedfor
of bifacialleafpointsin the BalkanLevallois-MousterianGreece.Somematerial, suchasthelargerLevalloisblades,
has been recognizedfor some time (Colesand Higgs Levallois bladecores,andLevalloispoints(i.e.,the"basal"
1975: 284-322). Typicalareones pointedat bothends Mousterian fromAsprochaliko and Corfu,and the Eu-
and10-11 cm long,with a few up to 15 cm. Small-scale Tyrrhenian beachassemblage at Eliain the Peloponnese)
Mousterian industrieswith leafpointsarefoundin Ru- mayrepresentan earlierMiddlePaleolithicfacies,older
mania,Bulgaria,Hungary,and Czechoslovakia. The oc- perhapsthan50-45 KYA. The majorityof MiddlePaleo-
currenceandtypologyof the leafpointsarevariable,and lithicfindsin Greece,however,appearto belongto a late
Allsworth-Jones (1986) does not considerthe leafpoints Levallois-Mousterian faciesthatmadesomeuseof bifacial
as reliabletypefossils.Theirwidedistributionin SE Eu- leafpointsandis characterized by numeroussidescrapers,
rope is nevertheless of the a fewMousterian
an establishedcharacteristic points,notches,denticulates, and,more
Levallois-Mousterian (Allsworth-Jones 1986; Gamble rarely,Aurignaciantypes (for example,carinatedend
1986: 180) whichservesto linkthe industries of Greece scrapers, buskedburins,andpieceswithcontinuousedge
withthoseof the BalkansandSE Europe.Thetwrpe siteof retouch). Thisfaciesof Levallois-Mousterianmaybedated
the Hungarianfaciesis SzeletaCave,wherethereis an to ca. 50 KYA andlater.It is verysimilarin composition
288 Sutveyof Thessaly:the GreekPaleolithiclRunnels

Table3. Chronological outlinefor the MiddlePaleolithic

andUpperPaleolithic in Greece
(sourcesfor dates,climate,andoxtzgenisotopestages:Gamble,1986:84, fig. 3.6; Pope,
Runnels,andKu 1984;andespecially Shackleton,
vanAndel,andRunnels1984:fig. 5).
KKA Industries
andsites Climate Oxygenisotope
stage
38-25? UpperPaleolithic (Aurignacian) cold 3
FranchthiCave (?), Argolid
PeneiosRiver (?), Larisa
KefalariCave,Argolid
50-30? Iater Levallois-Mousterian cold to warm 3
Corfil (e.g., site 18)
Elis (e.g., Amalias17)
Kokkinopilos,Epirus
Morfi,Epirus
Asprochaliko,Epirus
SouthernArgolid
KefalariCave,Argolid
Elia, Laconia(Neo-Tyrrhenian
beach)
PeneiosRiver,Larisa
70-50 earlierLevallois-Mousterian(?) cold 4-5d
Corfil(e.g., site 24)
Asprochaliko,Epirus
Elis (?)
Elia (?), Laconia(Eu-Tyrrhenian
beach)
PeneiosRiver (?), Larisa

to the contemporary Szeletianof HungaryandBulgaria thanNeanderthals. An objectionto thishypothesis is that

which,containingas it doesa mixtureof Mousterian and the Levallois-Mousteriandisappears at roughlythe same
Aurignacian elements,was probablyproducedby late time(ca.30 KYA) as the EuropeanNeanderthals. Forthe
Neanderthals who were in contactwith anatomically- present,thebestcourseis to associate theGreekLevallois-
modernhumans,at leastafter38 KYA (Allsworth-Jones Mousterian withlateNeanderthals.
1986:220-225). Allsworth-Jones' theorybelongsto the Whenwe turnto the interpretation of Paleolithiceco-
classof replacement hypotheses, whichpresumes the par- nomicbehavior,the distributionof Levallois-Mousterian
tialoverlapof two humanpopulations, the Neanderthals materialsin Thessalyand elsewherein Greecemay be
andanatomical moderns.The Szeletianwasthe resultof madeto fitoneof themodelsof adaptive strategyoutlined
"acculturation",in theviewof Allsworth-Jones, of thelate recentlyby Gamble(1986: 384-393) for Europe.It was
Neanderthals to the technologyof the intrusiveanatomi- arguedabovethat the scatteredstone tools mixedwith
cally-modern populationwith its Aurignacian industry. fossilbonesin the PeneiosRiverconglomerates arethe
Thusthe bifacialleafpointscharacterizing the MiddlePa- resultsof short-termhuntingforaysduringtheperiod45-
leolithicin manypartsof CentralandSE Europeareone 27 KYA, an interstadial of oxygen-isotope stage3. In this
of several"archaic" elementsthat are combinedin the reconstruction, theThessalianplainrepresents onlya part
Szeletianwithlater"advanced" elementsfromtheAurig- of theterritory exploitedby smallbandsof huntersin the
nacian,suchas bladesandend scrapers. TheAurignacian MiddlePaleolithic (Gamble1986:376). Thehomerange
is foundin HungaryandBulgariaas earlyas 38-35 KYA, of these groupswas probablycenteredon the coastal
andthe Szeletianappearsto spanthe periodfromca. 45 lowlandsto the east (vanAndeland Shackleton1982).
KYA to as late as 32 KYA (ALlsworth-Jones 1986: 190- Theplainin thismodelformedonlya partof theextended
198). rangeof thesegroups.Huntersmovedthroughthisarea
Considerable recentsupportfor the replacement hy- duringpartof the year,collectingflintnearTrikalaand
pothesishas come fromthe Near East.Populationsof Findspot30, and ambushinggame,or scavengingcar-
anatomically-modern humanswere in the NearEastby casses,nearthemouthsof the numerousgorgestraversed
100-90 KYA, and Neanderthals, probablyof European by the PeneiosRiver.Theplainwasevidentlyabandoned
originnenteredthe NearEastin the period60-48 KYA. duringthe laterglacialmaximum,or only sporadically
Thetwo overlapped in tliisareafor20-30 KYA (Valladas visitedby groupsthatfocusedtheirattentionsuponthe
et al. 1987, 1988). In the absenceof fossil horninid moreextensivecoastallowlands.The factthatthe Paleo-
remains,it is a possibilitythat the GreekLevallois- lithicindustryin Thessalyvanishesfromthe recordbefore
Mousterian was producedby anatomical modernsrather 30 KYA, at the sametimeas the generaldisappearance of

