Archaeological Research in Southern Balkan Lakes: Outline and First Results

Abstract

In the years 2018–20, a series of archaeological, archaeobotanical and palaeoecological field investigations have been carried out in and around lake shore settlements of the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the border triangle between Greece, North Macedonia and Albania. The research is carried out in the framework of the interdisciplinary project 'Exploring the dynamics and causes of prehistoric land use change in the cradle of European farming' (EXPLO) (http://www.exploproject.eu/), awarded by the European Research Council with a Synergy Grant. The project is headed by international specialists from the Universities of Bern, Oxford and Thessaloniki. The paper will present the project's very first results and most importantly point out the considerable potential of the Southern Balkans lakes region for the archaeology of prehistoric wetland dwellings, the study of early and middle Holocene climatic conditions and human-environment interactions, as well as the lakes' value in regards to high-resolution chronologies, particularly dendrochronology.