Is the Dryas the Culprit? Socio-Economic Changes During the Final Pleistocene and Early Holocene at Franchthi Cave (Greece

8/18/2019 Is the Dryas the Culprit? Socio-Economic Changes During the Final Pleistocene and Early Holocene at Franchthi Ca…

1/18

IS THE DRYAS THE CULPRIT? 113

Is the Dryas the Culprit? Socio-Economic ChangesDuring the Final Pleistocene and Early Holocene

at Franchthi Cave (Greece)*

CATHERINE PERLÈS1

1 Université de Paris X, CNRS, UMR 7555

INTRODUCTIONBesides his unique range of interests and competence, what I admire most in Ofer Bar-

Yosef’s work is the profound coherence of his conception of human societies and their

modalities of change through time. Although prehistoric research is, by denition, anchored

in change through time, Bar-Yosef is actually one of the few prehistorians to have explicitlystated his conceptions and applied them systematically to all periods (see in particular

Bar-Yosef 1998). Rejecting the gradualist views that have prevailed in the past twenty

years, he resolutely adopts a rather extreme view of “radical and rapid” change. This view

logically rests on a systemic conception of human societies, whereby feedback effects will

tend to maintain a basically stable state until the whole system is disrupted and undergoes

major transformations. This conception is clearly akin to Eldredge and Gould’s theory of

“Punctuated Equilibria” in evolutionary biology, just as the gradualist conception of cultural

change parallels Neo-Darwinian theories. It can be shown, in both cases, that the different

conceptions of the modalities of change are rooted in different notions of the biological orsocial organisms (Perlès 1998). A major difference between biology and culture, however,

is that the disruptive factor for biological organisms is considered to be known – genetic

mutations – whereby it has to be inferred, case by case, for human societies.

Journal of The Israel Prehistoric Society 40 (2010), 113-129

* This paper was written in 2003 and was up-dated in the presentation of the data. Part of theargumentation may require nuancing in light of the new data available, but this was not feasible in

the context of the present publication.


2/18

CATHERINE PERLÈs114

For instance, Bar-Yosef and Anna Belfer-Cohen explicitly stated in 1992 that the Natuan

was a “revolutionary event”, “which took place in a geographical, well-delineated Levantine

“homeland” (Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen 1992: 39). According to them, this revolution wasa result of complex feed-back processes that integrated several factors, including climatic

variations, the availability and predictability of plant resources, the relative sedentism of the

game, an appropriate technology as well as some degree of demographic pressure (idem). In

1998, however, while agreeing that social responses varied in different parts of the Levant,

Bar-Yosef (1998: 147-148) appears to give more weight to climatic variations as a single

causal factor: “This major shift [The Natuan] can be interpreted as a reaction to an abrupt

environmental change (the Older Dryas?) which necessitated a new approach to the way

resources were exploited” (id: 147). In parallel, he suggests that the beginning of agricultural

practices was linked to a decrease in the abundance of wild cereals, caused by the laterdegradation of the Younger Dryas climatic event.

With such a model in mind, I decided to present Ofer a parallel reconstruction of the

economic changes at Franchthi Cave (Argolid) after the Pleniglacial.1 I had indeed wondered

for a long time about the drastically different responses to climatic change in broadly

comparable environments. In other words, I was wondering why we had no Natuan in

Greece. But before I could even pretend to address such a question, what I discovered to my

surprise was the great difculty of directly relating socio-economic change to environmental

transformations. Indeed, in a site-specic context, environmental transformations are ltered

by changes in the status of the site, by the groups’ choices and traditions; at Franchthi at

least, they are difcult to evaluate.2 Second, in a systemic approach, it sometimes appears

difcult to discriminate between climatic factors and many other potential factors of change,

related to the internal dynamics of the groups and cultural choices. To illustrate these points,

I will briey outline the Franchthi sequence during the period corresponding to the Late

1 This reconstruction derives from on-going work to be published as a synthesis of the FranchthiCave record, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Final Neolithic. It is based on the following

published fascicles or papers: Cullen 1995 for the human remains; Hansen 1991 for the carbonizedseeds and charcoal; Farrand 2000 for the sedimentology and stratigraphy; Jacobsen and Farrand1987 for the general presentation of the site and sections; Perlès 1987, 1990 for the lithicasemblages; Perlès and Vanhaeren 2010 for the ornaments; J. C. Shackleton 1988 for the marinemolluscan remains; Payne 1975 for the faunal remains from trench H1A; Stiner and Munro in press for the faunal remains from trench H1B, Stroulia 2010 for the ground stone tools; van Andeland Sutton 1987 for the site setting and local geology. I have also made used of unpublished reports by Payne on microfaunal remains, Rose on sh remains and Whitney-Desautels on land snails.These references will not be repeated in texto.

