A Short History of Archaeological Sieving at Franchthi Cave,Greece

Abstract

Excavations at the Franchthi Cave in SE Greece, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Jacobsen, have revealed a long habitation sequence of considerable interest to students of the early history of the Aegean Basin. The earliest recoverable deposits date to about 25,000 B.P. The most recent radiocarbon dates indicate that the latest deposits belong to the period around 3000 B.C.

The excavations themselves were carried out over the years 1967–1976. During that time, excavation techniques used at the site evolved considerably. Object recovery by various methods of archaeological sieving forms a major component of this evolution. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to discuss the standards of object recovery at Franchthi and the adaptation of sieves designed elsewhere to the situation at Franchthi, as well as to serve as a guide to other excavations planning a program of archaeological sieving.