TRYPITI - 2010

Trypiti. R. Veropoulidou (Thessaloniki/Ministry of Culture and Tourism) and A. Vasilakis (formerly ΚΓ’ ΕΠΚΑ, now Director, ΛΕ’ ΕΠΚΑ) report on the marine shell assemblage from the EM II settlement. Most of the ca. 4,500 pieces came from middens and food preparation areas, with few from eating areas. Twenty species are identified, although 97% of the assemblage consists of just five (including three of the genus Patella - limpets). Molluscs are all locally obtainable from the sea-shore. Limpets contribute just under half, with top-shells and murex around a quarter each. They were collected for consumption, as indicated by their discovery in groups, as fresh specimens and of large size (although the local diet was based mostly on cereals, pulses and occasionally livestock). Most were eaten cooked (the shells were often whole), though few had been in direct contact with fire, but some were eaten raw as cut-marks on some 12% of shells indicate. Broadly the same varieties were consumed in the same manner throughout the settlement; such variation as can be seen is open to a number of explanations, including disposal practises, personal preferences and different recipes.

The total recovered exceeds those from other contemporary coastal settlements (e.g. Knossos, Kommos and Palaikastro), by some twenty times in comparison with Myrtos-Fournou Koriphi (a site otherwise similar in type, size and organization).