2 But see Stiner and Munro (in press) for a very different interpretation of the data from that

presented here.


3/18


Geometric Kebaran, the Natuan and the incipient PPNA, i.e. the Final Pleistocene and Early

Holocene.

THE CAVE SETTING AND EARLIEST OCCUPATIONSThe Franchthi Cave is located at sea level in the southern Argolid, in a presently dry

environment (ca 500 mm of annual rainfall at Nafplion), with a thermo-Mediterranean

vegetation. During the Late Pleistocene, a small coastal plain opened in front of the cave,

backed by low hills and small internal basins. The cave’s surroundings were covered by an

open woodland and woodland-steppe comprising several taxa, similar to that found in the

Levant, in particular almonds, pears, lentils, oats, barley, etc. In broad terms, the environment

would have been comparable to the park woodland and woodland-steppe environmentsinferred for the Near East (Hillman 1996, gs 1 and 2).

The cave was rst occupied during the Middle Palaeolithic, and, sporadically, during the

Early Upper Palaeolithic. These early UP occupations (Phases 1-3)3 present characteristics

of short and infrequent hunting halts: a very low density of nds, no evidence for gathering

activities, i.e. no carbonized seeds, no edible sea shells, and no fragmented or burnt land

snails. The food remains include large game, with Cervus elaphus dominant at the beginning

and progressively replaced by Equus hydruntinus, together with rarer remains of Bos

primigenius, Capra ibex, and Sus scrofa. Alongside the large mammals, remains of birds

(in particular Phasinidae and Alectoris sp.) as well as remains of hare ( Lepus europaeus) are

especially abundant (Stiner and Munro in press). The lithic assemblage is heavily dominated

by bladelets, backed bladelets and backed points considered to be weapon inserts. There are

almost no ground stone tools and no bone tools, but shell ornaments are present.

THE BÖLLING: FIRST OCCUPATIONS BY COMPLETE FAMILIESAfter a long depositional hiatus (or erosional phase), the occupation resumed during the 13th

millennium BC cal,4 i.e. during the climatic improvement of the Bölling. Carbonized seedsare now present, and, despite their limited number, the variety of plant species in Phase 4 is

important (table 1). According to Hillman (2000), most species correspond to park-woodland

and woodland-steppe environments. The charcoal (Hansen 1991: 111) indicates the presence

of juniper-type shrubs and hardwood trees such as almond, pear, pistachio, and deciduous

3 For correlation with the published data, these phases correspond to units 227-209 in FAS, units215-ca 172 in H1B, 220-205 in H1A.

4 Phase 4 comprises units 171-161 in H1B and 203-190 in H1A. It is not represented in FAS.


4/18


Table 1: list of plants species present in each period of occupation at Franchthi Cave

Period 2

(Bölling)

Period 3

(Alleröd)

Period 4

(YoungerDryas)

Period 5

(Preboreal)

Buglossoides arvensis (uncarbonized ) X X X X Alkanna cf orientalis(uncarbonized) X X X X Anchusa sp. (uncarbonized) X X X Lithospermum ofcinale X X Pistacia cf. lentiscus X X X X Prunus amygdalus X X X X Pyrus amygdaliformis X X X XCeltis cf. tournefortii, X X

Adonis sp. X X X Fumaria sp. X X X Phalaris sp. X X X Medicago sp. X X Malva parviora X XCapparis cf. spinosa X Erodium sp. XCalendula sp. XCrucifera sp. X Liliacae X X X X

Galium sp. X X X XCf. Colchicum/Polygonatum X X XVinis vitifera ssp. sylvestris X X Fumaria sp. X XCirsium sp. X X Avena sp. X X X Xculm nodes ind. X X Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum X X X X Lens sp. X X X X Lathyrus sp. X X XLarge Lathryrus X X XSmall Lathryrus X X Lathyrus cicera/sativa XVicia/Lathyrus sp. X X XVivia ervilia X X X X Pisum/vicia sp. X X XLarge Pisum sp. X XPisum elatius/humilis XSmall Leguminosae X X XMedium Leguminosae X X XLarge Leguminosae X

TOTAL 422 240 244 Ca. 28,000


5/18


oaks (Quercus pubescens type). The carbonized seeds comprise a variety of fruits, legumes,

mostly lentils and vetch, Boraginaceae, as well as a few seeds of vine and wild cereals

