Papers by Dimitrios N Roussos
Journal of Archaeological Method & Theory, 2025
This paper presents a study of outdoor settlement spaces through the interdisciplinary analysis o... more This paper presents a study of outdoor settlement spaces through the interdisciplinary analysis of combustion structures as key elements. It explores the use of outdoor public spaces and their complexity, multifunctionality, and dynamic contribution to the formation of Neolithic societies. The study focuses on two designated and adjacent outdoor spaces at the Late Neolithic settlement Kleitos 1 in Kozani (north-west Greece). The selected venues indicate everyday domestic and possibly craft practices that may have fostered shared cooking events and culinary traditions. The main objective of the paper is to employ an integrated methodology to study social dynamics through different daily, craft, or exceptional tasks in the settlement and thus build variable archaeological narratives about the dynamics of diverse social processes in Neolithic communities. Our analysis demonstrates that a diverse range of household routines and craft operations were conducted publicly in outdoor spaces during the Late Neolithic period in Greece. It suggests that the designated areas examined-the central space and the area west of building A-were two well-organised, polyfunctional, possibly shared spaces, which could have served as potentially communal public venues in Kleitos 1 used for food-processing and craft activities. Additionally, it highlights the impact of development-led excavations on archaeological research and contributes to the advancement of methodology, both in the field and in the laboratory, supporting a pre-emptive, research-based, knowledge-producing approach, centred on documentation and interpretation.
Journal of Field Archaeology
This paper examines, in parallel, two key archaeological material groups: the kilns and the ceram... more This paper examines, in parallel, two key archaeological material groups: the kilns and the ceramics from the exceptional tell site of Imvrou Pigadi, the first known and systematically excavated MiddleNeolithic pottery workshop in Thessaly. The study forms an all-encompassing, material-based, and scientifically integrated framework based on macroscopic and microscopic analyses, including typological classification and geoarchaeology with an emphasis on micromorphology, as well as an examination of spatial organization. Direct and indirect evidence for standardization and specialization in technology and production practices points to advanced pyrotechnological knowledge and expertise in pottery manufacture at the site. Moreover, the paper examines the social interplay developed around pottery production by discussing cooperation and the organization of social space within the community. Overall, this analysis touches upon the discussion of the wider community of pottery manufacturing centers in Neolithic Thessaly and places the site within its cultural context, offering new insights into craftsmanship and social reciprocity. You can DOWNLOAD the paper for FREE in the link below: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/DN6ANQ99EMXEIKMSZUBM/full?target=10.1080/00934690.2023.2243692
Documenta Praehistorica
This paper presents the first known and systematically excavated Middle Neolithic pottery worksho... more This paper presents the first known and systematically excavated Middle Neolithic pottery workshop in southwestern Thessaly at Imvrou Pigadi. The excavations and in situ finds, along with the pronounced kiln structures, their typological classification and pyrotechnological operation, suggests considerable expertise in pottery manufacture. The pottery itself, together with the chipped stone industry and other small finds, as well as the fauna and archaeobotanical assemblages are presented. The results of the 14C dating programme point to use of the workshop at the beginning of the 6th millennium. All this evidence suggests an active settlement where pottery production was carried out, which was then circulated within the wider region.
4th ARCH_RNT Archaeological Research and New Technologies Conference Proceedings, 2014
The Middle Neolithic tell site of Imvrou Pigadi (6920 ± 36 - 6570 ± 40 cal yr BP) belongs to an i... more The Middle Neolithic tell site of Imvrou Pigadi (6920 ± 36 - 6570 ± 40 cal yr BP) belongs to an important cluster of sites at the southern edge of the Thessaly Plain, in the area of Neo Monastiri, Prefecture of Phthiotis, Greece. The site functioned as a ceramics workshop for the area, at least for a certain period of time but besides the findings related to the ceramic production, the excavation revealed a very interesting stratigraphy comprised of many different units corresponding to midden and ash layers and architectural features like walls and constructed occupation surfaces made of earthen materials. Through the use of an integrated geoarchaeological methodology, including techniques like archaeological soil micromorphology, X-Ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), this research aimed to clarify the exact nature of some of these constructed features and assess building practices applied and materials used in their construction. Moreover the provenance of the materials used was investigated in regard to the soil variation of the area, to locate, if possible, the raw material sources that were exploited for constructional purposes. The results revealed that the main practice applied for the making of floors was mud plastering with the addition of materials that offer specific constructional properties. As a primary source, the mature soil of the plain was utilized that was readily available and more suitable for constructions. Yet, several constructional variations revealed show that People in Middle Neolithic Imvrou Pigadi were aware of the natural materials they had in their disposal and knew how to exploit their specific properties.
