A revised chronological and palaeoenvironmental framework for the Kastritsa rockshelter, northwest Greece

Kastritsa, excavated by E. Higgs in 1966 and 1967, is a small cave situated in the side of a limestone hill on the shore of Lake Pamvotis, in the Ioannina basin, northwest Greece Archaeological finds included lithic and organic artefacts exhibiting variability through time and a diverse faunal assemblage dominated by deer (Bailey et al. 1983). Sturdy et al. (1997: 603-4) have shown the site's advantageous location in a seasonally varying biotope whose resources would have been more abundant during summer. Amongst the Upper Palaeolithic sites of southeast Europe, Kastritsa stands out because of its abundance of habitation features (various hearth types, post-holes and chipping floors) and refittable lithics (Higgs 1968; Galanidou 1997b; 1999; in press). From a palaeoclimatic point of view, Kastritsa's notoriety lies in the presence of a series of beach deposits in the lower part of the sequence, thought to represent higher lake levels during the 'Last Glacial Maximum' (LGM). The evidence for high LGM lake levels has been in conflict with palaeoecological results suggesting increased aridity during this interval (Bottema 1974) and much discussion has permeated the literature in order to account for the apparent paradox. Here we present new AMS radiocarbon determinations which provide a different chronological framework for the sequence, and reconsider the local palaeoenvironmental conditions through new pollen and ostracod evidence from an adjacent sediment core from Lake Pamvotis.