(oats and barley (Hansen 1991). Open areas where herds of wild cattle (cf . Bos primigenius)could nd favorable grazing are indicated by the presence of the gromwell ( Buglossoïdes

[ Lithospermum] arvensis), the alkanet ( Alkanna cf. orientalis) and legumes such as the

vetches (Hansen 1991: 111). Most of these plants are edible, and were clearly collected as

such, indicating that collecting was now taking place around the site. The inhabitants of

Franchthi also hunted several species of large game: Cervus elaphus, Equus hydruntinus,

Bos primigenius, and Capra ibex. Hares are still hunted, but other small-game taxa are now

exploited, such as hedgehogs (Erinaceidae) and tortoises (Testudo sp.). Some small-scale

shing (Sparids) is now also practiced despite the fact that the coast is still a few kilometers

away from the site.Compared with earlier occupations, the density of nds is much higher and the intensity of

occupation has markedly increased. The status of the site has clearly changed, from episodic

hunting-halts to a more residential locus. The evidence for varied gathering activities would

suggest the presence of women and children, and the presence of young children (and

therefore complete families) is indeed conrmed by the recovery of the shed milk tooth.

Thus, not only the subsistence activities, but even the composition of the groups inhabiting

the cave is likely to have changed.

Thus far, the picture could be considered broadly similar to that found in the late

Geometric Kebaran of the Levant: a climatic improvement, a marked increase in available

resources, a broad-spectrum subsistence basis including hunting, shing and collecting.

However, the change in the status of the site, the difference in the composition of the groups

that inhabited it, and the consequent transformations in subsistence activities preclude any

direct comparison in terms of available resources. In all probability, the biomass increased

during the Bölling, but human choices appear to me prevalent in the changes observed, and

they obscure a direct evaluation of the effects of climatic change. All one can say is that no

change in the large game and birds available can be observed.

SNAIL EATERS OF THE ALLERÖDAccording to one charcoal 14C date (see Farrand 2000), the cave may have been occupied

during the brief Middle Dryas (Dryas II), but no archaeological information is available about

this phase.5 The next occupational period (Phase 5)6 takes place, after a hiatus in the trenches

5 The 14C sample comes from Trench H, a trench excavated during the early years of excavationswhen water-sieving was not yet practiced. It was thus not included in the specialized studies.

6 Units 161 to ca 154 in H1B, 189 to 175 in H1A. This phase is not represented in FAS.


6/18


under study, somewhere during the Alleröd. The very large intervals of time covered by the

calibrated 14C dates do not allow us to discriminate between the warmer and colder phases

of the Alleröd. Whether the climate has “improved” or “deteriorated” during this phasecannot be assessed for the moment by the absolute chronology7 and is extremely difcult to

assess from the available archaeological data. It is all the more surprising – and frustrating

Ñ that the exploitation of local resources witnessed major transformations during what is the

richest phase in terms of archaeological remains. The most spectacular change is the sudden

appearance of massive amounts of land snails ( Helix gulina), forming dense shell middens.

Nearly 30,000 shells were counted in trench H1B alone, about 1.7 m by 1.5 m and 60 cm

thick, and the middens extended over the adjacent H1A trench (Whiney-Desautels, in prep;

Farrand 2000).

In parallel with the appearance of the snails, the higher-ranked ungulates previouslyexploited decline in frequency: Bos primigenius is virtually absent from the faunal assemblage,

which is now dominated by deer with a proportional rise of Sus scrofa. Equus hydruntinus

declines in relative frequency throughout this phase. Capra ibex makes up small proportions

of the large game. Carnivores, Vulpes, Lynx, Martes and Felis make their appearance in the

faunal spectrum. Pond-turtle replaces the tortoise, hares are still hunted, but the hunting of

birds shows a marked decline. An enlarged scope of resource exploitation is conrmed by the

presence, for the rst time, of edible marine molluscs. However, neither the small sh nor the

marine molluscs can compare, in terms of importance, to the land snails. Carbonized seeds

are scarce – the ratio of seeds to land snails is less than one for a thousand–, but they show

the same variety as in the previous period. The only difference is the presence of a few seeds

of hackberry (Celtis cf. tournefortii), which might suggest a rather warm episode.

