Article · 2011
Dating Palaeolithic sites in southwestern Crete, Greece
T. F. Strasser, C. Runnels, K. Wegmann, E. Panagopoulou, F. McCoy, C. DiGregorio, P. Karkanas and N. Thompson
Journal of Quaternary Science 26(5) 553-560
An article dating Palaeolithic artefacts from the Plakias region of southwestern Crete through their associations with marine terraces and palaeosols.
Palaeolithic artefacts found in the Plakias region of southwestern Crete are dated here from the geological deposits that hold them. Surveys in 2008 and 2009 recorded nine sites and more than 400 artefacts, mostly described as Acheulean type: bifaces, cleavers, cores and flake tools made from local vein quartz and quartzite. Three sites in Preveli Gorge are described in detail. At Preveli 2 the artefacts are associated with elevated marine terraces, at Preveli 3 they lie in terra rossa on a planation surface, and at Preveli 7 they occur in palaeosol and alluvial-fan deposits.
Dating rests on two methods. Calibrated radiocarbon ages from shell samples on the low terraces at Preveli and Schinaria are combined with terrace elevations, estimated global sea levels and local uplift rates, and the Preveli 7 palaeosol is compared with dated Mediterranean soils. The authors place the lower terraces in Marine Isotope Stage 3 and the higher ones through Stage 5, with the 96 m Preveli terrace at about 107 ka and the 125 m terrace at about 123 ka (pp. 556–559).
Strasser and colleagues infer that the artefacts in the 59 m and 96 m terraces at Preveli 2 are older than 72 ka and 107 ka, that those at Preveli 3 are older still, and that the Preveli 7 palaeosol, about 110 ka, gives a minimum age for its artefacts. They argue that such finds show hominins on Crete while it was separated from the mainland, and read this as evidence that early hominins could cross open water. The original occupation sites are unknown, and the authors state that intact, stratified artefact-bearing sites are needed to fix upper age limits for the assemblages.
What it records
- Fieldwork in 2008 and 2009 identified nine sites and more than 400 artefacts in the Plakias region of Crete.p. 554
- At Preveli 2, four flakes and a biface were observed as clasts in beach deposits at 59 m and 96 m above sea level.p. 554
- The original occupation sites for the Plakias artefacts are unknown, and no in situ occupation sites with anthropogenic deposits have been identified.p. 555
- The Preveli 3 artefacts occur in terra rossa that the authors describe as certainly Pleistocene in age.p. 556
- The calibrated age reported for the 14 m terrace at Preveli is 45,545 ± 885 cal a BP.p. 558
- Strasser and colleagues infer that artefacts in the Preveli 2 terrace deposits are older than 72 ka at 59 m and older than 107 ka at 96 m.p. 559
- Strasser and colleagues assign the Preveli 7 palaeosol to Maturity Stage 6 and an approximate age of 110 ka.p. 559
- The mean uplift rate since Marine Isotope Stage 5e is reported as 1.3 m ka⁻¹ at Preveli Gorge and Schinaria.p. 559
Where to read
- Survey assemblages and the sites Preveli 2, 3 and 7pp. 554–556
- Radiocarbon dating and correlation of the Preveli and Schinaria terracespp. 556–559
- Palaeosol maturity dating at Preveli 7p. 559
Contents
- Introduction553
- Study site553
- Archaeological survey finds from the Plakias region, southwestern Crete553
- Results554
- Dating the Palaeolithic artefacts from the archaeological survey554
- Geological context and dating of the Preveli Gorge sites556
- Geological setting556
- Stratigraphy and geochronology of studied sites556
- Discussion and conclusions559
- References559
People, places and institutions
Institutions
- University of California, Irvine, W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratoryanalysed the shell samples
Places
- Creteisland where the artefacts were found
- Plakias regionsurveyed region of southwestern Crete
- Preveli Gorgelocation of the studied terraces and sites
- Preveli 2artefacts associated with marine terraces
- Preveli 3artefacts in terra rossa
- Preveli 7artefacts in palaeosol and fan deposits
- Megas Potamos Riverriver cutting Preveli Gorge
- Schinariasite with dated marine terraces
- Greececountry containing the study region
Also named: Southwest Asia, Arabian Peninsula, Sardinia, Melos, Alonnissos, Kephalonia, Zakynthos, Solana, Quipar, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Ephoreia of Paleoanthropology and Speleology of Southern Greece, 25th Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Archaeology of West Crete, Institute for Aegean Prehistory, National Geographic Society.
Extent pp. 553–560, 5 figs