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New 14C evidence for the Late BC, whereas the earliest EBA layer dates begin
at around 3300 BC. A date in the last 1/3rd of the Correspondence: Yannis Maniatis, Laboratory of
Neolithic-Early Bronze Age 4th millennium BC is also the date suggested Archaeometry, Institute of Materials Science,
transition in Southeast Europe for the one-layer transitional settlement on the National Center for Scientific Research
neighbouring island of Thasos (Aghios “Demokritos”, 153 10, Aghia Paraskevi, Attiki,
Greece.
Yannis Maniatis,1 Zoï Tsirtsoni,2 Ioannis). The fact that the gap affects settle-
E-mail: maniatis@ims.demokritos.gr
Christine Oberlin,3 Pascal Darcque,2 ments of different types and locations,
Key words: North Greece, Southeast Europe, LN-
Chaido Koukouli-Chryssanthaki,4 although there are no signs of major environ-
EBA, radiocarbon dating.
Dimitra Malamidou,4 Tasos Siros,4 mental changes, suggests that the reasons of
Acknowledgments: thanks are due to the organiz-
Miltos Miteletsis,4 Stratis Papadopoulos,5 their possible total or partial abandonment are
ers of ISA 2010; the technicians of the labs Eirini
Bernd Kromer6 more likely to be social than strictly environ- Kellidou, Marigo-Eirini Kyriazi, Marie-Thérèse
mental. Cuzange, Sabine Kühr, Eva Gier; the personnel
1Laboratory of Archaeometry, Institute of
and director of the laboratory at Saclay, where the
Materials Science, National Center for AMS measures were made.
Scientific Research “Demokritos”, Aghia Citation: Maniatis Y, Tsirtsoni Z, Oberlin C,
Paraskevi, Greece; 2UMR 7041 - Introduction Darcque P, Koukouli-Chryssanthaki C,
Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité, Malamidou D, Siros T, Miteletsis M,
Maison R. Ginouvès, Centre National de The general picture of the Late Neolithic- Papadopoulos S, Kromer B, 2014. New 14C evi-
dence for the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age
la Recherche Scientifique, Universités Early Bronze Age transition in the Balkans is transition in Southeast Europe. In: RH Tykot
Paris 1 et Paris Ouest, Nanterre; 3UMR rather controversial. Although a certain conti- (ed.), Proceedings of the 38th International
5138 - Archéométrie et Archéologie, nuity in land occupation is recognized [i.e. Symposium on Archaeometry – May 10th-14th
ly
Centre National de la Recherche many Early Bronze Age (EBA) settlements dis- 2010, Tampa, Florida. Open Journal of
play also layers of Late Neolithic (LN) date], in Archaeometry 2:5262.
on
Scientifique et Centre de Datation par le
Radiocarbone, Universités Lyon 1 et 2, terms of material culture there is a clear con- Presented at the 38th International Symposium on
France; 4Greek Ministry of Culture and trast between the two periods. This is mostly Archaeometry – May 10th-14th 2010, Tampa,
evident in the Northern part of the territory Florida.
e
Sports, Ephorate of Speleology and
(Northern Greece, Bulgaria), where the mate- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Paleoanthropology of Northern Greece,
Thessaloniki; 5Greek Ministry of Culture
and Sports, 18th Ephorate of Prehistoric
us
rial expression at the later stages of the
Neolithic period, also called Final Neolithic or
Chalcolithic, is richer: richly decorated and
Attribution 3.0 License (by-nc 3.0).
