Lesvos Excavation Unlocks Early Human Civilization, Migration in the Aegean

The excavation recovered remains of the archetypal Paleolithic period, tools, and fragments from 200 and 300 1000 years ago. Credit: Ilias Markou/AMNA

Archaeologists person completed a highly palmy excavation play astatine Rodafnidia connected the Greek land of Lesvos, uncovering a deeper furniture of tools that straight links the Aegean to the earliest past of quality civilization and migration routes retired of Africa.

Professor Nena Galanidou, a renowned prof of prehistoric archaeology astatine the University of Crete and caput of the excavation, characterized the tract as: “the magical aboriginal prehistoric determination with which the history of civilization successful the Aegean begins and connects the Aegean with Asia and Europe.”

The Paleolithic tract connected Lesvos is the oldest successful the Aegean

The month-and-a-half-long expedition, which concluded past week, focused connected a Lower Paleolithic tract already known arsenic the oldest successful the Aegean. According to Galanidou, the squad achieved a captious breakthrough by reaching a new, deeper stratum.

“We managed to uncover to a ample grade the deepest furniture that contains remains of the archetypal Paleolithic period, tools, fragments, cores utilized by prehistoric people, our ancestral taxon that lived successful Lesvos and the northeastern Aegean betwixt 200 and 300 1000 years agone astatine least,” Galanidou told the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA).

The findings from this site, located successful an olive grove defined by 2 streams adjacent the colony of Lisvori, represent the largest postulation of tools belonging to the past Acheulean civilization (dating backmost arsenic acold arsenic 1.7 cardinal years ago) recovered successful the full northeastern Mediterranean.

These artifacts are considered “very important” for connecting aboriginal Greek archaeology with planetary probe connected quality evolution.

The enigma of the Rhodaphnids

The excavation brought unneurotic a divers planetary team, including undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students, arsenic good arsenic technological collaborators from Greek universities (Crete, Aegean, Patras) and overseas institutions (Pisa, Haifa, and Beijing).

Galanidou praised the team’s committedness to solving the site’s enduring mystery: “we gathered from assorted places to lick the enigma of the Rhodaphnids. And the effect of our efforts vindicated us.”

The enactment is present entering the captious investigation phase. Sediments and different samples person been collected for elaborate investigation and dating, with the archaeologists looking to clarify the timeline of aboriginal quality enactment successful the region.

“We expect that the adjacent clip we instrumentality here, we volition beryllium capable to proceed successful greater extent with the excavation and astatine the aforesaid clip with the cognition that is dilatory being acquired astir the aboriginal mode of life, the aboriginal migrations and fundamentally the cosmopolitan past of civilization, the Paleolithic,” Galanidou stated.

Scientists analyse the findings connected Lesvos. Credit: Ilias Markou/AMNA

Lesvos excavation to unveil much mysteries of quality migration to continue

In a unsocial arrangement, the heavy trench was cautiously prepared for its seasonal status to let the landowner to resume olive cultivation. On the last day, the country was “dressed” with geotextile and a protective polystyrene artifact earlier being reburied.

The excavation person expressed heavy gratitude for the section involvement, which is indispensable for continuing the research.

“Next fall, hopefully, we volition instrumentality to uncover our archaeological excavation… with the ever benignant concession and practice of the section community, who, done the archaeological research, consciousness that a portion of their ain practice is being revealed and that they themselves are empowered. Themselves and the aboriginal of this place,” Galanidou concluded.

Related: Keros: Greece’s Bronze Age Island and the Lost Civilization of the Aegean