An Historical Sketch of Paleolithic Research in Greece

ABSTRACT Evidence for Paleolithic humans in Greece was discovered in 1867 soon after the recognition of human antiquity in Europe in 1859. Systematic research was delayed until 1928 when Adalbert Markovits excavated caves with late Paleolithic and Mesolithic deposits in Megara and the Peloponnese and Rudolf Stampfuss excavated Upper Paleolithic strata in a Boeotian cave in 1942. Sustained Paleolithic research began in 1962 when Eric Higgs undertook systematic surface surveys and excavations targeting Macedonia and Epirus. Contingent factors may have delayed Paleolithic research in Greece. Such factors include poor infrastructure in the nineteenth century, an emphasis on antiquities from Classical times for nationalistic and touristic purposes, and a European-centered research design focused on stratified deposits in caves, which was frustrated in Greece by the paucity of such contexts. Restrictive antiquities laws unintentionally limited research designs employing multiphase investigations and scientific analyses, such as dating, that required export of cultural materials.