| The existence of fish of big sizes is also proof that the Mesolithic (and therefore
also the Palaeolithic) fishermen of the Sporades had very advanced shipping techniques,
especially for maritime engineering and navigation. Without these they wouldn’t have
been able to fish what was found in Gioura, since the conditions for shipping (winds,
rough seas e.t.c.) in the Aegean are quite particular and difficult. Another piece of
evidence for the advanced level of fishermen in the Sporades at least 10,000 years ago, is
the mere fact that the Indians who live in the coast of British Columbia in Canada only
reached the same level of civilization in this respect at the beginning of the present
century.
Another important finding on the island of Gioura is goats’ bones. Until today,
the prevailing view (at least, in foreign bibliography) was that goats were brought to
Greece by populations which migrated from the East, through Asia Minor, and who were
carriers of advanced civilization levels of the Neolithic period which is characterised by
development in the areas of farming and animal breeding. This view is based on the
hypothesis that goats ( as well as wheat) originated in the Near East Asia.
The goats’ bones from the Cyclops’ Cave can be- with some reservation-
dated back to the 8th millennium BC and prove that goats existed long before
the Neolithic period in Greece. Their taming might have been achieved at the same time as
in other areas or was probably the result of a simple transfer of knowledge because of the
sea-travelling which had been developed in the Aegean.
Another significant possibility is that the fishermen of Gioura had probably acquired a
productive specialisation in fishing. The huge quantities of fish which was found in the Cyclops’
Cave, suggests that they used the area for the possible processing and storing of
fish. Given that during the same period we have proof for the transportation of obsidian
from Milos to Frachthi, it is quite safe to assume that the Sporades’ fishermen of
10,000 years ago had developed a particular form of exchange commerce.
This fishing specialisation is also observed, in proportion, in one city of the
historic period. Kyzikos, was established in the Asian coast of Bosporus in 756 BC from
Ionian settlers and owed its wealth to the fishing of tuna. Actually, from 550 BC, the
emblem of Kyzikos was the symbol of a tuna fish as this is shown in the amber coins of the
city.
The Gioura fishermen seem to have been transited to the next civilization stage of the
Neolithic period quite easily. Following the Mesolithic level is the archaeological level
of the ancient Neolithic period (6500 – 5800 BC).
The next Neolithic level is characterised by the Article of ceramics with a
particularly impressive decoration, which seems to have been copied from woven or
embroidered textiles. The same ceramics were found in the neighbouring island of Kyra
Panagias. The inspector Ad. Sampson assumes that this is a local Sporades production since
no similar ceramics can be traced in Thessalia or Continental Greece.
The findings in the Cyclops’ Cave also show that professor D. Theocharis
was right to suggest 20 years ago that "as to the neolithic revolution in Greece it
does not seem possible for it to have been transferred to a deserted country". |