The interpretation of these economic changes is not obvious. The botanical remains do not

suggest major environmental changes, but they correspond to intentionally selected species8

and may not reect variations in natural abundance or proportions. The disappearance of

the Bovids might be related to the reduction of the coastal plain with the rise of the sea-

level. It could also suggest a dryer environment, as would the absence of Pitymis and the

rise in Spalax. However, this should not have affected Equus cf. hydruntinus, also on thedecline. Alternately, the relative abundance of deer and Sus would rather suggest an increase

in tree cover, adversely affecting grazers more than browsers. A continued expansion of

woodland or garrigue vegetation might thus have affected the availability of the higher-

ranked resources, and, following an optimal foraging model, led to the compensation by

lower-ranked species such as land snails and, more marginally, sea shells. Stiner and Munro

7 New 14C dates are awaited.

8 Pollen is not preserved in the cave sediments.


7/18


(in press) consider indeed that the enlarged diet breadth probably signals a declining return

on the high-return species. However, processes other than environmental factors might be at

work: the seasonal data based on isotopic analyses of the marine molluscs strongly suggestthat the cave was occupied during the fall, i.e., at the beginning of the rainy season. This

would accord well with the intensive exploitation of land snails and the quasi-absence of

juvenile snails in the assemblage. This rather spectacular change in resource exploitation

may thus have corresponded to a new seasonal pattern in the cave’s occupation, rather than

to marked environmental changes.9 The groups may have used the opportunity for abundant,

easily collected, and, why not, appreciated food?10 Even if the quasi-disappearance of Bos

and decline of Equus do suggest environmental transformations, there is nothing to prove that

the deer and boars could not by themselves have provided enough meat for the group and that

snails were eaten for lack of other resources.

A QUASI-DESERTION OF THE CAVE DURING THE YOUNGER DRYASThe following occupations (Phase 6)11 are marked by a drastic reduction of the faunal

assemblage, now exceptionally poor in number of remains. These occupations can be placed

right into the Younger Dryas (XIth millennium BC cal.) and one could expect further and

rather drastic environmental changes (Moore and Hillman 1992; Rossignol-Strick 1995,

1997). However, the list of botanical species remains almost unchanged (table 1). Similarly,

the scarce large ungulates bones correspond to the already-present species, Cervus, Sus and

Capra. Besides the drop in land snail frequencies, which might conrm a dryer climate, there

is no clear indication that the Younger Dryas radically transformed the environment.

However, it may have provoked a drop in productivity and a decrease of the biomass.

This may explain why the cave’s occupation appears to be sporadic and of low intensity.

All density indexes drop markedly, and the overall picture suggests occasional halts of

brief duration, without any focus on specic resources and activities. Besides the rare large

mammal remains, hare and fox are still present but, in trench H1B at least, do not show any

spectacular increase in frequency. Sea shells and some land snails were still collected, thelatter in much lower quantities than before. The few concentrations of carbonized seeds,

land snails and shells all come from different excavation units, as though different resources

9 Since marine molluscs were not collected in earlier periods of occupation, no comparableseasonality data are available.

10 This is not merely a “typically French” appreciation of land snails. The latter are also greatlyappreciated in Greece nowadays.

11 Units 206-199 in FAS, 174-167 in H1A, 153-151 and 150-148 (mixed with Lower Mesolithic) in

H1B.


8/18


9/18


continues on a small and seemingly rather sporadic scale. The disappearance of Spalax in

the microfauna is the only element that would conrm some environmental changes and a

substantial increase in humidity (Payne 1976).Game hunting, however, seems to have remained on a small scale and the focus of

subsistence activities was clearly on gathering rather than hunting. The number and variety

of carbonized seeds is impressive (table 1): Hansen counted almost 28,000 seeds (as opposed

to ca. 1200 for our Phases 1-6 altogether), and this gure is still below the original number.13

Land snails ( Helix gulina) were again collected in massive quantities: nearly 55,000 shells

were counted in two of the four excavated trenches, H1B and FAS, although their density

is lower than during Phase 5 (from 2 to 10 per liter of sediment versus 6 to 30 in Period

3). Similarly, sea shells witness a drastic numerical increase (from ca. 1800 for the late

Palaeolithic to nearly 16,000 for the Lower Mesolithic alone), but their status is debatable:the assemblage is heavily dominated by Cyclope neritea, a small gregarious gastropod which

lives in shallow waters or even marshy conditions. More than a third of the Cyclope display

intentional boring from the inside of the shell, another large third broke during perforation,

and only 25% show no traces of work. Although J. Shackleton considers them as food refuse,

subsequently recycled as ornaments, other specialists deny that the small Cyclope were ever

eaten (Reese 1990: 682; Stiner 1999; Taborin 1993). They are, to the contrary, well known for

their use as ornaments in Europe since the Upper Palaeolithic (d’Errico and Vanhaeren 2000;

Stiner 1999; Taborin 1993, 2003) and we now consider them as purely ornamental species

(Perlès and Vanhaeren 2010). Accordingly, the contribution of marine molluscs to the diet

would have been reduced to the sporadic exploitation of Patella, Murex and Cerastoderma

glauca, and possibly Cerithium sp. if the latter was used for human consumption. This

reduced exploitation of sea shells would accord with the small quantity of sh bones (mostly

eels, sea breams and mullets), all of which could be caught in shallow waters without boats.