©Copyright Y. Maniatis et al., 2014
Licensee PAGEPress, Italy
al
and Classical Antiquities, Kavala, Greece; sometimes extremely fine pottery, such as Open Journal of Archaeometry 2014; 2:5262
6Heidelberger Akademie der doi:10.4081/arc.2014.5262
black-on-red and graphite-painted, or vessels
ci
bracelets, beads, etc. (Papathanassopoulos, tal, that some archaeologists assume that a
1996; Anthony and Chi, 2009; Papadimitriou major catastrophe occurred between the two,
om
Abstract and Tsirtsoni, 2010). All these features are due either to climatic changes or foreign inva-
completely out of use at the beginning of the sions. The long duration of the chronological
The transition from the Late Neolithic (LN) next EBA period, which includes indeed only gap separating the two periods, pinpointed
-c
period (locally also called Final Neolithic or dark-coloured monochrome pottery, usually since the late 1980s, has reinforced the idea of
Chalcolithic) to the Early Bronze Age (EBA) in medium-grained, and no figurative or conspic- a collapse that societies would have put sever-
on
Greece and the Southeast Balkans is an uous artifacts. Incised pottery with white infill al centuries to overcome. During the
obscure period in human history. Previous appears a little later, during the EBA II phase Transitional period, people would have moved
radiocarbon evidence showed that in settle- (2700-2300 BC), as do also the EBA Urfirnis to new, more secure locations, attested by
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ments with stratigraphical sequences stretch- and matt-painted wares found in the South scarce finds, and even scarcer radiocarbon
ing out on both periods, the absolute dates fea- (Treuil, 1983; Treuil et al., 2008). In Southern dates (Todorova, 1978, 1995; Boyadziev, 1995).
tured a gap ranging from 700 to 1000 years Greece, the contrast between the LN and the It is only recently that archaeologists work-
(roughly between 4000 and 3300/3000 cal. BC). first EBA material culture is less obvious, for ing in Greece started asking questions about
On the other hand, there is only scarce evi- the Late (Final) Neolithic material culture is the real nature of the LN/FN-EBA transition.
dence about settlements that would have been not that impressive: pottery is more usually Absolute chronology has helped a lot in this
founded during the missing period, thus aris- monochrome and figurines are rare, although debate. The first signs of a possible hiatus in
ing questions of paramount importance about there exist elements which connect these occupation have been registered at the site of
the human occupational strategies in this peri- regions to the rich Balkan Neolithic koine, Mandalo, in Greek Western Macedonia, with C-
od. Investigation tackling this particular prob- such as characteristic stone and metal orna- 14 dates suggesting that ca. 1000 years sepa-
lem is carried out within the framework of a ments. Under these conditions, it is not rated the layers of phases II (Final Neolithic)
broader research project (Balkans-4000) fund- strange that the possibility of a break in the and III (EBA), in spite of the fact that they
ed by the French National Research Agency occupation has been first pointed down were stratigraphically continuous (Maniatis
(ANR). Here we discuss the latest radiocarbon archaeologically by the Bulgarians. Indeed, and Kromer, 1990). In the following years, it
results from three recently excavated multi- this is where the Chalcolithic period appears became more and more obvious that the miss-
layer settlements on the continental Greek the richest, with several well-organized and ing interval, i.e. the years between roughly
Eastern Macedonia: Dikili Tash, Kryoneri and eventually fortified settlements, and especially 4000 and 3000 cal. BC, and especially the first
Sidirokastro. In all cases, the existing LN with extremely wealthy cemeteries, like that of half of the 4th millennium, was altogether very
radiocarbon dates do not go beyond about 4000 Varna. The contrast between this literally gold- poor in radiocarbon dates (Manning, 1995;
Alram-Stern, 1996; Andreou et al., 1996; Treuil provided ten or more. The number of samples Dating), and Acceleration Mass Spectrometry
et al., 2008). More recently, evidence came up depended not only on the length of occupation (at CEA Saclay, under the responsibility of the
suggesting the existence of an independent, or use of the site, but also on the availability Lyon lab). Details of sample treatment and
truly transitional phase also in Greece and quality of samples (burned-unburned lay- measuring procedures can be found in
(Adrymi-Sismani, 2007; Johnson, 1999). ers, eroded or washed out deposits, etc.), and Maniatis and Papadopoulos (2011), Foucher et
However, the large deviations in the majority also on extending the local sequence to undat- al. (2011), and Cottereau et al. (2007) for each
of the available radiocarbon dates, together ed portions. Thus, in sites with already well- laboratory respectively.
