SESSION 6 - Characterising lithic sources
Raw material sources of knapped stone tools from the excavation of the prehistoric site at Toumba Thessaloniki, Greece

The settlement of Toumba in Thessaloniki is an archaeological site of the Bronze Age. This site has the form of an artificial hill due to the accumulated remains of human activity. The period of these activities lasted for almost 2000 years. The excavations showed that there was continuous habitation since the late third or early second millennium B.C.E. until the late 4th or early 3rd century B.C.E.

The lithic tools from the excavation of Toumba were studied in order to compare the raw materials that had been used with respect to the geological occurrences of the corresponding materials in the region. After the macroscopic identification and color categorization of different types of chert products found during the excavation, the site of Vasilika was chosen for sampling respective varieties of chert. Vasilika is a village of Thessaloniki and is located at a distance of about 28 km southeast of Toumba. This area is known for mining activity and extracting raw materials used for knapped tools. The classification of stone tool raw materials in a certain geological context from where these come, suggests their generating mechanism and geochemistry. With such evidence, it is suggested that it is possible to make a connection between this geological occurrence and the human choice of such materials in stone tool manufacturing.