The Middle Neolithic tell of Imvrou Pigadi (~6920–6570 cal. years before present) belongs to a cl... more The Middle Neolithic tell of Imvrou Pigadi (~6920–6570 cal. years before present) belongs to a cluster of sites at the southern edge of the Plain of Thessaly, Greece. Following a specifically tailored geoarchaeological methodology comprising micromorphology coupled with Fourier‐transformed infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray fluorescence, and particle size analyses, we were able to reveal site formation processes linked with the construction of floors/occupational surfaces and successfully clarify a rather complicated archaeological stratigraphy. Moreover we present early evidence for specialized ceramic production contained in red, burnt strata rich in remnants of constructed combustion features and in situ pottery. The exclusion of a deliberate or accidental domestic fire as the cause of combustion, coupled with evidence of high firing temperatures of 600–700°C further supports a specialized ceramics workshop function of the site. The successful implementation here of an integrated analytical methodology enabled us to reveal the archaeological potential of Imvrou Pigadi and can be used to address similar archaeological questions at other Neolithic sites.
In the present study, we investigate the Mediterranean–Paratethys connection during the late Mioc... more In the present study, we investigate the Mediterranean–Paratethys connection during the late Miocene in Strymon Basin (North Aegean, northeastern Mediterranean) and compare this onshore sequence with the adjacent offshore Prinos-Nestos sequence, before, during, and after the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). Strymon Basin was a peripheral shallow-water basin during the first MSC stage. The Akropotamos sections expose a clastic sequence with gypsum intercalations, which is dated in the Messinian based on the ostracod and calcareous nannofossil assemblages. This sequence records the Primary Lower Gypsum deposition in a shallow marine environment and its passage via the Messinian erosional surface to a brackish environment with changing salinity conditions similar to the Paratethyan depositional environments. The sequence is capped by a travertine marker horizon observed across the entire Strymon Basin indicating freshwater environment. The Miocene–Pliocene transition is characterized by salinity changes caused by the interaction between Atlantic-Mediterranean and Paratethyan waters, predating the marine reflooding at the end of the MSC, which is attested by the overlying Pliocene open marine deposits. The offshore Prinos-Nestos basin incorporates the Nestos intermediate basin and the Prinos intermediate-deep basin. Borehole and seismic profile data from the offshore Prinos-Nestos oil field reflect a thick clastic sequence, topped by turbidites, and followed by an evaporitic unit deposited during the Messinian. In the Nestos slope area, the evaporite unit consists of anhydrite-shale alternations. Toward the basin's depocenter (Prinos Basin), anhydrite is replaced by halite. The sequence is overlain by Pliocene–Holocene deltaic prograding deposits. Sedimentologic and biostratigraphic data show that the thick halite-shale couplets in the deepest part of the offshore Prinos-Nestos Basin were deposited under permanent marine conditions, suggesting no desiccation before, during, and after the MSC. Conclusively, the present results indicate that a connection between the Mediterranean and the Paratethys was occasionally established before the Pliocene reflooding and favor the non-desiccation MSC model for the deep marine evaporite deposition.
Conference Presentations by Dimitrios N Roussos
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Papers by Dimitrios N Roussos
Conference Presentations by Dimitrios N Roussos