with the widespread suspicion among the established long chronological sequences, we
archaeologists, although not always clearly just proceeded to a few targeted samplings, The sites
stated, that this gap could be simply (or partly) whereas others, with shorter sequences but The full results of this project will be pre-
due to problems in the radiocarbon technique with no prior information, necessitated a more sented elsewhere (Tsirtsoni, in press). Here
itself, somehow masked the problem. Thus, in abundant sampling. Three dating methods we discuss in some detail evidence from three
many recent chronological tables the last have been used concurrently: Gas Proportional settlements in Northern Greece: Dikili Tash,
phase of the Neolithic is shown to last uninter- Counting (at the Laboratory of Archaeometry, Kryoneri and Sidirokastro. The new dates were
ruptedly until the beginning of the EBA (i.e. NCSR Demokritos), Liquid Scintillation combined with a series of older radiocarbon
from 4800 to 3300 BC), in spite of the fact that Counting (at the Lyon Centre for Radiocarbon dates produced by the Laboratory of
the absolute dates collected so far cluster sys-
tematically in years before 4000 cal. BC. The
start of the EBA itself is not very well fixed. A
general consensus exists for the date of 3300
cal. BC, but a possible earlier start in some
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regions is not excluded although cannot be
verified due the very large error bars of the
on
particular samples [e.g. Sitagroi IV in Greek
Eastern Macedonia (Johnson, 1999)].
In order to help clarify these issues, we
e
recently undertook research in several parts of
Greece and Bulgaria, thanks to a generous
funding from the French National Research
Agency (ANR research project BALKANS 4000).
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One of the main aims was to circumscribe the
presumed gap as accurately as possible, both
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Archaeometry, NCSR Demokritos and the phases I and II, respectively), which are fre- of the deposits excavated in the years 1996-
Radiocarbon Laboratory of the University of quently severely burnt, with well-preserved 1997 belong to the LN II period (Malamidou,
Heidelberg (Kromer and Münnich, 1992), habitation units. However, none of the dates 1997, 2007). A series of radiocarbon dates,
using the Gas Proportional Counting from phase II contexts felt into the early 4th unpublished so far, suggested the absence of
Technique. millennium and this in spite of the large errors layers that could be assigned to the early 4th
Comparison is made with the results of the oldest dates (up to ±160 BP years). The millennium; AMS dating of a few additional
obtained in previous years from a fourth settle- unique useful date from EBA I contexts (phase samples from the same contexts should allow
ment, Aghios Ioannis on Thasos (Maniatis and IIIA) falls at the very end of the 4th millennium; completing the data. Finally, Aghios Ioannis is
Papadopoulos, 2011). These sites are selected it could not be excluded however that the true a flat coastal site, apparently single-layered.
for they represent four geographically close start of the period might have occurred earlier. Probably this is not a permanent settlement,
settlements (Figure 1), but with completely The new samples come from the new exca- but rather a seasonal location of herders
different profiles, in terms of location, topogra- vation programme started at the site in 2008, and/or fishermen (Papadopoulos et al., 2001;
phy, type of settlement, and eventually dura- aiming, among others, to control the existence Lespez and Papadopoulos, 2004; Papadopoulos
tion of occupation. or not of layers that would bridge the LN II- and Bechtsi, 2003). Evidence from the pottery
Dikili Tash is a big tell settlement, one of EBA I gap (Darcque et al., 2008, 2009). collected suggests a chronology in the transi-
the biggest in the Balkans, with a maximum Sidirokastro is a rock-shelter in a narrow tion from the LN to the EBA; however the
height of ca. 17 m. It is located in an interior river valley (Krousovitis, a tributary of radiocarbon dates suggest a chronology in the
plain (plain of Drama or Philippi), a large part Strymon), far from the sea. All stratified finds last part of the 4th millennium BC, with only
of which was previously occupied by a marsh. date from the EBA period, but there are also
one outlier reaching the middle of the 4th mil-
Sea is not very far (about 15 km), but the plain some sparse fragments of LN II pottery that
lennium (Maniatis and Papadopoulos, 2011).
