This is exactly the period
during which the cultivation of the earth and the founding of more or
less permanently inhabited settlements began; these usually being
located on flat land which could be irrigated by a nearby river.
According to Dr. D. Theoharis, in his treatise titled Neolithic
Civilization, the holding and cultivating of land gave rise to the
concept of private ownership, and, by extension, that of patriotism.
These occupied settlements ultimately stabilized and expanded, and, by
the 6th millennium B.C., the first city in Europe was founded: which we
dare to assert -- with a conviction supported by the evidence -- was
most likely Sesklo!
According to the state-of-the-art dating technology employed by the
University of Pennsylvania in America, Sesklo was dated to 5800 B.C.,
with a margin of error factor of + - 97 years. There are, of course,
older Neolithic artifacts, such as those from Argissa, which have been
dated to 6200 B.C. by U.C.L.A., from Elateia (6290 B.C.), and from Nea
Nicomedia (6240 B.C.). In this study, however, we are going to focus
our attention upon the general area of Thessaly (Homeric Hellas): more
specifically, upon Europe's oldest city, Sesklo, and that of Theopetra,
near Trikala, because it was here that we find the oldest evidence of
the cultivation of grain in Greece. In Professor Theoharis' excellent
treatise, he informs us that up until that time (the decade of the
80s), over 170 Neolithic settlements and communities had been
discovered in Thessaly alone!
One of the most significant of these -- insofar as its historical
importance is concerned -- is that of Theopetra, near Trikala. It was
here that a cave was discovered which had been inhabited, according to
the artifacts unearthed, from +- 50,000 to +- 3500 B.C. Some of the
finds made within the cave and its environs were really startling.
Among these were four human footprints, but more importantly, the seeds
of fossilized legumes (lentils), as well as those of grain (barley);
discoveries which prove that the cultivation of the earth was known in
Hellas well before the "arrival" of our mythical Indo-Europeans. As far
as the footprints are concerned, the archaeologists have determined
that they were those of children, one of whom was wearing footwear! The
ceramics discovered in the same cave have been dated to the Mesolithic
period, i.e., the ninth millennium B.C.: a fact that, when considered
with the others we've cited so far, indicates the kind of progress
which contributed to the civilization which followed in Neolithic
Hellas. Finally, a gold amulet was also found in the Theopetra cave, of
the same type as hundreds of others which have been unearthed
throughout Greece, as well as in the rest of the Balkan peninsula; in
other words, in the home territory of the proto-Hellenes, not the
pre-Hellenes.
When Professor Tsountas first started his excavations at Sesklo, he
unearthed a small settlement of no more than fifty dwellings. Further
excavations, however, showed that Neolithic Sesklo was not merely a
small settlement but a whole city, with an area of 100 stremmata [25
acres] and a population of at least 3000 inhabitants, the epicenter of
which was a fortified acropolis on a hill which is known today as
Kastraki. The dwellings had been constructed around the base of the
hill of the acropolis. On this hill, there was found the remains of a
rudimentary palace. (Such a palace has also been unearthed at Magoula,
and is thought to be even older than that of Sesklo. Unfortunately,
during the Nazi occupation this structure was destroyed by the Germans.
The only description of it we have is from an article published in the
People's Observer -- an organ of the Nazi party -- by one "Benecke," a
German archaeologist. Excavations in the 1970s were only able to bring
parts of the floor to light.) From Professor Tsountas and Theoharis'
descriptions of Sesklo, we are able to understand how many are the
similarities between this site and Mycenae, and even Athens, for
example.
At Sesklo we find, for the first time, the classical prototype of an
Hellenic polis of the 5th century B.C., not to mention the 6th. The
existence of a fortified acropolis, overlooking a settled community of
inhabitants, who would have had to have lived under a specific set of
rules enforced by a king who governed from the palace, is a perfectly
reasonable assumption. The palace was not the only structure located
within the ramparts of the acropolis, however. Right next to the palace
there was unearthed a ceramics workshop, as well as some additional
habitats, between which was found a stone platform for winnowing grain.
Professor Tsountas has also located a moat which protected a section of
the wall of the acropolis. The labyrinthine layout of the battlements
forced would-be attackers to follow an approach to the main gate which
would have exposed them to a continuous line of defenders from atop the
wall. It was also determined that their were three gates in all; one
main and two auxiliary. Further excavation at the foot of the acropolis
hill has yielded the remnants of at least 500 to 800 additional
habitats.
The settlement at Nea Makri was, according to the evidence unearthed to
date, most likely extensive, extending along the entire length of the
beach. We also note that in Nea Makri no evidence has been found of
disturbances or disasters all during the transition from a more ancient
to the Middle Neolithic period.
Among other things, the excavations of the settlements in Attica, the
majority of which are located near the coast, have, as a result of the
artifacts unearthed, determined that the inhabitants of Neolithic
Attica were seafarers who maintained commercial contacts with the
neighboring islands, at the very minimum. It is not merely by chance
that on Mount Pangaio, as well as on Andros Island (in the Strofilas
area) there were found depictions of ships carved upon stone. More
particularly, the engravings from Pangaio include a sailing ship with
rowers and have been dated to the middle of the 5th and the 4th
millenniums. The scenes from Andros have also been dated to the 4th
millennium, and could be considered a predecessor of the convoy wall
paintings found on Thera Island, since at Strofilas we do not have a
depiction of one ship only, but of a small fleet.
The facts presented so far can only lead a logical and fair-minded
person to one conclusion: The Neolithic Greeks had developed an older,
much more advanced civilization than anything our hypothetical
Indo-Europeans of the Ukrainian steppes were capable of during the same
period. Which leads us to wonder why, since the Greeks were already
seafaring at that time and had constructed fortified cities, would they
allow these invaders to come and settle upon their land? Really, why
would a seafaring people, who could deploy sailing ships with banks of
rowers, allow these invaders, who had only rudimentary rafts and oars,
to cross the Aegean; the Greek sea? Unless, of course, we can somehow
convince ourselves that these Indo-Europeans learned their sailing
skills on the steppes of the Caucasus or on the plains of Central
Europe
The ancient Greek myths describing the journey of Dionysus to faraway
India evidently reflect a collective memory of this early attempt by
the Greeks to explore the world. Of course, to rely upon mythology is
risky, but why is it that only Greek myth has recorded such events? Why
haven't the adventures which would been encountered by our hypothetical
and far-traveling Indo-Europeans ever been recorded or passed down as
legends via an oral tradition? The only mythology that could be said to
have much in common with the Greek -- and not by mere chance -- is that
of the Sumerians.
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