Ftelia

37.461001425.3754219Koordinaten: 37 ° 27 ' 40 "N, 25 ° 22' 32" E

Ftelia (Greek Φτελιά ( f sg ) ) is an archaeological site dating from the Neolithic period on the Greek island of Mykonos. He is the Saliagos - culture of the early Final Neolithic attributed and is known for the wide range of findings from building foundations, ceramics, metalwork and stone figures. The settlement was dated with the 14C method to 5000-4500 BC. It was discovered in 1992 and excavated in 1995, but the findings published until 2002.

The settlement

Ftelia is at the end of Panormos Bay ( Ormos Panormos Όρμος Πάνορμου ), on the north side of the island of Mykonos. The local sandy beach is interrupted by a low plateau of sandstone, the rear of the beach continues and on which the prehistoric settlement was created. Comparable to similar systems of Neolithic Kephala, Saliagos, Grotta and on Kythnos the settlement is subject to almost year-round north winds. As was lower at the time of colonization of Ftelia the sea level by 10 m, it is presumed that the settlement was in the midst of a relatively fertile coastal plain. In ancient times, the site may have been identified with the grave of the mythical warrior Ajax of Small, this is due to the terrain structure with a round hill, which was interpreted as a grave mound. Even in the era of Hellenism the sandstone plateau was used as a quarry for the construction of houses, a further destruction of the site arose but from the installation of a parking lot in the last decades of the 20th century, for which the surface was deported with a bulldozer. Archaeological discoveries can be made only by excavations therefore, on the surface no traces remain.

In the excavations from 1995 six Sondierschnitte were driven in a rectangular grid pattern down to the natural rock. The archaeologists found wall foundations, a wide variety of ceramic shards of different types, stone tools, traces of metal working and a total of 19 stone figures of which represent 13 people and 6 animals. The building foundations have several phases, suggesting a permanent settlement over a longer period. The size of the previously unrecognized settlement projects at about 150 to 200 residents.

Further excavations in a grid yielded four successive building phases. The oldest ruins are right on the sandstone of the plateau on the hill or lie in a thin layer of sand on it. They are 5000-4900 BC dated. The only closer recognizable buildings of this phase is to be interpreted as Megaron, with at least two rooms of about 3 x 3.80 m and 4.30 x 3.80 m. It is oriented in a north-south direction, and its walls are preserved up to 1.50 m height. From two other buildings of the same era, only the outside corners are previously known. The second phase comprises, in addition to rectangular and curved walls. Whether it is circular buildings or apses on an otherwise rectangular building, can not be ascertained. The third and fourth phases are separated only insufficiently. They are distinguished by their floor layers, at least one building in the third phase must still have been in the fourth in use. From this epoch is a singular Doppelbau is obtained, which consists of a straight wall in almost exact north-south orientation and two subsequent to the East and West semicircles. It is interpreted as a granary.

All walls mainly consist of stones gathered from the local granite, with flat stones were used for the foundations. Chance of sandstone was built. There are references to Adobe, they have not retained.

The culture

The residents of Ftelia already operated farming, grass pea were the staple food, more than 50 % of all finds of food could be assigned to this type. Next to it was the lens and other legume. Also detected barley is the only cereal. Next to it was the Raising of sheep and goats. Pigs and cattle were already known, but played only a minor role. Fishing and the hunting of deer served as a supplement. Despite the location of the settlement by the sea, the findings suggest that fishing and gathering of marine snails and mussels was not in the center of the food, other than on Saliagos few remains were found and so far no fish hook or harpoon heads. The diet in Ftelia is interpreted that the residents brought their methods of food production from the mainland and did not adapt to the place of settlement on the island.

The ceramic of the settlement has a variety of forms and techniques. It is almost exclusively open bowls and vessels with wide openings, pitchers were still unknown. The types have parallels to the Dodecanese and Evia. Stone tools made ​​from grinding stones of different sizes and the polished heads of axes and hammers. Some are polished stones as ammunition for slings. From clay spinning weights, jewelry and figurines were made ​​, unknown is the purpose of the three anchor-shaped artifacts made ​​of clay. Made of metal three awls, a needle, an earring, and two pieces of wire were found. The latter were probably at an unspecified identifiable piece of jewelry.

The stone figures are without direct precursor. There are clearly discernible links with the Cycladic idols of the early Bronze Age, although it is not known due to a temporary abandonment of the settlement continuity, as the tradition was passed. The similarities are many and varied, so depictions of women are typical in both cases. Two figurines from Ftelia are good enough get it to recognize the stature of women. Both have a rich pool, with a small, high- breasts are visible, which also corresponds to the iconography of the Kykladenidiole. Most of the figures, only heads are obtained, they are 2.9 to 7.2 cm in size and as with the Cycladic idols ' faces are inclined upwardly and stylized by a flat face with salient nose. The animal figures are the oldest in the region, two of them were attached as handles on vases.

Importance

Ftelia applies before Saliagos as the most significant, known settlement of the Final Neolithic in the Cyclades. The location of the island of Mykonos and the cultural affinity to relatively distant regions suggests that Ftelia was an important crossroads, and was replaced on the techniques and materials such as rock and in particular obsidian.