is cut from it by a low mountain range could indicate an earlier occupation. Three
ly
(Symvolon), which forms a clear geographical radiocarbon dates produced at the National
and climatic boundary. Occupation at the set- Center for Scientific Research Demokritos,
on
tlement started in in the Early Neolithic from samples collected during the 2004 exca-
(Lespez et al., 2013 and lasted until the end of vation, showed already that the EBA settlement
Results and Discussion
the Late Bronze Age, whereas there are also had started by 3300/3000 CAL.BC (Poulaki-
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remains of historical periods. No stratigraphi- Pantermali et al.,., 2004). But subsequent field- The results of the new datings reinforce the
cal hiatus has been observed at any part of the
sequence, which seems continuous (Treuil,
1992; Darcque et al., 2007; Koukouli-
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work suggested that there could be an even
earlier phase. The samples discussed here
come mostly from the 2006 and 2007 cam-
previous evidence and bring some useful pre-
cisions to the overall picture both in Greece
and Bulgaria.
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Chryssanthaki and Treuil, 2008; Darcque and paigns (Siros et al.,., 2007). Indeed, comparing the previous series of
Tsirtsoni, 2010). The occupational sequence is Kryoneri is a flat settlement (max. height radiocarbon dates (Figure 2a) with the new
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supported by a series of 45 radiocarbon dates 3.5 m), lying on the foothills boarding a river ones (Figure 2b) in Northern Greece, the area
and 9 TL dates made in previous years (Treuil, mostly considered here, one observes that the
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Roque et al., 2002), falling roughly between the settlement is very close to the sea (less than 7
mid-6th and the late 2nd millennia cal. BC. Most km from today’s coastline). Occupation goes ously low compared to those of other periods.
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of them come from LN I and LN II layers (local from the LN I to the EBA, but the greatest part The lack of dates in this period is actually
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Figure 2. Bar diagram of calibrated 2σ dates for North Greece produced by various laboratories in the period 4500-2400 BC a) before
the BALKANS 4000 project and b) after the BALKANS 4000 project.
emphasized as most of the new dates populate chronology sequence in several parts that were standard deviation equal or inferior to 100 BP
the periods before 4000 and after 3300 BC. previously poorly known (Late Bronze Age, late years) allows distinguishing between several
Furthermore, the number of high-precision historical periods), but the LN II-EBA transi- episodes: a major destruction episode around
dates for the later part of the 4th millennium tion is not among them, although half of the 4260±17 BC, as is attested by a cluster of 4
has increased considerably, especially thanks dates come from areas related with one and/or short-lived samples from a group of burnt
to the important Sidirokastro series. These the other period. Thus, the new dates confirm houses in sector 6, in the Eastern slope of the
dates seem to confirm that the Early Bronze (at least so far) the abandonment of the settle- tell (Last seeds, Figure 3), and a more discrete
Age starts in North Greece around 3300 Cal. ment in the years just before the end of the 5th reoccupation of some parts until roughly 4000
BC, and not before. It is even possible that the millennium BC. The modeled value of the last cal. BC (Phase IIC+). The full presentation of
true start of the period is closer to 3100 than to dated sample of phase II (Last LN-IIC+; Figure this analysis will be given in a separate paper.
