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49-664: The Alepotrypa Cave is an archaeological site in the Mani region of the Peloponnese peninsula . In addition to being inhabited by early farmers, this site was used for burial and cult purposes. Archaeological evidence has revealed that this is one of the largest Neolithic burial sites ever found in Europe. Two adult human skeletons were found at the site from a burial dating to the 4th millennium BC, as well as remains from at least 170 separate persons. Archaeologists are uncertain about

98-481: A Hertzian cone of force which causes the rock to fracture in a controllable fashion. Since cores are often struck on an edge with a suitable angle (<90°) for flake propagation, the result is that only a portion of the Hertzian cone is created. The process continues as the flintknapper detaches the desired number of flakes from the core, which is marked with the negative scars of these removals. The surface area of

147-617: A catastrophic earthquake caused extensive damage that blocked the cave's entrance. Finds from the cave were well-preserved due to the cave's sealed entrance and lack of human activity in the area. The site was threatened by private construction work between 1958 and 1970, but the Greek Ministry of Culture cancelled the "touristic exploitation" of the site. Excavations led by Giorgos Papathanassopoulos began in 1970, but were delayed until 1978 due to political complications in Greece. The site

196-512: A cave where a fox lives), is one of the caves of Diros located in the Mani region of the Peloponnese peninsula. The Mani peninsula is mostly made up of Mesozoic carbonate rocks like limestone , which erode as a result of hydrogeological conditions on the peninsula and form karst caves like Alepotrypa. Study of the cave's stalagmites has provided information about human activities in

245-539: A convenient transition" to the Early Helladic era. Mythological tradition says there was an entrance to the underworld domain of the Greek god of death Hades at the nearby site of Tainaron , and archaeologists working on the excavation believe it is possible that the cultural memory of the burial site at Alepotrypa had become associated with Tainaron by the classical period . Archaeologists have speculated that

294-426: A core or previously formed Hertzian cones on the surface. Eraillures , also referred to as "bulbar scars", are tiny flake scars that appear on some bulbs of applied force. The reason they form is not entirely understood. Of those flakes that do exhibit eraillures, very few have more than one. Secondary and tertiary flakes display dorsal flake scars, which are simply the markings left behind by flakes detached prior to

343-602: A later Mycenaean ossuary dating from 1300   BC may have been carried to the site for reburial during the late Bronze Age. One possible explanation offered by the lead excavator Giorgos Papathanassopoulos is that the persons who inhabited this site took the cultural memory of an underground realm where the dead were buried with them. Anastasia Papathanasiou, co-director of the Diros excavation added that "there's no direct evidence, but we can't rule out that possibility". Mani Peninsula There are many theories regarding

392-514: A popular tourist destination. As they are partly underwater, visitors tour them in gondola -like boats. Gytheio , Areopoli , Kardamyli, and Stoupa are filled with tourists during the summer months, but the region is generally quiet during the winter. Many inhabitants work as olive farmers, and devote the winter months to the olive harvest and processing. Some of the villages in the mountains are less tourist oriented and often have very few inhabitants. The introduction of Christianity came late in

441-400: Is a characteristic indicating the manner in which the distal end of a flake detached from a core. Flake terminations may be feathered, hinged, stepped, or plunging (also known as overshot or outrepassé ). Feathered terminations are often very sharp, as the flake gradually reduces to a very fine thickness before the force exits the core and removes the flake. Hinged terminations are the result of

490-754: Is also known for honey and extra-virgin olive oil , soft-pressed from partially ripened olives of the Koroneiki variety, which are grown on mountain terraces. Today the Mani's coastal villages are full of cafés and souvenir shops. The peninsula attracts visitors for its Byzantine churches, Frankish castles, sandy beaches and scenery. Some popular beaches during the summer are Kalogria and the beaches by Stoupa harbor, while Kardamyli and Agios Nikolaos have good pebble and sand beaches, too. The ancient tower houses of Mani ( pyrgospita ) are significant tourist attractions, and some offer accommodations for visitors. The Vlychada Caves at Pirgos Dirou, near Oitylo , are also

539-479: Is the result of a strong hammer blow. At impact, concentric radii emanate from the point of percussion, but unlike conchoidal fracture, the force travels along what would be the center of the Hertzian cone. The bipolar reduction technique is typified by its use of wedge initiation. Like bending initiation, no bulb of applied force results from wedging initiation, although in the bipolar technique, flakes may appear to have two points of percussion, on opposite ends, because

