Pioneering flotation and sieving methodology at Franchthi

September 19, 2026

GreeceTechnology

Cave Structures< 4500 BC

Source: Franchthi Cave: A Window into Prehistoric Europe by The Prehistory Guys

Site mentioned

One of the most exciting aspects of Franchthi is how Jacobsen's team pioneered systematic flotation and sieving of every bucket of sediment in the 1970s. This revolutionary methodological shift let researchers recover seeds, fish bones, tiny snail shells, and charcoal, reconstructing diet, seasons, and landscape rather than just stone tools and pots! 🔬🌱

Key facts

Jacobson's team pioneered systematic intensive flotation and sieving of every bucket of sediment
Sediment was sampled for seeds, fish bone, tiny snail shells, and charcoal
This methodological shift was revolutionary for Aegean prehistoric archaeology in the 1970s
The approach enabled reconstruction of diet, seasons, landscape and people rather than focusing only on stone tools and pots

Sources

Franchthi Caveen.wikipedia.org

Franchthi Cave or Frankhthi Cave is an archaeological site overlooking Kiladha Bay in the Argolic Gulf, opposite the village of Kiladha in southeastern ...

EXCAVATION IN THE FRANCHTHI CAVE, 1969-1971, ...ascsa.edu.gr

Seeds and nutshells have been recovered from Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neo- lithic levels in the Franchthi Cave by sieving and by flotation. The ...

A Short History of Archaeological Sieving at Franchthi ...aegeussociety.org

Excavations at the Franchthi Cave in SE Greece, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Jacobsen, have revealed a long habitation sequence of considerable in-.

Franchthi Caveencyclopedia.com

Franchthi Cave, located on the southern Argolid peninsula of Greece, was excavated between 1968 and 1976 under the direction of Thomas W. Jacobsen of ...

The Franchthi Cavewe-travel.at

Excavation was started here in 1967 by T. W. Jacobsen from Indiana University. It soon turned out to be much more fascinating than first expected and lasted ...

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