3300 cal. BC. 3) falls in the period 4230-3999 cal. BC with a In spite of the repeated efforts for sampling
Considering the four key-sites individually, mean date 4135±66 cal. BC. A more detailed among the EBA structures (mostly pits), only
one notices what follows. analysis, however, of the stratigraphic and con- one additional date is obtained (Lyon-6012),
The sixteen new radiocarbon dates from textual evidence of all the relevant new dates which together with the older one (DEM-552)
Dikili Tash complete the existent absolute and several older ones (seventeen dates with a confirm a chronology in the range 3300 and
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3000 BC. Troubling, but highly instructive from order to improve the discrimination within Finally, all five samples from Aghios Ioannis
a methodological point of view, is the absence this range, we apply statistical modeling on the fall in the 4th millennium BC (Figure 6). Four
of any visible sign of a hiatus in the areas eleven dates of the sole phase B using OxCal v of them (2 bone samples DEM-932 and 933,
where the layers of the two periods are super- 4.1.5 (Bronk Ramsey, 2009, 2010). The fact and 2 charcoals DEM-849 and 1072) group
imposed: thus, in sector 6, as the EBA pits are that all samples come, archaeologically speak- nicely in the last part of the 4th millennium
directly dug into the burnt house debris, their ing, from the same horizon allows us to consid- (3370-3100 cal. BC). The fifth sample (DEM-
filling contains also material originally belong- er this group of events as a single phase and 848), which is a charcoal taken from a hearth,
ing to the underneath Late Neolithic struc- treat them statistically as such. The results of gives a higher age (3700-3400 cal. BC) but it is
tures. this treatment show that the modeled dates of most likely that this is an outlier and should be
An analogous picture is provided by the four- phase B mostly accumulate closer to 3100 than considered with caution. This chronology
teen new radiocarbon dates from Sidirokastro 3300 BC. Even the earliest dated sample in the accords well with the archaeological evidence:
(Figure 4a). Three of them confirm the exis- group (Figure 4b) shows a modeled date with if we accept that the mature EBA I, represent-
tence of late 5th-millennium layers (LN II) in highest probability in the range 3199-3040 BC, ed by phase B at Sidirokastro and IIIA at Dikili
the main area of the cave (phase C, spanning indicating that the EBA I does not begin before Tash, starts only around 3150 BC (see above),
a period 4370-4060 BC). All the others dates about 3200 CAL.BC.
then Aghios Ioannis would represent, indeed,
are from the period between 3350 and 2600 cal. Concerning Kryoneri, all four dates from the
the stage just preceding it.
BC, i.e. the fully developed EBA, which is fur- LN II layers (DEM-779, DEM-780, DEM-1045,
ther subdivided into an early and a late stage Lyon-6028) (Figure 5) fall well before the end
(local phases B and A, respectively). Thus, no of the 5th millennium, with the latest date
intermediate stage is attested here either leav- between 4460 and 4360 cal. BC.
ing a mean gap of 837±211 years, according to A single date with very large error spanning
Conclusions
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the statistical model. the thousand-year interval between 3640-2670
The last 1/3rd of the 4th millennium where BC (DEM-790) is the only trace of a possible The three sites with long occupation
on
the EBA begins is affected by medium-term occupation during the latter part of the 4th mil- sequences provide no or very few dates in the
variations in the atmospheric 14C content, lennium or the early 3rd. But the only reliable years after about 4250 cal. BC, regardless of
resulting in a plateau in the calibration curve date (Lyon-6029) is from the second half of the their type (tell, flat settlement, cave) or loca-
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around 3300-3000 BC. This leads to an artifi- 3rd millennium BC, i.e. from an advanced stage tion (in lowland or on a terrace, far or close to
cial spreading of the calibrated dates reducing
precision and prohibiting discrimination
between events that could be dating close to
us
of the Early Bronze Age (EBA II); this would
agree also with the mobile finds. In that case,
the gap in dates would be of almost 2000 years,
the sea). This datum probably marks the end of
the mature Late Neolithic (Chalcolithic) peri-
od in cultural terms. This is very clear at Dikili
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3300 and events close to 3000 BC, since they all but we need to consider the small excavated Tash, where it dates the destruction of a group
give 2σ calibrated dates generally in the range area. Anyhow, the absence of dates falling in of houses with material typical of the last LN
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3300-3000 cal. BC (Boyadziev, 1995; Johnson, the phase in question is of some importance phase (Dikili Tash IIC, more or less synchro-
1999; Maniatis and Papadopoulos, 2011). In for our discussion. nous to Karanovo VI). The picture agrees well
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Figure 4. Sidirokastro. a) Multi plot of 2σ calibrated dates modeled statistically in one Late Neolithic phase (C) and two Early Bronze
Age phases (B and A) using the OxCal v4.1.5 programme; b) modelled 2σ calibrated date of first event of Phase B (Early Bronze Age
I) treated separately as a single phase group. Modelling performed with OxCal v4.1.5 programme.
