Neolithic carvings at Andros site
Six-thousand-year-old rock carvings of ships and animals have been found in a newly-discovered Neolithic settlement on the island of Andros, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. Excavations that started in June have uncovered the remains of a once flourishing, fortified settlement on the Strofilas plateau of the island’s southwestern coast. It is the largest of its time in the Aegean and ranks as an important town by the standards of the Final Neolithic period (4,500-3,300 BC). This month, excavator Christina Televantou discovered 10 ships between 20-30 centimeters in length incised on the outer face of the settlement’s defensive wall – which stands up to two meters high. The vessels, have extravagantly high, curved sterns and lower prows. Another two ships were found on the wall’s rock foundations. On a nearby rock, a 1.5-meter long composition survives with 17 animals, including deer and lions. A 15-square-meter group of ship, fish and abstract carvings was discovered in the settlement. Meanwhile, about 500 students and anti-globalization protesters staged an anti-war rally from central Athens to the US Embassy early yesterday afternoon, paralyzing traffic. No incidents were reported.