All the available data thus suggest that land snails and plants constituted a main source

of food. Surprisingly, however, the number of identied grinding and pounding tools is

extremely low – eight – and, besides a grooved “shaft straightener”, they consist mostly of

natural implements used as rubbing stones or pestles (Stroulia 2010). As in some Natuanseries (Dubreuil 2002), highly polished sea-pebbles, of unknown use, were also recovered.

The chipped stone assemblage mostly comprises crudely manufactured retouched akes,

13 Trench H1A was only very partially water-sieved, and trench FAN was not excavated down tothe basal Mesolithic levels. However, the surface excavated are larger in the Mesolithic: 6,5m2 for FAS and FAN (versus ca 2,5 m2 in the Palaeolithic), and 9,5 m2 pour H1A and H1B(unchanged). Due to the abundance of shells and snails, the deposits are very thick (ca 1,3 m) but

archaeologically homogeneous.


10/18


scrapers, notches and denticulates, also made on akes. Microliths are scarce (ca 6%) and

their status is debatable: they correspond to Final Palaeolithic types, and could possibly be

contaminant. The bone tools mostly consist of awls made on elongated, at splinters fromlong bones, with a scraped-down point.

There are no gurines or decorated artifacts, but the Cyclopes are not the only ornaments

found in the cave: hundreds of Dentalia and perforated Columbella rustica were also

recovered in these levels, together with rare perforated pebbles. It is clearly tempting to relate

the vast amount of shell ornaments with the presence of human remains, a new and major

feature in the cave’s occupation.

Besides a conspicuous pit-burial of a young man and numerous scattered bones, Franchthi

yielded the remains of several individuals that, according to Cullen’s thorough analyses, could

correspond to a collective burial (Cullen 1995). Unfortunately, these remains come fromTrench G1, one of the rst trenches excavated in the site, and only rare contextual information

is available. Nevertheless, Cullen was able to identify the remains of seven individuals in a

single excavation unit (1,5 X 2,5 m, on the depth of 10 to 38 cm). Five of them – one male,

three females and an infant – would have been laid in a exed position in shallow pits, later

disturbed. Two others, a male and a young adult female, were partially cremated. Besides

several bones that could have belonged to the above-mentioned individuals, the remains of a

juvenile and an adolescent were found in adjacent units, bringing the total to a minimum of

10 individuals in this single area of the cave. Isolated bones from other trenches are equally

interpreted as disturbed burials. Thus, from the very beginning of the Early Mesolithic, the

Franchthi Cave acquired a denite status of burial ground.

The most straightforward interpretation of these changes may undoubtedly follow a

“ Natuan model “: the climatic amelioration of the Preboreal would have greatly enhanced

the primary productivity of the environment, allowing for a sedentary occupation of the cave,

and consequently, an emphasis on continuity between the living and the dead, now associated

in the same space (Cullen 1995; Runnels 1995). The hypothesis of a permanent occupation

is supported by the results of isotopic analyses on seashells, which indicate that the shells

were collected in all four seasons of the year (Deith and Shackleton 1988). It also accordswith the drastic increase in the number of plant remains and their successive availability over

the spring, summer and autumn. Thus, the Preboreal in the Argolid would have had similar

effects to the Bölling in the Levant.

There are, nevertheless, several points that I nd troublesome in this interpretation:

1. First, we have no clear evidence for a marked environmental transformation.

2. Second, there are some problems with the hypothesis of year-round occupation. Sedentism

is usually associated with important investment in the building of permanent domestic


11/18


features: houses, storage pits, terraces, etc. At Franchthi, only hearths have been reported

in association with these occupations, and no special elaboration has been noted.

3. Similarly, sedentism is usually associated with the development of heavy equipment,such as grinding tools and mortars. This is clearly not the case at Franchthi.