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588-648: Is usually at least twice as long as it is wide. There are numerous specialized types of blade flakes. Channel flakes are characteristic flakes caused by the fluting of certain Paleo-Indian projectile points ; such fluting produced grooves in the projectile points which may have facilitated hafting. Prismatic blades are long, narrow specialized blades with parallel margins which may be removed from polyhedral blade cores, another common lithic feature of Paleo-Indian lithic culture. Prismatic blades are often triangular in cross section with several facets or flake scars on

637-631: The Dorians in about 1200 BC, and became a dependency of Sparta . After Spartan power was destroyed in the 3rd century BC, Mani remained self-governing. As the power of the Byzantine Empire declined, the peninsula drifted out of the Empire's control. The fortress of Maini in the south became the area's centre. Over the subsequent centuries, the peninsula was fought over by the Byzantines ,

686-811: The Franks , and the Saracens . After the Fourth Crusade in 1204 AD, Italian and French knights (known collectively by the Greeks as Franks) occupied the Peloponnese and created the Principality of Achaea . They built the fortresses of Mystras , Passavas , Leuktron (Beaufort) , and Great Maina . The area fell under Byzantine rule after 1262, forming part of the Despotate of the Morea . In 1460, after

735-637: The fall of Constantinople , the Despotate fell to the Ottomans . Mani was not subdued and retained its internal self-government in exchange for an annual tribute, although this was only paid once. Local chieftains or beys governed Mani on behalf of the Ottomans. The first of these was Limberakis Gerakaris in the 17th century. A former oarsman in the Venetian fleet turned pirate, he was captured by

784-594: The 10th century to preach Christianity to the Maniots . Although the Maniots began to convert to Christianity century due to Nikon's preaching, it took more than 200 years, i.e. until the 11th and 12th centuries to eliminate most of the pagan Greek religion and traditions and for the Maniots to fully accept Christianity. After his sanctification by the Greek Orthodox Church, St. Nikon became patron saint of

833-498: The Laconian (called prosiliaki , a local expression meaning "sunny"), and is consequently more productive in agriculture. Maniots from what is now Messenian Mani have surnames that uniformly end in -éas , whereas Maniots from what is now Laconian Mani have surnames that end in -ákos ; additionally there is the -óggonas ending, a corruption of éggonos , "grandson". A skull of Homo sapiens dating to more than 210,000 years ago

882-526: The Mani as well as Sparta. Patrick Leigh Fermor wrote of them: Sealed off from outside influences by their mountains, the semi- troglodytic Maniots themselves were the last of the Greeks to be converted. They only abandoned the old religion of Greece towards the end of the ninth century. It is surprising to remember that this peninsula of rock, so near the heart of the Levant from which Christianity springs, should have been baptised three whole centuries after

931-564: The Mani: the first Greek temples began to be converted into Christian churches during the 11th century A.D. A Byzantine Greek monk called Nikon "the Metanoite" ( Greek : Νίκων ὁ Μετανοείτε ) was commissioned by the Church in the 10th century (900's AD) to spread Christianity to areas such as Mani and Tsakonia , which had remained pagan . St. Nikon was sent to the Mani in the latter half of

980-531: The Ottomans and condemned to death. The Grand Vizier pardoned him, on condition that he took over control of Mani as an Ottoman agent. Gerakaris accepted, using the opportunity to carry out his feud with the strong Maniot family of the Stephanopouloi: he besieged their seat at Oitylo , captured 35 of them, and had them executed. During his twenty-year reign, he shifted allegiance between the Venetians and

1029-525: The Ottomans. There is also evidence of a sizeable Maniot emigration to Corsica sometime during the Ottoman years. Petros Mavromichalis, the last bey of Mani, was among the leaders of the Greek War of Independence . He proclaimed the revolution at Areopoli on March 17, 1821. The Maniots contributed greatly to the struggle, but once Greek independence was won, they wanted to retain local autonomy. During

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1078-700: The Turks. Following the failure of the Orlov Revolt , in 1776 Mani's autonomous status was recognized by the Porte, and for the next 45 years until the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, eight rulers (" beys ") reigned over the peninsula on behalf of the Porte: As Ottoman power declined, the mountains of the Mani became a stronghold of the klephts , bandits who also fought against

1127-408: The amount of cortex indicates when in the sequence of reduction the flake came from. Primary flakes are those whose dorsal surfaces are entirely covered with cortex; secondary flakes have at least a trace of cortex on the dorsal surface; and tertiary (interior) flakes lack cortex, having derived entirely from the interior of the core. Primary flakes and secondary flakes are usually associated with

1176-408: The arrival of St. Augustine in far-away Kent . 36°33′32″N 22°25′49″E  /  36.5590°N 22.4303°E  / 36.5590; 22.4303 Lithic flake In archaeology , a lithic flake is a "portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure," and may also be referred to as simply a flake , or collectively as debitage . The objective piece, or

