PHENOMENA OF NUCLEATION: ASSESSING THE TRANSITION FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE EARLY BRONZE AGE IN SOUTHERN SALAMIS

Abstract

The paper draws on long-lasting random survey work by the University of Ioannina in southern Salamis. Its aim is to highlight the trajectory of the valley of Kanakia, in the southwest part of the island, during the transition from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The material record at hand, originating from surface collections and limited trial trenches from seven sites at the valley of Kanakia, suggests a Late/Final Neolithic dispersed mode of habitation followed by a concentrated one by the Early Helladic II period (mid 3rd millennium B.C.). This attested settlement nucleation by the Early Helladic II period may bespeak for a process of social transformation at the coastal site of the Kanakia acropolis, which emerged as the urban centre of Salamis in the Late Mycenaean period (13th cent. B.C.).