An Aurignacian Assemblage from the Island of Lemnos (Greece): Some Aspects of the Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Northeast Aegean
The discovery of an Aurignacian lithic assemblage along the northern coast of the Island of Lemnos in the northeastern Aegean Sea has opened new perspectives on the study of the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in this region. The site is located some 93 m from the present seashore. It was discove...
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2025-04-01
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| author | Paolo Biagi Elisabetta Starnini Yulia Agafonova Nikos Efstratiou Nicola Campomenosi Roberto Cabella |
| author_facet | Paolo Biagi Elisabetta Starnini Yulia Agafonova Nikos Efstratiou Nicola Campomenosi Roberto Cabella |
| author_sort | Paolo Biagi |
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| description | The discovery of an Aurignacian lithic assemblage along the northern coast of the Island of Lemnos in the northeastern Aegean Sea has opened new perspectives on the study of the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in this region. The site is located some 93 m from the present seashore. It was discovered in the summer of 2020, ca. 2 km west of the Pournias Bay. The lithics were exposed in a well-defined oval concentration, ca. 25 × 10 m wide, buried by a Holocene sand dune. They were uncovered following sand removal by a bulldozer for the construction of a parking lot. The knapped stones are made almost exclusively from hydrothermal siliceous rocks, a raw material available on the island. Raman spectroscopy and optical observations confirmed that this raw material is chalcedony. The surfaces of most artefacts are weathered due to deposition in an environment rich in marine salt, which does not preserve any organic material suitable for radiocarbon dating. The knapped stone assemblage consists of diagnostic artefacts, among which are different types of carinated end scrapers, cores, and a few bladelets. The discovery of an Aurignacian site plays an important role in the study of the Paleolithic peopling of Lemnos and the Northeast Aegean in general, a period that was previously known only through Epipaleolithic sites discovered and excavated mainly along the eastern coast of the island. |
| format | Article |
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| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-1e07bba650084738aa4d8fc6d0327c5e2025-08-20T02:17:59ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082025-04-018414110.3390/heritage8040141An Aurignacian Assemblage from the Island of Lemnos (Greece): Some Aspects of the Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Northeast AegeanPaolo Biagi0Elisabetta Starnini1Yulia Agafonova2Nikos Efstratiou3Nicola Campomenosi4Roberto Cabella5Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 30125 Venice, ItalyDepartment of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genova, 16132 Genova, ItalyDepartment of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genova, 16132 Genova, ItalyThe discovery of an Aurignacian lithic assemblage along the northern coast of the Island of Lemnos in the northeastern Aegean Sea has opened new perspectives on the study of the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in this region. The site is located some 93 m from the present seashore. It was discovered in the summer of 2020, ca. 2 km west of the Pournias Bay. The lithics were exposed in a well-defined oval concentration, ca. 25 × 10 m wide, buried by a Holocene sand dune. They were uncovered following sand removal by a bulldozer for the construction of a parking lot. The knapped stones are made almost exclusively from hydrothermal siliceous rocks, a raw material available on the island. Raman spectroscopy and optical observations confirmed that this raw material is chalcedony. The surfaces of most artefacts are weathered due to deposition in an environment rich in marine salt, which does not preserve any organic material suitable for radiocarbon dating. The knapped stone assemblage consists of diagnostic artefacts, among which are different types of carinated end scrapers, cores, and a few bladelets. The discovery of an Aurignacian site plays an important role in the study of the Paleolithic peopling of Lemnos and the Northeast Aegean in general, a period that was previously known only through Epipaleolithic sites discovered and excavated mainly along the eastern coast of the island.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/4/141LemnosAegean SeaUpper PaleolithicAurignacianRaman spectroscopychalcedony |
| spellingShingle | Paolo Biagi Elisabetta Starnini Yulia Agafonova Nikos Efstratiou Nicola Campomenosi Roberto Cabella An Aurignacian Assemblage from the Island of Lemnos (Greece): Some Aspects of the Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Northeast Aegean Heritage Lemnos Aegean Sea Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian Raman spectroscopy chalcedony |
| title | An Aurignacian Assemblage from the Island of Lemnos (Greece): Some Aspects of the Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Northeast Aegean |
| title_full | An Aurignacian Assemblage from the Island of Lemnos (Greece): Some Aspects of the Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Northeast Aegean |
| title_fullStr | An Aurignacian Assemblage from the Island of Lemnos (Greece): Some Aspects of the Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Northeast Aegean |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Aurignacian Assemblage from the Island of Lemnos (Greece): Some Aspects of the Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Northeast Aegean |
| title_short | An Aurignacian Assemblage from the Island of Lemnos (Greece): Some Aspects of the Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Northeast Aegean |
| title_sort | aurignacian assemblage from the island of lemnos greece some aspects of the beginning of the upper paleolithic in the northeast aegean |
| topic | Lemnos Aegean Sea Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian Raman spectroscopy chalcedony |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/4/141 |
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