1225-471: The cave and climate variations . By studying variations of trace elements , Meighan Boyd was able to find evidence of certain human activities in the cave, such as burning animal dung. She was also able to confirm and date several periods of drought . In addition to being one of the earliest known inhabited sites in the southern Laconia region of the Peloponnese, the Alepotrypa Cave is also one of

1274-470: The core has been fractured by a hammer and anvil technique. The core is placed on a hard surface or "anvil" and is struck above by a hammer, thus the fracture may propagate from both ends simultaneously. The end which received the blow or pressure is referred to as the proximal end of the flake; the terminal end is referred to as the distal end. The side displaying the bulb of force but without flake scars (barring an errailure flake scar or additional working of

1323-408: The core which received the blows necessary for detaching the flakes is referred to as the striking platform . Flakes may be produced by a variety of means. Force may be introduced by direct percussion (striking the core with a percussor such as a rock or antler), indirect percussion (striking the core with an object, sometimes referred to as a "punch", which itself is struck by a percussor, similar to

1372-519: The detachment of the subject flake. These flake scars are one of the lines of evidence used to infer the method of lithic reduction, or the process by which raw material is turned into useful objects. Flakes can be modified into formal tools, which result from additional working of the piece to shape a flake into a desired form, or they can be used without further modification, and are then referred to as expedient tools. For example, scrapers, which may be made by additional removals, known as retouchings, to

1421-510: The dorsal surface. Prismatic blades begin to appear in high frequencies during the transition between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic.This lithic technology basically replaces the Levallois reduction technology. The striking platform is the point on the proximal portion of the flake on which the detachment blow fell or pressure was placed. This may be natural or prepared. Termination type

1470-475: The etymology of the word Mani. The most accepted one is that it represents the natural evolution of the medieval name of the region, which was Maini, of uncertain origin. The name "Mani" may come from the name of the Frankish castle le Grand Magne . The terrain is mountainous and inaccessible. Until recent years many Mani villages could be reached only by sea. Today a narrow and winding road extends along

1519-411: The flake and a corresponding flake scar on the core. A bending initiation results when a flake initiates not at the point where the force was applied, but rather further away from the edge of the core, resulting in a flake with no Hertzian cone or bulb of applied force and few if any of the characteristics ripples or undulations seen on the ventral surface of conchoidally produced flakes. Wedging initiation

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1568-443: The flake) is called the ventral (or interior) surface, while the opposite side, displaying the flake scars of previous removals, or the cortical or original rock surface, is the dorsal (or exterior) surface. On most natural cobbles or nodules of source material, a weathered outer rind called a cortex covers the unweathered inner material. Flakes are often differentiated by the amount of cortex present on their dorsal surfaces, because

1617-502: The force rolling away from the core, resulting in a rounded distal end. Step terminations result when a flake prematurely breaks or snaps during removal, leaving a distal end that is often squared off. Plunging flakes are the result of the force rolling back towards the core and often taking off its "bottom". Hinge, step, and plunging terminations, although sometimes deliberately formed, are usually errors called "abrupt terminations". Abrupt terminations are often indicative of internal flaws in

1666-476: The initial stages of lithic reduction , while tertiary flakes are more likely to be associated with retouching and bifacial reduction activities. Prominent bulbs of force generally indicate that a hard hammer percussor ( hammerstone ) was used to detach the flake; flakes displaying this characteristic are referred to as conchoidal flakes. Hard hammer flakes are indicative of primary reduction strategies (e.g., core reduction, roughing of blanks and preforms , and

1715-416: The largest Neolithic burial sites in Europe. Burials in the cave date from between 6,000 and 3200   BC, and archaeologists have found bones belonging to at least 170 different persons. Two adult human skeletons were found at the site, dating to the 4th millennium BC, along with a Mycenaen ossuary that archaeologists believe dates to the 2nd millennium BC. The settlement was abandoned around 3200 BC, after

1764-442: The like). More moderate and diffuse bulbs may indicate the use of a soft hammer percussor—such as bone , wood , or antler —which produces the bending flakes often associated with bifacial thinning and trimming. The relative abundance of each type of flake can indicate what sort of lithic work was going on at a particular spot at a particular point in time. A blade is defined as a flake with parallel or subparallel margins that

1813-520: The nearby open-air areas. During the Neolithic era, the cave itself served as a burial site while farmers inhabited a large village outside the cave. Based on evidence found at the site, archaeologists believe that the early farmers who inhabited this area ate mostly barley and wheat , and suggest that non-lethal head injuries found on the skulls may indicate violent confrontations. Primary burial, cremation and secondary burial are all represented at

