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This book details the importance of the many years of excavation Sarakenos Cave, Greece, carried out from 1994 until today. This site has been proven to be the largest inhabited cave of the prehistoric period in Greece with 12 phases of habitation from the Middle Paleolithic to the Bronze Age.The text discusses the cultural sequence from the time when Neanderthals settled in the cave around 40000 years BP until the end of prehistory. Special importance is given to the paleo-environment (vegetation and climate) of the area per period, which is reconstructed based on pollen samples collected during the excavations.

Old theories for the origins of domesticated animals and plants from the East and the spread of farming and husbandry in Europe have affected generations of archaeologists, resulting in several theories of migrations of populations. However, there is no evidence in the archaeological record of population movements from the East, while so far the contribution of the pre-Neolithic populations of the Aegean has been neglected. This book shows that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers developed a dense maritime network on the Aegean islands and contributed to the Neolithisation process, transferring domesticated species from the East to the Aegean through Cyprus. Their great specialization in fishing and long journeys was due to a tradition that had roots in the Palaeolithic period. This text is based on practical experience from excavations and surface surveys over the past 25 years in Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in the Aegean Basin and continental Greece.

This book completes the two-part series that serves as the final report for the excavation of the Cave of the Cyclops on the island of Youra in the Northern Sporades of Greece, a site that was occasionally occupied from the Mesolithic through Roman period. The second volume contains the results of detailed studies on the archaeological material, organic remains, and archeometric analyses that complete the image of this significant archaeological site. These studies help to further distinguish the main characteristics of the Mesolithic culture in the Aegean basin, including: the intense exploitation of sea resources, limited hunting activities, the collection of native fruits and land snails to supplement the diet, and attempts at domestication by isolated island communities.

This is the first volume detailing the excavation of the'Cave of the Cyclops'on the island of Youra in the North Aegean. The cave was occupied at various times from the Mesolithic through Roman periods. The setting and stratigraphy of the cave and a survey of the area are discussed. The Mesolithic and Neolithic ceramic, lithic, and small finds are organised into catalogues. Additionally, this volume provides insight into the means of survival and the flowering of culture on Youra during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, and it presents the connections between this outlying area and mainland Greece.