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Figure 5. Kryoneri: multi plot of 2σ calibrated dates using the OxCal v4.1.5 programme..
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Figure 6. Aghios Ioannis Thasos: multi plot of 2σ calibrated dates modelled for one phase and treating sample DEM-848 as an outlier.
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occupation until the first centuries of the 4th Anthony DW, Chi JY, 2009. The lost world of old Chronologie der bulgarischen
millennium in several low land sites in North Europe. The Danube valley, 5000-3500 BC. Urgeschichte. Berliner 14C-Datierungen
on
Greece contradicts this hypothesis. Thus, a dif- ISAW-Princeton University Press, von bulgarischen archäologischen
ferent explanation is required for the general- Princeton-Oxford. Fundplätzen]. [Article in German].
ized disruption of the settlement pattern in the Boyadziev Y, 1995. Chronology of prehistoric Eurasia Antiqua 2:105-73.
e
plains near or just after 4000 BC. cultures in Bulgaria. In: D.W. Bailey, I. Higham T, Chapman J, Slavchev V, Gaydarska
The dates of the first properly speaking EBA
layers fall between 3300 and 3000 BC, as in
most other Aegean and Balkan settlements.
us
Panayotov (eds.) Prehistoric Bulgaria.
Prehistory Press, Madison, pp 149-91.
Bronk Ramsey CB, 2009. Bayesian analysis of
B, Honch N, Yordanov Y, Dimitrova B,
2007. New perspectives on the Varna
cemetery (Bulgaria). AMS dates and social
al
But evidence from Sidirokastro suggests that radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51:337-60. implications. Antiquity 81:640-54.
the true start could be close to 3100 BC, thus Bronk Ramsey CB, 2010. OxCal, Oxford Johnson M, 1999. Chronology of Greece and
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leaving room for a precursory stage, represent- Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, v. 4.1.5. South-East Europe in the Final Neolithic
er
ed by Aghios Ioannis. Available from: http://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/ and Early Bronze Age. P Prehist Soc
Even so, a gap of several centuries remains embed.php?File=oxcal.html 65:319-36.
m
with no visible trace of human occupation in Cottereau E, Arnold M, Moreau C, Baqué D, Koukouli-Chryssanthaki H, Treuil R, 2008.
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om
at Sidirokastro, maybe more at Kryoneri. The Hain S, Perron M, Salomon J, Setti V, 2007. Macédoine orientale. Recherches franco-
same picture is provided by the rest of Greece ARTEMIS, the New 14C AMS at LMC14 in helléniques dirigées par la Société
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-c
moment (2010) no more than 20 radiocarbon Darcque P, Koukouli-Chryssanthaki H, çaise d’Athènes (1986-2001)]. [Book in
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in this interval, representing hardly more than Recent researches at the Neolithic settle- Publ., Athens.
a dozen of sites. ment of Dikili Tash, Eastern Macedonia, Koukouli-Chryssanthaki H, Treuil R,
Εταιρείας 163:69-86.
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ράκτες-Φράγμα Σιδηροκάστρου
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Manning SW, 1995. The absolute chronology of Archaeological Work in Macedonia and d’Athènes, Athens.
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κό πλαίσιο των Βαλκανίων κατά
chronology of the Neolithic sequence at France, Paris.