Franchthi Cave

Franchthi Cave is another site visited on our Argolid field trip.

In the afternoon, we hiked out to an archaeological site called Franchthi Cave. [N: It was a beautiful hike on a gorgeous day.] I know I’m a nerd, but this was seriously awesome, even for people who don't really care about archaeology. Digging in a cave is logistically tricksy because you’re generally not dealing with a lot of wide open space AND because caves that have been inhabited once have often been inhabited many, many times over, which means that there are lots and lots of layers of STUFF. So we got to see the remains of vertical archaeology, which is basically painstakingly precise digging of really deep shafts.

This cave had been occupied off and onfrom around 30,000 BC (BCE for you politically correct ones) to 3,000 BC. Since it was excavated back in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, there wasn’t any man-influenced stuff to look at, but seeing the effects of 32,000 years’ worth of geological change was pretty neat. It was also kind of weird to realize that people had lived in this place back when there was no such thing as agriculture.

"In the Early Neolithic period (ca. 6000 B.C.) the area of human occupation extended outside of the cave for the first time. The roughly built walls visible in this photo probably served as retaining walls on the uphill side of a settlement which extended further to the west and is now submerged." (Indiana U.)

N: At the back of the cave is a amazingly clear pool of water. When the archaeologists finally got the equipment to send divers down into it, they were greeted by two, very angry eels. Both divers admitted to wetting their wet suits, but managed to dispose of the creatures with some fishing spears. Upon entering the water, it was quickly apparent that the pool was mostly salt water with a thin layer of fresh water on top. It used to be completely fresh water, but the sea level has since risen dramatically in this area. "Today the cave is only ca. 75 meters from the shore and ca. 15 meters above sea level. When human beings first began using the cave in the Paleolithic period, the sea level was much lower and the coast was perhaps 5-6 kilometers farther away." (I. U.) The divers picked up artifacts resting on the bottom. These appear to be cult materials thrown in at a much later date than the cave was occupied.

"In order to "maximize" the amount of evidence recovered from the excavations, all of the soil was carefully saved for either dry-sieving (shown here) or wet-sieving. Samples of soil were regularly saved for "wet-sieving" (also called "water-sieving" or "flotation"). As the soil is put into water, some organic materials float to the surface and are collected ("flot") while heavier materials (small fragments of stone, bone, shell, carbonized seeds, etc.) are collected into "heavy" and "light" fractions. These samples are then dried, sorted by hand, and analyzed under a microscope. The wet-sieving at Franchthi took place right at the shore using two "custom-built" machines and water pumped from the bay." (I.U.)

"Student volunteers carefully sorting through the "heavy fraction" from the wet-sieving -- using highly scientific tools & techniques (small paint brushes, music, coca-cola). Although this is one of the LEAST exciting jobs on an excavation, it is also one of the MOST important. Careful sampling, sorting, and analysis of the floral and faunal remains from Franchthi Cave have allowed archaeologists to develop important theories about ancient diet, husbandry practices, economy, and even about changes in the environment over the long span of human habitation at the site." (I.U.)

"The earliest human burial found at Franchthi dates from the Mesolithic period. The inhumation burial is of a 25 year-old male buried in a shallow pit near the mouth of the cave. He was buried in a contracted position and covered with fist-sized stones (visible in the photo). Forensic analysis indicates that he died from severe blows to the head and that he had suffered from malaria. There were no "grave goods" buried with him, an observation which has led some archaeologists to conclude that the Mesolithic people who used Franchthi cave may have had no developed sense of personal property and/or no significant concerns about life-after-death." (I.U.)

"The burial of an infant from the Early Neolithic period. The infant was only a few weeks old and was buried along with a small marble vessel and one half of a clay vase. This was the only one of 8 Neolithic child burials which contained "grave goods." The presence of such offerings in an infant's burial is unusual and has led some archaeologists to conclude that status may have been hereditary in this Early Neolithic community." (I.U.)

MY favorite part of the cave was that at the end, we got to scale a bunch of rocks that had collapsed at the back of the cave at least several hundred years ago. The climb was probably only 30 or 40 feet, but it made my heart happy. When we got to the top, we could see over the ledge of a chasm that dropped down to where the original ground level of the cave would have been back when people actually lived there. I had to lean over the edge a bit just to be able to see the bottom (which was about 60 or 70 feet down). Since I am actually quite terrified of heights, I don’t really know what possessed me to lean over the edge (No, I did NOT fall into the chasm, if that’s what you were expecting. It was almost anticlimactic in that I was NOT even utterly terrified). Nonetheless, I felt like Indiana Jones (minus the bad guys, and the snakes,etc.) Seriously, it was incredible.
-Katie

N: For the record, I am NOT terrified of heights, yet was thankful I never had to "Indiana Jones" myself across that chasm. Plus, I didn't have the whip and fedora.