Dispilio

Dispilio is a Neolithic lakeside settlement on the shore of Lake Orestiada near Kastoria in western Macedonia, Greece. Discovered in 1932 when low water levels exposed wooden stakes, it is the only excavated Neolithic lake settlement in Greece. Radiocarbon dating shows continuous occupation from the Early Neolithic (c. 6000 BC) to the Late Chalcolithic (c. 1200 BC). The most remarkable find is a wooden tablet engraved with symbols dated to 5260 +/- 40 BC, predating known writing systems. Excavations also yielded ceramics, figurines, seeds, and one of the oldest bone flutes in Europe. The wattle-and-daub settlement housed an estimated 3,000 people engaged in farming, stockbreeding, and lakeside resource exploitation.