Elissavet S. Hitsiou

Pottery Production Technology and Long-distance Exchange in Late Neolithic Makrygialos, Northern Greece Elissavet S. Hitsiou

This book investigates the production technology and inter-site circulation of a large and diverse Late Neolithic ceramic assemblage from the flat-extended settlement of Makrygialos (Phase II), in northern Greece. Comparative samples from Dimini, in Thessaly, and Agrosykia A and Giannitsa B, in western Macedonia, are also incorporated. It draws conclusions from the use of macroscopic and petrographic analysis of a large number of samples in an integrated project. The new evidence offers a better understanding of the role of technological choice in ceramic production. Locally produced and imported ceramic categories are found to co-exist. They signify manufacture by different groups or individuals with varying degrees of technological knowledge and skill, probably producing in different places, and within distinct ceramic traditions. More importantly, petrographic analysis provides positive evidence of the long-distance exchange of pots, challenging previously established ideas on the circulation of pottery for this period and geographical area. The emerging picture strongly supports the idea of a dynamic Neolithic society characterised by mobilities, interaction and social competition between people, as revealed through their material culture.