UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI _____________November 13 , 20 _____03 I,________________________________Yuki Furuya ______________, hereby submit this as part of the requirements for the degree of: ________________________Master of Arts ________________________ in: ________________________The Department of Classical Studies________________________ It is entitled: ________________________A Study of Building III at the Neolithic________________________ Acropolis of Halai, ________________________Greece ________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Approved by: ________________________Professor Jack L. Davis ________________________Professor Gisela E. Walberg ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ A STUDY OF BUILDING III AT THE NEOLITHIC ACROPOLIS OF HALAI, GREECE A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Classical Studies of the College of Arts and Sciences 2003 by Yuki Furuya B.A., Cornell University, Ithaca 2001 Committee Chair: Jack L. Davis ABSTRACT Building III is a Neolithic architectural remain in the archaeological site of Halai in Central Greece. It is a small one-room unit of stone and mudbrick construction measuring 2 m x 2.4 m, containing features including a doorway, window, buttress and stone pavements. Radiocarbon analysis suggests a dating between 5900 and 5700 BC, or the Greek Middle Neolithic Period. The finds excavated from Building III include obsidian tools and Neolithic Red-on-White ware, which are both characteristic of the period. Building III is a special existence among the six Middle Neolithic structures excavated from Halai because it is the best preserved, and also was in use for probably the longest period of time. Building III overlapped in its phase of use with two early structures, Buildings I and II. After these two structures fell out of use, Building III was left standing while they were built over with three new structures. Major renovations were made to Building III during the course of its use. A buttress was created to fortify a collapsing wall. The doorway and window were sealed in reaction to the construction of the three later buildings in extreme proximity to it. That Building III was preserved and renovated was a deliberate choice indicating its importance or usefulness. The evidence extracted from its two successive phases – one before and one after the renovation mentioned above – suggest two different types of activities, possibly caused by the structural alteration. In the early phase of the structure, an abundance of faunal remains, burnt pottery sherds and carbonized material were discovered, suggesting that food processing was done within the building. In its late phase patches of cobble pavements were laid on the floor, suggesting that the structure was used as a storage room. Building III finds are representative of the general lifestyle of the Neolithic settlement at Halai. The range of domestic and wild faunal and floral remains are indicative of the fact that Halai was a coastal settlement that apparently took advantage of its location – by hunting, keeping livestock, farming, obtaining seafood and conducting maritime obsidian trade. PREFACE My participation in the Cornell Halai East Lokris Project (CHELP), directed by Professor John E. Coleman, started in the summer of 2000. I was given the opportunity to participate in the 2000 study season at Halai while studying under Professor Coleman for my undergraduate degree at Cornell University. I arrived at my first season as an undergraduate volunteer. My primary responsibilities included assisting the main site conservator, working on the electronic database, and drawing chipped stone tools and other small finds for publication. During the following season in 2001, during which no study permit was granted, participants were restricted to conducting research that did not require data either from the site or the storeroom. It was during this season that Professor Coleman first approached me about working on Building III. This assignment initially entailed summarizing information concerning Building III obtained in previous excavations in order to enhance our understanding of this structure, which was the best- preserved Neolithic building at Halai. The assignment was in no way complete at the end of that season, due to the short length of the summer seasons, inaccessibility to relevant publications and finds at the project headquarter in Vivos, as well as to my elementary knowledge regarding the Neolithic period in general. In the months following that season, I increasingly felt that this building was worthy of a more extensive study than the short summer seasons allowed. In April 2002 during my first year of graduate studies at the University of Cincinnati, I approached Professor Jack Davis and Professor Gisela Walberg, as well as Professor Coleman, about the possibility of turning my research of Building III into a Master’s thesis. All of them were very receptive to the idea and I resumed working on the project, but this time in much more depth. I returned to Halai in 2002 for ten days in order to examine the finds and to acquire copies of staff reports and field notebooks. I also returned to Halai in 2003 to study other areas within the Neolithic settlement at Halai. The body of this thesis was written during the 2002-2003 academic year in Cincinnati. While my thesis initially included only the study of Building III and its finds, it was expanded to include an introduction of the Neolithic Period in Central Greece, as a way to supply comparanda and context. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my thanks to my advisors Professor Davis, who was my primary reader of this thesis and advised me on its procedure from beginning to end, and Professor Gisela Walberg, who gave me the initial advice on the possibility of turning this topic into my Master’s thesis. I am also very grateful to Professor John Coleman, who provided me with this topic and granted me permission to use all of the material related to Building III and Halai that is included in this thesis. Many participants at Halai deserve recognition in this work, because this study could not have been produced without their contribution to CHELP and this project. I would like to thank in particular Allyson McDavid, the chief architect at Halai, who provided the drawings and photographs of Building III, Halai palaeoethnobotanist Amy Bogaard who shared her research of the Neolithic plant remains, and lithics expert Professor Evangelia Karimali who re-examined the Building III chipped stone assemblage at my request. I would also like to thank Professor Kerill O’Neill, who proofread this work numerous times. My friends and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati played a crucial role in my completion of this thesis and in providing me with both academic advice and emotional support. All of the errors made in this thesis, however, are of course my own. Lastly I express my gratitude to my parents for their unfailing care and support. It is frustrating to endure many hours of discussion concerning a subject and work in a language that one is completely unfamiliar with; I could not have completed this work without their patience, encouragement and a decade of not losing faith in their daughter on the other side of the globe. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables 3 List of Figures 4 Introduction 5 Chapter I 9 Neolithic in Central Greece 9 History of Research Regarding Neolithic Greece 9 Neolithic Sites Identified in Thessaly and Central Greece 12 The Aceramic Phase in Thessaly and Central Greece 14 The Tripartite Chronological Scheme in Thessaly and Central Greece 16 Settlements and Environment 24 Architecture 30 Obsidian and Trade 35 Summary 36 Chapter II 38 Halai and Building III 38 Site Location and Overview 38 Overview of the Neolithic Remains at Halai 39 Trench F9 in Area F 43 Building III in Trench F9 45 Overview of Building III’s Surroundings and Their Relationship to the Structure 46 1931 Grace Excavation of Building III 47 1992-2002 CHELP Excavation of Building III 49 Project Methodology 54 Chapter III 56 Building III Architecture and Stratigraphy 56 Architecture 56 Doorway and Window 60 Overview of the Interior of Building III 62 Description of the Lots Excavated by CHELP 64 Floors 66 Paved Surfaces 69 Chapter IV 71 Finds from Building III and Neolithic Halai 71 Pottery 71 Bone and Shells 75 Lithics 77 Botanical Remains 78 Radiocarbon Samples 79 Chapter V 81 Discussion – Building III at Halai in Relation to the Neolithic of Central Greece 81 Neolithic Halai 81 Building III 83 Bibliography 89 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Absolute Dates for the Thessalian Neolithic Period .....................................................93 Table 2: Statified Pottery from Building III by EU....................................................................93 Table 3: Unworked Bone from Building III by EU....................................................................95 Table 4: Common Botanical Remains at Halai ..........................................................................96 Table 5: Radiocarbon Results from Building III........................................................................96 LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1: Building III....................................................................................................................97