Southampton University archaeologists studying a Neolithic archaeological site in central Greece have helped unearth more 300 clay figurines, one of the largest numbers ever for such finds in south-eastern Europe.
The Southampton team, working in collaboration with the Greek Archaeological Service and the British School in Athens, is studying the site of Koutroulou Magoula near the Greek village of Neo Monastiri, around 160 miles from Athens.
The figurines were found all over the site, some of them located on wall foundations. Despite their aesthetic value, the purpose of these figurines was to also convey and reflect ideas about a community’s culture, society and identity.
“Figurines were thought to typically depict the female form, but our find is not only extraordinary in terms of quantity, but also quite diverse – male, female and non-gender specific ones have been found and several depict a hybrid human-bird figure,” said Professor Yannis Hamilakis, Co-Director of the Koutroulou Magoula Archaeology and Archaeological Ethnography project.
Excavations at Koutroulou Magoula started in 2001 by Nina Kyparissi, followed by this latest project in 2010. Hamilakis commented: “The people would have been farmers who kept domestic animals, used flint or obsidian1 tools and had connections with settlements in the nearby area. The construction of parts of the settlement suggests they worked communally, for example, to construct the concentric ditches surrounding their homes.”
In addition to excavation, the project has conducted ethnography research amongst the local communities, exploring their customs and culture and their relationship to the site. The project team will carry out two study seasons in 2013 and 2014.
(Source: University of Southampton)
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