The new article is part of the project “AGER”
The article “Use-Wear Evidence for the Use of Threshing Sledges in Neolithic Greece” by Mazzucco, N., Ibáñez, J.J., Anderson, P., Kotsakis, K. Kita, A., Adaktylou, F., Gibaja, J.F. has just been released in open access.
The threshing sledge, also known by the Roman term tribulum, is a tool that has been used until a few decades ago to separate straw from grain in many Mediterranean countries, from Turkey to Spain. A recent study conducted by an international team of researchers has demonstrated that threshing sledges were introduced in Greece as early as the Neolithic period. This discovery predates previous records of such technology in Europe by at least 3,000 years, providing new insights into the technological innovations of Neolithic societies.
The research was carried out within various research projects funded by the European Union, Italy, and Spain, and led by the University of Pisa in collaboration with CSIC in Spain and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The group of scholars found convincing evidence that threshing sledges were used in Greece as early as 6500 BC. By applying advanced analytical methods to flint industries, including confocal microscopy, they were able to trace the early adoption of this technology and the adaptation of what can be considered one of the first agricultural machines in Europe.
Niccolò Mazzucco of the University of Pisa, the principal researcher of the work, emphasized: “Threshing sledges are part of a broader process of technological innovation that involves the use of animals as a workforce, to push carts, pull sledges, or simply transport materials.” In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that the first domestic animals were not used solely as a food source, for their meat and hides, but also for milk production and as a workforce. What until a few decades ago was considered a late innovation is now proven to be a practice existing since the early stages of the Neolithic in Europe.
The complete details of this study are presented in the latest issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. The results obtained add a crucial chapter to the history of agricultural development and highlight how the Neolithic was a period of significant technological advancement. The work also allows us to better understand how the spread of agricultural technologies in Europe took place. “Although the use of threshing sledges is documented in Greece from the early phases of the Neolithic, the spread of this technology in the rest of the Mediterranean is halted. In Spain and Portugal, there is no evidence of the use of such technology until at least the third millennium BC.”
This work demonstrates that the agricultural sector was a field of technological innovation since prehistory and raises significant questions about the transmission of technological knowledge between different regions of the Mediterranean. “The detailed analysis of archaeological findings and the use of advanced methodologies now allow us to better frame the development dynamics of early agricultural societies and assess the impact of technological innovations on the social structure and economy of the time,” adds Mazzucco. “For years, we have been working to reconstruct the routes and mechanisms of the spread of agriculture from the Near East to the rest of the Mediterranean. Discovering the processes of technological innovation and how new machines were introduced is fundamental to reconstructing the technological systems of the past. The use of the tribulum significantly increases the amount of processed grain and speeds up its processing. In the past, this innovation was believed to be linked to the rise of the first states, but our study shows that its earliest use is much older.” What until a few decades ago was considered a late innovation is now proven to be a practice existing since the early stages of the Neolithic in Europe.”
https://primafirenze.it/cultura/usavano-la-slitta-da-trebbiatura-gia-nel-6-500-avanti-cristo
https://www.pisatoday.it/cronaca/slitte-trebbiatura-scoperta-universita-pisa.html