Use-wear evidence for the use of threshing sledges in Neolithic Greece
•Threshing sledges, alongside other innovations like ploughs and chariots, represented significant advancements in agricultural technology, contributing to increased productivity and surplus crop accumulation in Neolithic societies.•The study presents evidence suggesting the use of threshing sledges...
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| Published in: | Journal of archaeological science, reports Vol. 56; p. 104579 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier Ltd
01-06-2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | •Threshing sledges, alongside other innovations like ploughs and chariots, represented significant advancements in agricultural technology, contributing to increased productivity and surplus crop accumulation in Neolithic societies.•The study presents evidence suggesting the use of threshing sledges in Neolithic Greece as early as 6500 BCE.•By integrating traditional use-wear analysis with quantitative methods, the study provides a more precise understanding of the wear patterns associated with threshing sledges.•The research highlights the challenges in visually distinguishing use-wear traces produced by different plant-working and processing tasks. Quantitative methods offer valuable insights into this variability, aiding in the characterization of textural parameters.•The findings shed light on the diffusion and evolution of Neolithic farming systems from the Near East to Europe, suggesting a complex interplay of technological transfer, adaptation to new environments, and socio-economic factors in agricultural development.
Threshing sledge or tribulum represents an important innovation in agricultural techniques. It allows processing huge amounts of cereals and it has often associated to an increased agricultural production. Their use is attested during the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age both in south-western Asia and Europe. In the Mediterranean area, their use lasted until few decades ago. Recently, as part of project focused on the analysis of the early agricultural tools of Neolithic Greece, a few elements bearing macro- and microscopic use-wear traces visually similar to ethnographic and archaeological threshing sledges have been identified from a number of Early and Middle Neolithic sites (i.e., Achilleion, Platia Magoula Zarkou, Revenia Korinos, Paliambela Kolindros). In this paper, we present the result of their study, including technological and traceological analysis. To provide a stronger assessment of the nature of the observed use-wear traces a quantitative comparison with ethnographic and experimental use-wear traces is carried out by integrating confocal microscopy. Despite the low number of recorded artefacts, obtained results suggest that threshing sledges were in use since the early phases of the Neolithic in Greece. |
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| ISSN: | 2352-409X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104579 |