City walls, Sesklo.
Sesklo.
| Summary: | Defining site for Thessalian Middle Neolithic cultural phase. |
| Type: | Settlement |
| Region: | Magnesia |
Periods:
Neolithic
Early Bronze Age
Middle Bronze Age
Late Bronze Age
Physical:
Ca. 15 km SW of Volos on a low mound. The Middle Neolithic settlement was a village of closely grouped houses around a central larger megaron type building with a paved courtyard. A village fortification wall has been suggested, but is not certain. Larger and less cramped houses occupied the area below the mound.
Description:
The low mound of Sesklo, which sits in the fork of 2 small gullies is ca 100 by 45 m in area. The prehistoric deposits which vary from 3 to 6 m in depth indicate occupation through all of the prehistoric periods, from the earliest phase of the Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age.
The earliest settlement at Sesklo may have had a fortification wall, but the evidence is indefinite (some traces of an unusually thick wall are found at the E end of the site). The houses of the 1st settlement were built of wattle and daub on wooden frame in rectangular plan. Houses with and without stone foundations are known.
In the 2nd period, the main phase of the Thessalian Middle Neolithic, the same construction methods are used and evidence for fortification of the settlement is stronger, but still inconclusive. One large building of megaron type appears. The Middle Neolithic is the major period of the site and is characterized by the distinctive Sesklo pottery. The Middle Neolithic settlement was destroyed by fire and a 500 year hiatus in occupation followed before the site was reoccupied in the Late Neolithic. After the Middle Neolithic the remains from Sesklo are meager and unimportant.
Exploration:
Excavations: 1901-02, C. Tsountas; 1956-7, 1962-8, 1971-6, D. Theocharis.
Sources Used:
Other Bibliography: