THE DARK AGE IN  NORTHERN GREECE 3: 1000-900 BC

Older theories suggested major changes  ? Northern influence
New finds support belief in continuity.
Still relatively few sites: most cemeteries seem to postdate 900
CEMETERIES Torone, Dion, Kouko, Barc, Kuc-i-zi, 
Both inhumation and cremation observed
Tumulus burials near Dion, Barc, Kuc-i-zi, flat graves at Torone
Early Proto-Geometric style pottery in use 
Local hand made brown burnished pottery
Matt painted wares at Dion
Bronze wire ornaments - spectacle fibulae, bracelets etc
SETTLEMENTS Kastanas, Assiros, Axiochori (Vardaroftsa), Toumba Thess.
thriving well organised communities still living on top of toumbas
Assiros still provided with perimeter wall at summit
Continuity of use of street from Ph5(BA) - Ph4(IA) at Assiros
Kastanas problem LH IIIC (mid) and PG in same level (Schicht 12)
Assiros Post-framed houses, narrow mudbrick walls
Phases 4-1.5 larger rooms than BA 6x4m, in pairs ? room+yard
pottery and cupboards in rooms, loom in use (Ph 2)
circular clay hearths in yards, scattered storage
Kastanas
Schicht 12-7 V. similar rooms and structures to Assiros
Pottery Bronze Age tradition continues
   ware Brown burnished, hand made but harder fired
   shapes Wishbone handle bowl (1-h), 4-h jars, cutaway neck jugs
1/2-h cooking pots in coarse ware, no cooking stands
   decoration minimal - neat incised with pendent triangles, knobs
channelling present in first IA levels at Kastanas and
Assiros, but very rare - tens of sherds not hundreds
some wheelmade grey ware 1-h cups
PG amphora with concentric circles at Assiros (PH3) c 950 BC
continuing use of `Mycenaean' tradition at coastal sites such as Toumba and Kastanas
recognisable early PG imitations at Toumba, and Kastanas
SANCTUARY Poseidi - open air,  ash deposits, 
enclosure and altar may be erected in this period

Northern Greece 1: general

Northern Greece 2: 1200-1000 BC

Northern Greece 4: 900-700 BC

Index to Assiros Pages