DISPILIO - 2011

Dispilio. E. Panagiotakopoulou (Edinburgh) reports on study of insect remains from a section taken at this Neolithic lake settlement. Significant results came from the lower part of the section, where insect chitin is preserved, and especially from the basal sample which provides information for the earliest, Middle Neolithic, occupation phase (a sample of the preserved pine wood has been sent for AMS dating). Fragments of reed beetles, Donacinae, were recovered together with four elytra of Sitophilus granarius, the grain or granary weevil. Reed beetles frequent wetlands and reedbeds, typically around the edges of lakes or slow-flowing rivers.

(Fig. 1) The granary weevil is flightless and relies on humans for its transport. Whilst Sitophilus granarius does not provide direct evidence for cultivation since it does not infest plants in the field, it indicates storage of cereals. The earliest evidence of the beetle from the Mediterranean comes from a well at the submerged settlement of Atlit-Yam, dating ca 7,500 BP. From the Aegean, there is evidence from Early Cycladic deposits at Akrotiri, and from an imprint on a Neolithic pot from Servia (4,700BC): the early date of the Dispilio remains is thus significant.