Summary
Stratouli Georgia a.o.
‘Houses and yards’ at the Neolithic settlement of Avgi, Kastoria: Building 5 and the adjacent open areas
The Neolithic Avgi research program is an interdisciplinary project aiming at the study and preservation of the site. The objective of the paper is to incorporate the preliminary results of different studies into the analysis of specific contexts, namely the Building 5 at the excavation’s West Sector and the adjacent open areas. Building 5 (c. 5300-5060 cal BC) belongs to the AVGI I phase, dated to the Late Neolithic I. It is a freestanding, roughly rectangular, post-framed building oriented on an east-west axis. Building remains and a partially excavated floor surface suggest that the building covered approximately 70-80 square meters. Burned daub fragments show that the walls were constructed with closely set stakes and split timbers, while internal partitions or other parts of the superstructure were probably built in a wattle-and-daub fashion. Alternative techniques and the use of planks (for reinforcement or as cladding) have also been identified. At the SE part of the building was found a circular pit containing at least 10 kg of emmer wheat, a few fruits, a small grinding stone and several large daub fragments. The pit may be for storage purposes but can perhaps also be linked to symbolic practices involving the deliberate burning and sealing of the finds. No in situ hearths or ovens have been identified, although the presence of a disarticulated working platform or thermal structure at the building’s interior is probable. The finds from the destruction layer and the floor deposits comprise pottery sherds, 15 ground stone tools, a few chipped stone tools and by-products, many grains of emmer wheat, as well as a few fish bones (Cyprinidae) and freshwater mollusks. The emerging picture attests to the domestic character of the building. The assemblages deriving from the areas to the east and the north of Building 5 (Areas A5 and B5) indicate that many household activities were taking place outdoors. The variety in pottery and stone tools reflects diverse domestic and non-domestic activities, but no task-specific production areas have been identified. Archaeological observations and micromorphological analyses suggest that Area B5 was linked to food preparation, cooking and other fire-related activities. The hypothesis is supported by a cluster of three thermal structures (two subterranean domed ovens and a hearth), as well as by ash concentrations attributed to open hearths. Formation processes that are more complicated characterize Area A5 where intense rubbish disposal and post-depositional disturbances took place. Both areas were social spaces integral to household activities and everyday life within the settlement. The quantity and nature of the excavated material, as well as the lack of archaeologically visible demarcations, imply that the open areas were probably associated with more than one building, thus indicating a certain degree of household ‘openness’ (and sharing?) during the AVGI I phase.
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