4. Mice, considered a good indication of sedentism or long-term occupation (Tchernov

1991), are absent (Payne 1975). Thus, the seasonality indicators might be interpreted as

the result of repeated visits to the cave, at different periods of the year, rather than year-

round occupation.

5 Some remains may be considered as over-abundant. Even in the case of sedentary

occupations, I nd the quantity of seeds problematic, since the majority consist of actual

seeds, not of nutshells that would have been thrown as fuel or rubbish in the re places

(see Hansen 1991: 43 for the pistachio, for instance). In addition, no storage feature has been recognized, and the richest seed assemblages were found in the hearths (idem: 120-

121).

6 The quantity of Cyclope neritea also raises questions. More than 5900 were recovered

trenches FAN, FAS, H1A and H1B and N. J. Shackleton reports “enormous quantities”

of Cyclope in G1, the trench where human remains were recovered (Shackleton N. J.

1969).14 Thus, the number of Cyclope (even counting only the bored Cyclope) and

Dentalia must be 10 to 20 times larger than in any Epipaleolithic or Natuan site, for

instance, listed by Reese (1991: 614; see also Bar-Yosef Mayer 1997).

7 Finally, I cannot help feeling that the proportion of food remains (seeds and snails in

particular) and of ornaments, when compared to stone and bone tools, is singularly

unbalanced.

Thus far we have assumed that the cave was rst and foremost the focus of domestic

activities, a place for the living, to which the dead were associated. Should we not also

consider the alternative, i.e., that the living were practicing some types of activities in what

was essentially a place for the dead? Here again, a “Natuan model” can be brought forward,

since the domestic status of Hayonim and El Wad caves has been questioned and a ritual use

suggested (Bar-Yosef and Belfer Cohen in press; Goring-Morris 1995). Contrary to the twoabove-mentioned sites, Franchthi is not associated, as far as we know, with a nearby open-air

occupation, but the recent submersion of the coastal plain leaves this possibility open.

However stronger parallels can be found looking westward. Multiple burials in caves,

including inhumations and cremations, are also known in the Epipalaeolithic and Mesolithic

of in the Western Mediterranean basin. These burials are frequently associated with very

large quantities of ornaments made on marine shells (d’Errico and Vanhaeren 2000). Thus,

14 We were not able to locate the Cyclope neritea from trench G1.


12/18


the possibility that the cave was the center of ritual and symbolic activities, including the

manufacturing of shell beads, should not be dismissed. In this respect, the over-abundance

of carbonized edible seeds (and of snails?) may evoke the ritual feasting and waste of fooddiscussed by Dietler (1996) or Miracle (2001). This, needless to say, is a mere working

hypothesis; some might even say a ‘fable’. However, it is no less “reasonable” than the

plausible, but equally undemonstrated hypothesis of year-round occupation. It would also

imply that the transformations in the cave’s occupation and status are only fortuitously related

to climatic or environmental changes, and that social factors would have been prevalent.

This conclusion can hold true for most of the transformations observed during this

Tardiglacial-Early Holocene sequence. The local botanical and faunal data from Franchthi

indeed appear extremely resilient to climatic change. Most transformations in resource

exploitation, from phase to phase, are also related to transformations in the status of thecave and how it was inserted in a broader system of territorial exploitation and social

construction of space. Whether these transformations are directly related to the effects

of climatic uctuations, rather than to the socio-economic dynamics of the local groups,

remains to be demonstrated. The answer cannot come from the analysis of a single site and

requires integrated regional studies. However, are we not, by an unconscious parallel with

biological evolution, too easily tempted to look for external factors of change? Climate, for

instance, is invoked, often in contradictory ways, for such drastically different phenomena

as the disappearance of the Neandertals, the spread of the Aurignacians, sedentism or the

beginning of agriculture (see discussion in d’Errico and Sanchez Goni 2003). The climate

and the environmental transformations, such as the restriction of the coastal plain, may be

the obvious culprit for the changes in the nature of the cave’s occupations, but one has

learned in detective stories that the obvious culprit is often not the right one… The very

complexity of human socio-economic systems offers many opportunities for internal factors

of change, which we may tend to underestimate in favor of more easily perceptible external

phenomena.

REFERENCESBar-Yosef, O., 1998. On the nature of the Transition: the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic

revolution. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 8: 141-163.Bar-Yosef, O. and Belfer-Cohen, A. 1992. From foraging to farming in the Mediterranean Levant In

A. B. Gebauer and T. D. Price (eds), Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory, Prehistory Press,Madison, pp. 21-48 (“Monographs in World Prehistory n°4”).

