Tracking the Neolithic Farmers in Aegean Thrace

Some 27 Neolithic settlements were recorded in the Aegean Thrace thus far, of which only few have been investigated and these by limited trench excavations providing very fragmentary evidence for their intra-site organisation and other aspects of life. The exception to this is Makri near Alexandroupoli, which has been excavated almost in its whole extend revealing rich data for the organization of the settlement and the duration of its habitation. Makri is also the only settlement which gives evidence for the presence of Neolithic farmers in the Aegean Thrace from at least the second half of the 7th millennium.
In order to improve the knowledge about the Neolithic settlers of Aegean Thrace, a project was carried out in the last 2 years focusing on the Neolithic settlements in the Prefectures of Rodope and Xanthe with the aim to investigate their intra-site organization and durationof inhabitation, along with palaeoenvironment and possible changes in the settlements' area that may have affected the habitation. To this end archaeological surface survey, geophysical survey, and geological investigations were undertaken on 8 settlements. Here we present the results of archaeological surface survey of the settlements with particular focus on Diomidia, which appears to stand out from the rest in its exceptionally large size.