Franchthi Neolithic Pottery, Volume 2, vol. 2

This is the second of two detailed reports on the more than one million pieces of pottery (and three complete vessels) recovered from Franchthi Cave and Paralia. These accounts significantly increase our understanding of Neolithic pottery and society in southern Greece. As in her study of the earlier Neolithic ceramics (Fascicle 8), Vitelli gives careful attention in her analyses to the context of the finds and to the traces of the potters’ procedures. The conclusions of these analyses differ significantly from earlier preliminary reports. Substantial gaps in occupation separate each of the three later Neolithic phases, whose remains appear to represent short term, probably ceremonial activities rather than continuous, settled habitation at the site. The concluding chapter explores the implications of the Franchthi ceramic analysis for understanding the complex social and economic developments of the later Neolithic in the larger Aegean area.

 Karen D. Vitelli is Director of the Franchthi project. She is the coeditor of Archaeological Ethics (2006).