SKORTSINOS Troupitses Cave - 2005

Skortsinos, Troupitses Cave. I. Efstathiou-Manolakou (EPSNE) reports on renewed study of this cave in 2005. A full plan and geological study were made, trenches opened to confirm the stratigraphy and a large quantity of surface pottery collected. Pottery was mainly FNeo (the only phase of occupation, ca. 4200−3300 BC). It consisted of handmade coarseware in both open and closed shapes: pithoi and pithoid vessels with flat bases and vertical strap handles, plus deep bowls, predominate (undecorated or with plastic decoration), with smaller numbers of black bowls with incised decoration. Strainers and scoops are also present. Other finds were bone tools, a few flint cores and blades, obsidian blades and an obsidian tanged arrowhead, a stone axe and a rubber, shell and bone beads, animal bones (of domesticated and hunted species), and a piece of bronze sheet. Most evidence of occupation came from the forward rather than the rear part of the main chamber; part of a hearth was located. Evidence suggests that the cave was mostly used for storage, with only occasional human occupation, although permanent occupation in the wider area is considered likely (noting a quantity of obsidian fragments and a little Neolithic pottery found outside the cave). Human bones were scattered though the cave: it remains unclear whether the cave was used for burial.