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Dispilio

Coordinates: 40°28′50″N 21°17′15″E / 40.48056°N 21.28750°E / 40.48056; 21.28750
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Dispilio
Δισπηλιό
Community
The Neolithic Settlement of Dispilio, on lake Orestiada
The Neolithic Settlement of Dispilio, on lake Orestiada
Dispilio is located in Greece
Dispilio
Dispilio
Coordinates: 40°28′50″N 21°17′15″E / 40.48056°N 21.28750°E / 40.48056; 21.28750
CountryGreece
Geographic region Macedonia
Administrative regionWestern Macedonia
Regional unitKastoria
MunicipalityKastoria
Municipal unitMakednoi
Elevation
620 m (2,030 ft)
Population
 (2021)[1]
 • Community
944
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

Dispilio (Greek: Δισπηλιό, before 1926: Δουπιάκοι – Doupiakoi)[2] is a village near Lake Orestiada, in the Kastoria regional unit of Western Macedonia, Greece.[3] Near the village is an archaeological site containing remains of a Neolithic lakeshore settlement that occupied an artificial island.[4]

Archaeology

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The remains of the lakeside settlement were discovered in 1932. The lake level was especially low in 1932 owing to a dry winter and some infrastructural works around the lake, revealing the remains of piles sticking out of the lake bottom. A preliminary survey was made in 1935 by Antonios Keramopoulos. Excavations began in 1992, led by George Chourmouziadis, professor of prehistoric archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The site's paleoenvironment, botany, fishing techniques, tools and ceramics were published informally in the June 2000 issue of Επτάκυκλος, a Greek archaeology magazine and by Chourmouziadis in 2002.

A reconstruction of the lake dwellers' settlement has been erected near the site to attract tourists from Greece and abroad[5], albeit the reconstruction is not based on architectural findings from Dispilio, but rather on other similar reconstructions from around Europe.

A: samples of carved "signs" on the wooden Dispilio tablet and clay finds from Dispilio, Greece. B: samples of Linear A signs. C: samples of signs on Paleo-European clay tablets.

According to a series of radiocarbon dates, the site appears to have been occupied over a long period, from around 5600-5500 BC (Middle Neolithic)[6], to around 3700-3500 BC (Final Neolithic or Early Bronze Age)[7]. After a potential hiatus, another occupation phase is detected later, around 2400-2100 BC during the Bronze Age. The identification of Mycenaean pottery also points to an occupation phase in the Late Bronze Age (second half of 2nd millennium BC).

A number of artefacts have been found during the excavations spanning more than 20 years, including pottery, wooden structural elements, seeds, bones, figurines, personal ornaments, flutes (some made on human bones), and many other objects. Public interest was especially attracted after the discovery of a wooden object with linear markings on its surface, referred to as the "Dispilio Tablet". The archaeological context of this artefact is not known, as it was identified floating on the water that was filling the excavation trench[8]. Despite the unknown origin, and the fact that no dedicated scientific paper has ever explained the tablet in detail, various archaeological and unofficial interpretations have surfaced, including the interpretation of the markings as some form of early writing. Like other waterlogged sites, Dispilio is particularly important for its excellent preservation of organic materials, such as wood, seeds, plant fibre and similar.

A new method, combining radiocarbon and dendrochronology, has been used to date the wooden structures at the site to a single calendar-year showing that the Late Neolithic construction phases have taken place between 5328 BC and 5140 BC.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ Institute for Neohellenic Research. "Name Changes of Settlements in Greece: Doupiakoi – Dispilio". Pandektis. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Δισπηλιό ΚΑΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ, Δήμος ΚΑΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ | buk.gr". buk.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  4. ^ James Whitley, "Archaeology in Greece 2003-2004", Archaeological Reports, No. 50 (2003, pp. 1-92), p. 43.
  5. ^ "Ο Λιμναίος Οικισμός Δισπηλιού". Ιστορικά Καστοριάς (in Greek). 2010-11-17. Archived from the original on 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  6. ^ Maczkowski et al., "Wetland Dendrochronology: An Overview of Prehistoric Chronologies from the Southwestern Balkans", Prehistoric Wetland Sites of Southern Europe, 2024 doi:10.1007/978-3-031-52780-7_14
  7. ^ Facorellis et al., 2014, "Radiocarbon Dating of the Neolithic Lakeside Settlement of Dispilio, Kastoria, Northern Greece", Radiocarbon, 2014 doi:10.2458/56.17456
  8. ^ p. 516, Facorellis et al., 2014, "Radiocarbon Dating of the Neolithic Lakeside Settlement of Dispilio, Kastoria, Northern Greece", Radiocarbon, 2014 doi:10.2458/56.17456
  9. ^ Andrej Maczkowski et al, "Absolute dating of the European Neolithic using the 5259 BC rapid 14C excursion", Nature Communications, 2024 doi:10.1038/s41467-024-48402-1

Further reading

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  • G. H. Chourmouziadis, ed., Dispilio, 7500 Years After. Thessaloniki, 2002.
  • G. H. Chourmouziadis, Ανασκαφής Εγκόλπιον. Athens, 2006.
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