Reconstructing the neolithic landscape of Thessaly through a GIS and geological approach

In: Posluschny, A. ; Lambers, K. ; Herzog, I. (Hrsgg.): Layers of Perception. Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Berlin, April 2–6, 2007. Koll. Vor- u. Frühgesch. 10. Bonn 2008 411

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Abstract

Neolithic Thessaly has been traditionally studied to understand human partitioning and territoriality of the landscape by non-hierarchical human groups. Thessaly is a region of low relief with extensive coastline and a great alluvial plain, where hundreds of Neolithic settlements/tells called magoules were established from the Early Neolithic period until the Bronze Age. Archaeological data was collected forming a corpus of surveyed and excavated sites and settlements, differentiated by type, size or time-scale of occupation. Reconstruction of the Neolithic landscape was based on synthesis of geological maps, records of stratigraphic data collected from a total of 400 boreholes and the indexing of past studies relative to the geomorphological changes that have affected Neolithic Thessaly from Holocene until today. These were spatially and statistically processed to estimate the amount of alluvial deposits and their distribution on the Thessalian plain from the Early Neolithic period to the present.