Bar-Yosef, O. and Belfer-Cohen, A. In press. The nature and role of Natuan grave goods: new insights.In Vanhaeren, M. and d’Errico, F. (eds), The Language of the Death. New Insights into Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Burials and Grave Goods , Leuven University Press, Leuven.


13/18


Bar-Yosef, O. and Valla, F. (eds.), 1991. The Natuan Culture in the Levant. International Monographsin Prehistory, Ann Arbor, 644p. (Archaeological Series 1).

Bar-Yosef Mayer, D., 1997. Neolithic shell bead production in Sinai. Journal of Archaeological Science

24: 97-111.Cullen, T. C., 1995. Mesolithic mortuary ritual at Franchthi Cave, Greece. Antiquity 69 (263): 270-

289.Deith, M. R. and Shackleton, N. J., 1988. Oxygen isotope analyses of marine molluscs from Franchthi

Cave. In Shackleton, N. J., Marine Molluscan Remains from Franchthi Cave, Excavations atFranchthi Cave, fasc. 4, Indiana University Press, Bloomington/Indianapolis, pp. 133-155.

Dietler, M. 1996. Feasts and commensal politics in the political economy. Food, power and statusin prehistoric Europe. Wiessner, P. and Schiefenhövel, W. (eds), Food and the Status Quest, an Interdisciplinary Approach, Berghahn, Providence, pp. 87-125.

D’Errico, F. and Sanchez Goni M., 2003. Neandertal extinction and the millennial scale climatic

variability of OIS 3. Quaternary Science Review 22: 769-788.D’Errico, F. et Vanhaeren, M., 2000. Mes morts et les morts de mes voisins. Le mobilier funéraire de

l’Aven des Iboussières et l’identication de marqueurs culturels à l’Epipaléolithique. In Les dernierschasseurs-cueilleurs d’Europe occidentale, actes du colloque international de Besançon, Besançonoctobre 1998, Presses Universitaires Franc-Comtoises, Besançon, pp. 325-342 (“Annales littéraires699; Série “Environnement, sociétés et archéologie”, 1).

Dubreuil, L., 2002. Étude fonctionnelle des outils de broyage natouens: nouvelles perspectives sur l’émergence de l’agriculture au Proche-Orient, Thèse de Doctorat, Université de Bordeaux I, 469p.

Farrand, W. R, 2000. Depositional History of Franchthi Cave. Sediments, Stratigraphy and Chronology, Excavations at Franchthi Cave, Greece, fasc. 12, Indiana University Press, Bloomington-

Indianapolis, 135p.Goring-Morris, N. 1995. The early Natuan occupation at El-Wad, Mt. Carmel, reconsidered. In Otte,

M. (ed.), Nature and Culture, ERAUL 68, Liège, pp. 415-425.Hansen, J. M., 1991. The Palaeoethnobotany of Franchthi Cave, Excavations at Franchthi Cave,

Greece, fasc. 7, Indiana University Press, Bloomington/Indianapolis.Hillman, G., 1996. Late Pleistocene changes in wild plant-food available to hunter-gatherers of the

northern Fertile Crescent : possible preludes to cereal cultivation. In Harris, D. R. (ed.), The Originsand Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism in Eurasia, UCL Press, London, pp. 159-203.

Jacobsen, T. W. & Farrand, W. R. 1987. Franchthi Cave and Paralia. Maps, Plans and Sections. Excavations at Franchthi Cave, fasc. 1, Indiana University Press, Bloomington/Indianapolis.

Miracle, P., 2001. Feast or famine? Epipaleolithic subsistence strategies in the northern Adriatic basin. Documenta Praehistorica XXVIII: 177-197.

Moore, A. M. and Hillman, G. C., 1992. The Pleistocene to Holocene transition and human economy insouthwestern Asia: the impact of the Younger Dryas. American Antiquity 57(3): 482-494.

Payne, S., 1975. Faunal change at the Franchthi Cave from 20.000 B.C. to 3.000 B.C. In A. T. Clason(ed.), Archaeozoological Studies, Elsevier, The Hague, pp. 120-131.

Payne, S. 1976. Work on the Franchthi Cave animal bones – 1975. Ms on les, 23 p. dact.Perlès, C., 1987. Les industries lithiques taillées de Franchthi (Argolide, Grèce). Tome I: Présentation

générale et industries paléolithiques, Excavations at Franchthi Cave, fasc. 3, Indiana UniversityPress, Bloomington/Indianapolis.


