Το παλαιοπεριβάλλον των σπηλαίων της Ελλάδος από την παλαιολιθική μέχρι το τέλος της νεολιθικής εποχής

Abstract

The objective of the present thesis is to study the geoarchaeological deposits of Greek caves, in order to investigate the relation between the environment and the use of caves by man. The methodology used in this study in order to solve the above mentioned objective has as follows: 1. collection of geoarchaeological data from existing bibliography in Greek caves 2. use of Geographical Information Systems for presentation, analysis and synthesis of the collected data, as well as the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironmental conditions 3. establishment of a chronological framework in calendar years BP in order to be able to compare the geoarchaeological findings in caves from different sites 4. establishment of a chrono-climatic scale in calendar years BP, in order to be able to compare the geoarchaeological findings in caves of different sites to climatic changes. The study led to the following conclusions regarding the use of caves by man in Greece: 1. the environmental factors appear not to be a decisive criterion by humans for selecting a cave in a particular site. However, it appears that the availability of water and raw material on the vicinity of the cave was an important factor in choosing a cave for use 2. the use of caves by human was independent of any climatic changes. This is in contrast with previous thoughts that caves were used by man in order to shelter from severe climatic conditions 3. the archaeological remains do not suggest that the caves used by man, were used for any specific human activity 4. the remains from caves and rockshelters confirm the picture regarding man’s living habits as deducted from studies in open air sites in Greece. Finally the present study suggests that more research is needed in order to understand the behavior of prehistoric man and the use of caves by him.