213: 10 150±90 and RT-1441: 10 440±115 uncal BP) (López Bayón et al. 2002: tab. 1). The lithic complex from Ouriakos suggests that hunting was the main activity practised at the site, as inferred from the presence of many microlithic lunates, most probably hafted as spearpoints, as well as end-scrapers for hide processing.
The absence of other sites of Late Palaeolithic, Younger Dryas date in the north-eastern Aegean (Kozlowski 2005, 2007; Sampson et al. 2005, 2009, 2010) makes the discovery of the Ouriakos site on the south-eastern coast of Limnos important for understanding the events that took place in this region at the end of the Pleistocene.
At Ouriakos the abundance of lithic artefacts, including cores and debitage flakes indicates the specialised production of specific types of microlithic lunates for the tipping of hunting weapons. Given that excavations have been conducted mainly in that part of the site affected by erosion, the absence of fireplaces or activity areas is unsurprising. The test trench opened below the sand dune on the other side of the stream, however, shows that this protected part of the site is most probably still intact.
According to the typological characteristics of the chipped stone assemblage, it is possible to attribute Ouriakos to the north-westernmost part of a Levantine Final Pleistocene cultural complex, whose spread and distribution along the southern and western coasts of Anatolia can now be traced potentially from Direkli Cave near Kahramanmaras (Erek 2010), and other caves in the surroundings of Batman (Kartal pers. comm. 2010), through to Öküzini and other caves in the Gulf of Antalya (Harmankaya & Tanindi 1996).
The discovery of the site of Ouriakos and the fieldwork that followed in 2008–2012 have established beyond doubt its importance in the wider Aegean context at the end of Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene. This is a period for which very little is known either from the Aegean islands or the adjacent regions of north-west Anatolia, the Black Sea and the southern Balkans (Kozlowski 2005). For this reason, the coast of the island of Limnos is worthy of further intensive fieldwork during the coming years.
The authors are very grateful to the 20th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of Lesbos for granting the permission for fieldwork at the site, and to the INSTAP and the Prefecture of Northeastern Aegean Research for their generous and continued financial support.
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