The Palaeolithic

While scientific dates show that prehistoric peoples were coming to Stelida from at least 200,000 years ago, the discovery of tools such as handaxes suggests an even earlier, Lower Palaeolithic heritage.

We now also know that Naxos was an island throughout the Ice Age, meaning that those who came to Stelida had to arrive by boat – this represents the earliest evidence for seafaring in the northern hemisphere.

What we do not know, is who were the first seafarers: Neanderthals or early modern humans?

In our 2018 exhibition we had proof of chert use going back to 100,000 years ago which was the period associated exclusively with Neanderthals in Europe at that time. This has now changed, with the 2019 discovery of Europe’s earliest Homo sapiens’ skull at the Apidima Cave (Mani) dating to at least 210,000 years ago. Almost certainly both populations were visiting Stelida, but who was first?

Until recently, a 200,000-year-old Greek site would have been associated with Neanderthals. But we now have Europe’s oldest Homo sapiens from the Peloponnese.

The Bronze Age

Our big new discovery is a religious complex of a type associated with Bronze Age Crete, a Minoan-type peak sanctuary.  

The main sanctuary is under the modern aerial beacon, with a nearby kitchen for preparing ritual meals, another shrine to the west, an altar to the south, with the sacred precinct surrounded by a wall. While the sanctuary was mainly used by the people of Grotta and the capital’s overseas visitors, Stelida may have also served worshippers from across Naxos.

At the sanctuary, food and drink were ritually consumed from plain single-use cups, while a variety of precious and common items were dedicated, including metal figurines, beach pebbles, and blood offerings, both animal and possibly human.

The Myth of Theseus and Ariadne

Connecting archaeology and myth is difficult. However, the Stelida peak sanctuary dates to the period when Knossos had its greatest influence over the Aegean, which is the mythic setting for the story of Theseus and Ariadne.

Theseus, son of King Aegeus, was sent with other Athenian youths for sacrifice to the labyrinth-dwelling Minotaur of Knossos, to avenge the murder of King Minos’ son Androgeus in Athens.

Ariadne, daughter of Minos, fell in love with Theseus, and gave him a thread to help him find his way out of the labyrinth after slaying the Minotaur. They escaped, sailing to Athens but stopping off on Naxos…

Theseus eventually abandoned Ariadne on Naxos, where she met and then married Dionysus, the god of wine and festivity.

With the Temple of Dionysus at Yria now known to have a Bronze Age origin, contemporary with our peak sanctuary, could Stelida have been dedicated to his wife, the goddess Ariadne?

Stone Age Hunting Stand

We have found a few Middle Palaeolithic tools, including spearheads, that were brought to the top of the hill, probably by Neanderthals, who used the peak as a hunting stand. 

This location offered a panoramic view over the plains below, which in cold periods connected to Paros, helping the hunters to spot their prey.

Some of the evidence of burning we find at the peak could have come from fires to keep the hunters warm as they waited.

Bronze Age Telecommunication

Minoan peak sanctuaries were typically established in locations that provided dominant views over the surrounding landscape, the related settlement (e.g., Grotta), and other shrines, which for Stelida would be Mikre Vigla and Yria.

Some of the rituals performed at the sanctuary involved activities intended to be seen and heard far away (telecommunication) to extend the sanctuary’s religious and political influence over as many people as possible.

The worshippers could communicate over great distances using the light from fires at night or smoke signals during the day. Under the right conditions, their chants or instruments (pipes or shell trumpets) could also be heard at Grotta, when, of course, Naxos had much less noise pollution.

Modern Signaling and Sights 

From the earliest Venetian records, Stelida was marked on maps despite the lack of historic occupation. The hill’s distinctive profile was probably a welcome sight for seafarers, signalling that they were approaching the safe harbour of Naxos.

In 1955, the Hellenic Military Geographical Service installed a trigonometrical (survey) column on Stelida’s highest point. These stations are built on prominent positions for purposes of visibility.

In 1989, an aerial beacon was added, a visual aid to help pilots safely locate the new Naxos airport.

Today, Stelida is one of the most desirable – and expensive – pieces of land on Naxos, with a key selling point to developers and tourists being its “fantastic”, “stunning”, and “beautiful” views.

Seasonal Camps

Palaeolithic people were mobile, moving to locations where the animals they hunted and the plants they gathered were seasonally available.

As they moved through the landscape, the hunter-gatherers would take the opportunity to collect other resources, including the stone to make their tools. 

Stelida would have been one of their key seasonal campsites, staying for a few weeks or months next to one of the springs. Here, they would work the chert, make clothes, cook, sleep, and hunt in the surrounding landscape.

For those early humans based on other islands who had to paddle across open water to reach Stelida, their visits probably occurred in late spring – early autumn, when the sea would have been calmest.

Getting Away From It All

In the modern era, Stelida was largely uninhabited, a local shepherd telling us that it was “the worst piece of land for a dowry”, with limited farming due to the poor soils.

Things changed in the 1960s, with a few foreigners, such as the American political scientist Alfred De Grazia and German geologist Gerhard Roesler, building summer homes at Stelida to ‘get away from it all.’

This was followed by rapid tourist development from the 1980s until today, with the local Kavuras family and others’ investments now making Stelida some of the most desirable land on Naxos. The hotels and villas thrive with Greek and international visitors in the summer, but the hill returns to its deep-time deserted and windswept character in the winter.

Moments, Meals and Memories

Throughout history, food and drink have played an important role in human culture, above and beyond, providing us with the calories that fuel us. 

At certain times and places, we gather to reconnect and celebrate, be that a birthday, wedding, religious holiday, or harvest festival. Typically, these events involve special food and drink whose taste and smell act as powerful reminders of those moments and the people we share them with.

The food and drink consumed at Stelida would similarly have contributed to the experience of visiting the site.

In the Palaeolithic, this would have been the tastes of summer prey, while the Bronze Age ritual feasts included a wide range of meat, fish, and shellfish, and probably different regional wines. Today, the cuisine of Stelida’s hotels provides you with special dishes that remind you of your time on Naxos.

Training the Next Generation

Since 2013, thanks to our various academic funders, and the Municipality of Naxos (Vivlos dig house), the Stelida Naxos Archaeological Project has been able to train 114 students cost-free, from Canada (n=52), Greece (n=28), France (n=3), Serbia (n=5), the United Kingdom (n=11), and the United States (n=11) amongst others.

Stelida has also provided research material for 6 PhD and 6 MA theses (8 completed).