Cooking, Space and the Formation of Social Identities in Neolithic Northern Greece: Evidence of Thermal Structure Assemblages from Avgi and Dispilio in Kastoria
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University of Cardiff School of History, Archaeology and Religion Cooking, space and the formation of social identities in Neolithic Northern Greece: evidence of thermal structure assemblages from Avgi and Dispilio in Kastoria Evanthia Kalogiropoulou Volume 1: Text Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2013 Abstract This dissertation analyses the spatial and contextual organisation of thermal structures (hearths and ovens) on thirty excavated Neolithic sites from Macedonia and Western Thrace throughout the Neolithic period in Greece in diverse habitation environments (tells, flat- extended sites and lake-side sites). Unpublished material from two settlements, Avgi and Dispilio in Kastoria, will also complement this study. This dissertation raises the question of how communities were organised and how different forms of habitus or different kinds of entanglements tell us something of daily life and the formation of social identities. My principal field of research lies in the social interfaces developed around consumption practices in diverse spatial contexts in the course of everyday life. Key questions of this study involve the overall emergence and dispersal of social and cultural traditions in time and in space through the examination of different spatial and material entanglements. My analysis clarifies that intra-site spatial organisation in the area studied does not directly correspond with settlement types. The examination of archaeological data showed that similar configurations of social space can be found in dissimilar settlement types. My study demonstrates that cultural ‘assemblages’ in prehistory do not correspond to geographically broad united community groups but instead they show local diversity and social complexity. Instead of being modelled as unified, monolithic ‘cultures’, people seem to have come together around a sequence of chronologically and geographically focused forms of local identities. A local-scale examination of intra-site spatial patterns from Neolithic Macedonia and Western Thrace demonstrated that, although different settlement types are recorded within particular geographical regions, comparable organisation of space among contemporary sites indicates the development of similar social structures. Στους γονείς μου, Έφη και Διονύση Table of Contents Style conventions used in the dissertation ............................................................................................................. iv List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements................................................................................................................................................ xii CHAPTER 1 .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction: why thermal structures? .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Sample and scope ............................................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Contribution and organisation of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2 .......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Theoretical and historiographical reconsiderations of society, space and daily life ....................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Approaches to archaeology and (social) space ............................................................................................... 10 2.3 Critical approaches to settlement archaeology: making places in the prehistoric world ................................ 13 Tell settlements: visibility, habitation lifeways and spatial organisation ............................................................. 16 Emphasis on the house: archaeological approaches of life indoors .................................................................... 22 Flat-extended settlements: invisibility, habitation lifeways and spatial organisation .......................................... 26 Life in open-air spaces: yards, gardens and daily activities in flat-extended sites............................................... 31 2.4 Approaches to the archaeology of food: daily foodways and society ............................................................. 36 2.5 Instead of conclusions: a brief discussion of archaeology and social identities ............................................. 40 CHAPTER 3 ........................................................................................................................................................ 42 Outline of Neolithic research in Northern Greece ........................................................................................... 42 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 42 3.2 History of Neolithic research in Macedonia and Western Thrace .................................................................. 44 The pioneers: early works .................................................................................................................................... 44 The second period of exploration: 1960s to 1980s ............................................................................................... 46 The ‘big bang’: a new era of archaeological investigation .................................................................................. 49 3.3 Theories and methods of Neolithic studies in Northern Greece: objectives, trends and biases ...................... 52 3.4 Time framework of the Neolithic period in Greece ........................................................................................ 58 3.5 Brief description of the Neolithic natural environment and subsistence strategies in Macedonia and Western Thrace ................................................................................................................................................................... 60 3.6 The built environment..................................................................................................................................... 63 3.7 Settlement patterns and spatial analysis in Neolithic Northern Greece .......................................................... 65 3.8 Conclusions: towards the formation of local and diverse Greek Neolithic narratives .................................... 71 CHAPTER 4 ........................................................................................................................................................ 72 Setting out the methodology for the study of thermal structures ................................................................... 72 4.1 Introduction of the methodological framework .............................................................................................. 72 4.2.1 Identification criteria for thermal structures in Neolithic Northern Greece ................................................. 74 4.2.2 Classification of thermal structures in Neolithic Northern Greece .............................................................. 76 Ovens: type 1a and type 1b ................................................................................................................................... 77 Hearths: type 2a and type 2b ................................................................................................................................ 78 Nondescript: type 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 79 4.2.3 Setting the methodology for intra-site spatial analysis: using GIS and AI applications .............................. 80 Methodology ......................................................................................................................................................... 80 Tools for spatial analysis: GIS and AI .................................................................................................................. 82 4.2.4 Contextual analysis of spatial patterns: areas of activities around thermal structures ................................. 85 4.3. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER 5 ........................................................................................................................................................ 90 Avgi Neolithic settlement: forming cooking socialities in broad space .......................................................... 90 5.1.1 Introduction: history of research .................................................................................................................