Despite Greece’s key geographic position between southeast Europe and southwest Asia, and its potential for documenting hominin dispersals, Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites are rare. This suggests the need for research to identify deposits that may contain Palaeolithic artefacts. Here we describe 165 quartz and quartzite artefacts with Palaeolithic characteristics (based on technical and morphotypological definitions) from a private collection that was made from erosional lag deposits on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Pendeli and the northern edge of the Spata polje (a large karstic depression filled with terra rossas) in northeast Attica. Artefacts of the same type occur in the region of Ano Souli, another karstic depression. These karstic depressions are of interest because they resemble artefact-bearing deposits found at similar features such as Kokkinopilos in Epirus that have provided datable geologic contexts for Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts. Our study suggests that Attica was frequented by hominins in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic and that Pleistocene deposits in karstic depressions in Attica may preserve datable contexts for documenting early human activity. The lithic collection described here provides a glimpse of the potential of the region, and we recommend continued archaeological efforts in Attica to investigate the likelihood for buried Palaeolithic sites.

中文翻译：

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希腊阿提卡的旧石器时代的新证据

尽管希腊在东南欧和西南亚之间具有重要的地理位置，并且有记录人为散布的潜力，但旧石器时代的中下遗址很少。这表明需要进行研究以鉴定可能包含旧石器时代遗物的矿床。在这里，我们从一个私人收藏中描述了165个具有旧石器时代特征的石英和石英岩文物（基于技术和形态学定义），该私人收藏是由Mt东南坡上的侵蚀性滞后沉积物制成的。彭迪利（Pendeli）和阿提卡（Attica）东北部的Spata polje（一个大型的岩溶洼地，充满红土红景天）的北缘。相同类型的文物出现在另一个岩溶洼地Ano Souli地区。这些岩溶洼地很有趣，因为它们类似于在类似特征中发现的带有人工制品的沉积物，例如伊庇鲁斯的Kokkinopilos，它们为旧石器时代中期和中期的文物提供了可靠的地质背景。我们的研究表明，旧石器时代中期和下层的人为动物经常使用Attica，而Attica岩溶洼地中的更新世沉积可能保留了可记录人类早期活动的数据环境。这里描述的石器收藏可以一窥该地区的潜力，我们建议继续在阿提卡进行考古工作，以调查埋葬旧石器遗址的可能性。我们的研究表明，旧石器时代中期和下层的人为动物经常使用Attica，而Attica岩溶洼地中的更新世沉积可能保留了可记录人类早期活动的数据环境。这里描述的石器收藏可以一窥该地区的潜力，我们建议继续在阿提卡进行考古工作，以调查埋葬旧石器遗址的可能性。我们的研究表明，旧石器时代中期和下层的人为动物经常使用Attica，而Attica岩溶洼地中的更新世沉积可能保留了可记录人类早期活动的数据环境。这里描述的石器收藏可以一窥该地区的潜力，我们建议继续在阿提卡进行考古工作，以调查埋葬旧石器遗址的可能性。