14/18


Perlès, C., 1990. Les industries lithiques taillées de Franchthi (Argolide, Grèce). Tome II: Les Industries du Mésolithique et du Néolithique initial, Excavations at Franchthi Cave, fasc. 5, IndianaUniversity Press, Bloomington/Indianapolis.

Perlès, C. 1998. Conceptions du temps et changement culturel en Préhistoire. In Le Temps, actes ducolloque interdisciplinaire, Nantes 12 et 13 mars 1998, Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale, InstitutUniversitaire de France, pp. 17-22.

Perlès, C. et Vanhaeren, M. 2010. Black Cyclope neritea marine shell ornaments in the UpperPalaeolithic and Mesolithic of Franchthi (Argolid, Greece): arguments for an intentional heattreatment. Journal of Field Archaeology 35(3): 314-325.

Reese, D. S., 1991. Marine shells in the Levant: Upper Palaeolithic, Epipaleolithic, and Neolithic. InBar Yosef, O. and Valla, F. (eds.), The Natuan Culture in the Levant. International Monographs inPrehistory, Ann Arbor, p. 613-628 (Archaeological Series 1).

Rossignol-Strick, M., 1995. Sea-land correlation of pollen records in the Eastern Mediterranean for the

Glacial-Interglacial transition: biostratigraphy versus radiometric time-scale. Quaternary Sciencereview 14: 893-915.

Rossignol-Strick, M., 1997. Paléoclimats de la Méditerranée orientale et de l’Asie du Sud-Ouest de15.000 à 6.000 BP. Paléorient 23(2): 175-186.

Runnels, C., 1995. Review of Aegean Prehistory IV: The Stone Age of Greece from the Palaeolithic tothe advent of the Neolithic. American Journal of Archaeology 99: 699-728.

Shackleton N. J., 1969. Appendix I: Preliminary observations on the marine shells, In T.W. Jacobsen,Excavations at Porto Cheli and vicinity, preliminary report II: The Franchithi Cave, 1967-1968, Hesperia 38: 379-380.

Shackleton, J. C., 1988. Marine Molluscan Remains from Franchthi Cave, Excavations at Franchthi

Cave, fasc. 4, Indiana University Press, Bloomington/Indianapolis.Stiner, M. C., 1999. Palaeolithic mollusc exploitation at Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Italy): food and

ornaments from the Aurignacian through Epigravettian. Antiquity 73: 735-754.Stiner, M. and Munro, N. in press. On the evolution of diet and landscape during the Upper Paeolithic

through Mesolithic at Franchthi Cave, Greece. Journal of Human Evolution.Stroulia, A., 2010. Flexible Stones. Ground stone tools from Franchthi Cave. Excavations at Franchthi

Cave, fasc. 14, Indiana University Press, Bloomington/Indianapolis.Taborin, Y. 1993. La parure en coquillage au Paléolithique, CNRS Éditions, Paris.Taborin, Y., 2003. La mer et les premiers hommes modernes. In Vandermeersch, B. (ed .), Échanges et

diffusion dans la préhistoire méditerranéenne, Éditions du CTSH, Paris, pp. 113-121.

Tchernov, E. 1991. Biological evidence for human sedentism in Southwest Asia during the Natuan. InBar Yosef, O. and Valla, F. (eds.) The Natuan Culture in the Levant, International Monographs inPrehistory, Ann Arbor, pp. 315-340 (“Archaeological Series 1).

van Andel, Tj. H. and Sutton, S. B. , with contributions by J. M. Hansen and Ch. J. Vitaliano, 1987. Landscape and people of the Franchthi region, Excavations at Franchthi Cave, fasc. 2, IndianaUniversity Press, Bloomington/Indianapolis.

Whitney-Desautels, N. A. in prep. The Freshwater and Landsnails of Franchthi Cave, Excavations atFranchthi Cave, Greece, Indiana University Press, Bloomington/Indianapolis.


15/18


Figure 1: The Frachthi cave, Argolid (Photograph C. Perlès)

Figure 2: Lower Mesolithic bone tools (Photograph C. Perlès)


16/18


Figure 3: Lower Mesolithic pit-burial of a young male adult (Photograph Franchthi Archives)

Figure 4: Mesolithic perforated cobbles (Photograph Franchthi Archives)


17/18


Figure 5: Lower Mesolithic perforated Cyclope neritea (Photograph C. Perlès)


18/18


Documents

Is the Dryas the Culprit? Socio-Economic Changes During the Final Pleistocene and Early Holocene at Franchthi Cave (Greece