14C Dating of a Final Neolithic-Early Bronze Age Transition Period Settlement at Aghios Ioannis on Thassos (North Aegean)

Abstract

The transitional period known as the Final Neolithic-Early Bronze Age in Greece, falling in terms of absolute dates within the 4th millennium BC, is an obscure and enigmatic period. Few sites in northern Greece or the southern Balkans have produced evidence of 4th millennium BC occupation, and the sites that do are mainly concentrated in the last third of the 4th millennium toward the beginning of the EBA. This paper presents archaeological evidence and radiocarbon dates from a site that covers part of the gap, Aghios Ioannis on Thassos, the northernmost Aegean island. It is a coastal site of seasonal occupation and most probably depended on organized animal husbandry plus hunting and fishing activities. From the first excavations in 1996, there was evidence that the site was occupied during the Final Neolithic to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. The 14C dates obtained fall towards the end of the 4th millennium if not closer to the middle. The presence of human activity in this last part of the 4th millennium 'gap' on Thassos is by itself an interesting discovery that enlarges our knowledge for this obscure period and is of environmental and cultural significance.