1862-543: The north is also sometimes included but was never historically part of Mani. Vardounia served as a buffer between the Ottoman-Turkish controlled Evrotas plains and Mani. A contingent of Muslim Albanian settlers were relocated to the region by the Ottomans. These settlers formed a large segment of the local population until the Greek War of Independence when they fled to the Turkish stronghold at Tripoli . Following

1911-469: The reign of Ioannis Kapodistrias , they violently resisted outside interference, to the extent of Mavromichalis' sons killing Kapodistrias . In 1878 the national government reduced the local autonomy of the Mani, and the area gradually became a backwater; inhabitants abandoned the land through emigration, with many going to major Greek cities, as well as to western Europe and the United States. It

1960-404: The rock being reduced by the removal of flakes, is known as a core . Once the proper tool stone has been selected, a percussor or pressure flaker (e.g., an antler tine ) is used to direct a sharp blow, or apply sufficient force, respectively, to the surface of the stone, often on the edge of the piece. The energy of this blow propagates through the material, often ( but not always ) producing

2009-417: The significance of a Mycenaen ossuary, which has been dated to the 2nd millennium BC and appears to have been reburied at Alepotrypa. While there is no direct evidence, it is possible that the ossuary may link Alepotrypa to Tainaron , which was regarded as the entrance to Hades in classical mythology . The Alepotrypa Cave (Greek: Αλεπότρυπα, literally meaning 'The Fox's Hole,' a very common word to describe

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2058-595: The site suggests the area was wealthy, as silver was extremely rare in Bronze Age and Neolithic Europe. A rare early copper axe, which scholars believe can be dated to the Final Neolithic period, was also found at the Alepotrypa site. Paul Cartledge writes that "there was apparently no transitional Chalcolithic phase in the Peloponnese" and adds that the copper tools found in the Alepotrypa Cave "provide

2107-465: The site, and it was also used for shelter and storage. Evidence of cultic practice has also been found, including the head of a stalagmite type marble idol . Other finds from the excavation include Late Neolithic stone, pottery and clay vessels, jewelry and weapons. Painted and incised pottery, shell beads , stone axes , and a complete flint arrowhead have been found, along with blades and flakes of Melian obsidian . Silver jewelry found at

2156-407: The use of a hammer and chisel to shape stone), or by pressure. Additionally, flakes may be initiated in a Hertzian , bending, or wedging fashion. When a flake is detached from its core in a Hertzian fashion, the flake propagates in a conchoidal manner from the point of impact or pressure, usually producing a partial Hertzian cone. The cone of force often leaves a distinctive bulb of applied force on

2205-525: The war Vardounia's Greek population was reinforced by settlers from Lower Mani and central Laconia. Administratively, Mani is now divided between the prefectures of Laconia (Kato Mani, Mesa Mani) and Messenia (Exo Mani), in the periphery of Peloponnesos, but in ancient times it lay entirely within Laconia, the district dominated by Sparta . The Messenian Mani (also called aposkiaderi , a local expression meaning "shady") receives somewhat more rainfall than

2254-636: The west coast from Kalamata to Areopoli , then south to Akrotainaro (the pointed cape, which is the southernmost point of continental Greece) before it turns north toward Gytheio . Another road, that is used by the public buses of the Piraeus –Mani line, which has existed for several decades, comes from Tripoli through Sparta , Gytheio , Areopoli and ends in the Gerolimenas port near Cape Matapan . Mani has been traditionally divided into three regions: A fourth region named Vardounia (Βαρδούνια) to

2303-501: Was excavated between 1978 and 2005, after which the project was largely put on hold due to lack of funding. In 2010 the Diros Regional Project was founded to conduct a regional survey as the Alepotrypa excavation team began to prepare their findings for publication. Late Neolithic (LN) material has been found in the cave itself, but as of 2013 the survey team has only found material dating to the Final Neolithic (FN) in

2352-522: Was found in the Apidima Cave on the western side of the peninsula. As of 2019 this was the oldest evidence of Homo sapiens in Europe. Neolithic remains have been found in many caves along the Mani coasts, including the Alepotrypa Cave. Homer refers to a number of towns in the Mani region, and some artifacts from the Mycenaean period (1900–1100 BC) have been found. The area was occupied by

2401-417: Was not until the 1970s, when the construction of new roads supported the growth of the tourist industry, that the Mani began to regain population and become prosperous. Despite the region's aridity, Mani is known for its unique culinary products such as glina or syglino (pork or pork sausage smoked with aromatic herbs such as thyme , oregano , mint , etc. and stored in lard along with orange peel). Mani

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