Neanderthals fromEuropeandthe NearEast,is perhaps
significant.If the Aurignacian
elementsin Thessaliancol-
lectionswereproducedby lateNeanderthals, thiswould
explainthe abrupttermination of thisphase.
It wouldbe hazardous, however,to continuethisessay
in reconstruction baseduponnegativeevidence.It would
be evenmoreriskyto continueto speculate on thesignif-
icanceof the absenceof Epigravettian andMesolithicin-
dustriesin Thessaly.At present,we haveno evidencefor
the Mesolithicin north-centralGreecewithwhichto test
anyhypotheses.It wouldseemsafestfor the momentto
assumethattherewaslittleor no humanuseof theThes-
salianplainin the period30-9 KYA beforetheappearance
of the firstagricultural
settlementsin theEarlyNeolithic.
Acknowledgments
The projectwascarriedout in July-Augustunderthe
auspicesof the Ministryof Cultureand the American
Schoolof ClassicalStudiesat Athens,andit wasfunded
by a grantfromthe Committeefor ResearchandExplo-
rationof theNationalGeographic Society.I wishto thank
the formerdirectorof the American School,Dr. Stephen
G. Miller,for his supportof this project.The successof
the projectwas ensuredby the cooperation of Dr. Kon-
stantineGallis,directorof the Ephorateof Classical An-
tiquitiesin Larisa,who supervised the project,andgen-
erously shared his own knowledgeof Thessaly.A
representative of the Ephorate,Mr. GeorgeTouSekzis,
participated in the projectas a memberof the fieldteam,
andlentus his experience andgood cheer.I alsowishto
thankMr.P. N. Kardulias andMs.P. M. Murray fortheir
tirelessassistancein thefield,andDr.AnneDemitrack for
hervaluablehelpin the interpretation of the geologyof
the area.I wouldliketo extendmy appreciation to Mr.
TakisTloupas,Dr. DinosXouliaras, Mr.KostasTheodo-
ropoulos,Mr.GeorgeYiouryiotis, andMrs.LenaYiour-
yiotisof Larisafortheirwarmhospitality andgoodadvice.
I wish also to thankJohn Sheaand the editorsof the
Journal of Field Archaeolo,gyfor manyconstructive sugges-
tions.The mapsanddrawingswerepreparedby Ms. P.
M. Murrayandthe author.
CurtisRunnels is an assistantprofessorin the Departmentof
Archaeolo,gy,BostonUniversity.His specialinterestis Greek
prehistory.Beforeundertzkin,gresearchin Thessaly,he was as-
sociatedirectorof the StanfordUniversityArchaeolo,gical
and
EnvironmentalSurveyof the SouthernAr,golid.The resultsof
that researchhave appearedin variouspapersand two books.
BeyondtheAcropolis: A RuralGreekPast(StanfordUni-
JournalofFieldArchaeologylVol.
15, 1988 289
versityPress),
co-authored
withTjeerdvanAndel,waspub-
lishedin 1987. A GreekCountryside:The SouthernArgo-
lid fromPrehistoryto the PresentDay (Stanford
UniversityPress),co-authored
withMichaelH. Jamesonand
TjeerdH. vanAndel,willatpearin 1989.
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