Project aims

The project seeks to contribute with a more representative picture of the economic, functional, historical and spiritual significance of caves in Greece and to examine how changes in the global market and events and developments on the national level had consequences (positive and negative) for a traditional rural community.
These cultural changes are tracked through changes in the use and behaviour in and around caves. The main effort is in the recent historical periods from the end of the Ottoman period in Thessaly (1881) and up to today.

There are a number of issues that were found interesting in the light of the fieldwork and other cave studies from Greece, for example:

• Animal husbandry and other activities organized in and around caves. Size, construction of fences, shelters, drystone walls?
• Date and reason for use. Functional divisions? Seasonal use?
• Cave "ownership". Shared, personal or family property?
• The economic, social and cognitive role of caves in the community. What is the role of caves for agrarian and animal production in the community? Were there changes in usage over time? To what extent can these changes be correlated with more general changes in society (locally and nationally)? How is superstition and folklore linked with the caves?
• Status and gender role. What is the status of cave users in the community? What indicates graffiti and engravings in caves - and the archaeological finds? Are cave users only men?
• Topography. How much influence has the local topography on the use of caves? Is there a difference between coastal caves and caves located high on the mountain?

The project has the following objectives:

• To investigate the archaeological consequences of staying in and immediately around the caves. This will help archaeology to a better understanding of livestock-related activities in the caves and their archaeological signatures.
• To construct a model based on data from the fieldwork, showing how changes in the agrarian economy and increasing industrialization coupled with social changes and significant historical events trigger specific fingerprints in the use of caves. The model also describes the archaeological effects and changes in the role of caves as cultural constructions.