http://journals.ed.ac.uk/lithicstudies/issue/feedJournal of Lithic Studies2024-03-15T00:00:00+00:00Otis Crandelljournaloflithicstudies@gmail.comOpen Journal Systems<p>The Journal of Lithic Studies is a peer-reviewed open access journal which focuses on archaeological research into the manufacture and use of stone tools, as well as the origin and properties of the raw materials used in their production. The journal does not focus on any specific geographic region or time period.</p>http://journals.ed.ac.uk/lithicstudies/article/view/7716The lithic assemblages from the Palaeolithic survey research in the Megalopolis Basin, Greece2024-02-28T10:41:08+00:00Dalila De Carodalila.de-caro@ifu.uni-tuebingen.deVangelis Tourloukisvangelis.tourloukis@ifu.uni-tuebingen.deNicholas Thomsonnicholas-charles.thompson@uni-tuebingen.deAristeidis Varisaristeidis.varis@uni-tuebingen.deEleni Panagopoulouepanagopoulou@culture.grKaterina Harvatikaterina.harvati@ifu.uni-tuebingen.de<p>An intensive, target-oriented surface survey conducted in the Megalopolis basin during 2012-2013 led to the discovery of several Palaeolithic sites and findspots with lithics and faunal remains, including Marathousa-1, a Lower Palaeolithic open-air elephant-butchering site, dated to ca. 400-500 ka BP. This study presents the results from the techno-typological analysis of 413 lithic artefacts collected as surface or stratified finds during the survey research. The aim of the work is to evaluate the diachronic occupation of the area in relation to the lithic technologies used, the typology of the artefacts, and the raw materials exploited. It was possible to provide a chrono-cultural attribution of 167 artefacts, ranging from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Holocene, with a significant component of the collection attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic. Several diagnostic retouched tools allow us to infer that the open-air sites were occupied comparatively more intensively during the Middle Palaeolithic period. We also provide a detailed account of the lithic assemblage from Kavia cave, a previously unstudied site identified during the survey. The high frequency of artefacts pertaining to the Upper Palaeolithic in Kavia is in line with previously identified settlement and mobility patterns of the Peloponnese, where the occupation of caves becomes more intensive from the Upper Palaeolithic onward, as attested at the sites of Klissoura, Kephalari, and Franchthi. The Upper Palaeolithic component from Kavia Cave adds new data to a meagre sample of known sites from this period. The results from the typological and technological analysis of the lithic assemblages collected during the survey in Megalopolis support the conclusions of the basin's long-term and ongoing research, indicating a relatively continuous hominin presence during the Pleistocene.</p>2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##