East meets West: the Middle Pleistocene site of Rodafnidia on Lesvos, Greece
Nena Galanidou, James Cole, Giorgos Iliopoulos & John McNabb Antiquity 87:336 (June 2013): Project Gallery.
From the introduction
This paper introduces a new inter-disciplinary and international research project focused on the Palaeolithic site of Rodafnidia on the Greek island of Lesvos, located in the north-eastern Aegean Sea. Rodafnidia, near the village of Lisvori, is less than a kilometre away from the south-western shore of the large Kalloni Gulf. It is a prolific open-air site spanning the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. What makes this site unique is the richness of its Acheulean lithic assemblage which, so far, makes it unparalleled in Greece.
The island of Lesvos is separated from the Anatolian coast by two sea straits: Mouselim and Mytilene. A glacial sea-level drop of only 50m would be enough to expose the eastern strait and connect the island with the Asian mainland, allowing hominin and terrestrial animal migration. Several fossiliferous sites have been found in Early Pleistocene deposits on the south coast of the island with over 15 mammal taxa including the giant macaque (Paradolichopithecus arvernensis), which is characterised as continental and reflects a proximity to Anatolia. The site of Rodafnidia introduces the human perspective into the rich palaeontological record of Lesvos and adds a new point to the Palaeolithic map of the north-eastern Mediterranean.
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