The Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project (SNAP) was a geo-archaeological survey (2013-2014) and excavation (2015-2019) focused on the hill of Stelida on the northwestern coast of Naxos. The excavation was conducted as a collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, and co-directed by Demetris Athanasoulis (Ephorate) and Tristan Carter (McMaster University).

Stélida was first identified as an archaeological site in the early 1980s by the French School during a broader survey of Naxos, noted for its chert source and the abundant debris from associated stone tool workshops. The site’s dating, however, remained uncertain, as the stone tools were both crudely made and previously unknown in the Cyclades. SNAP’s analysis confirmed that the site was largely, if not entirely, pre-Neolithic, with a substantial portion of material dating to the early Mesolithic and earliest evidence for exploitation in the Paleolithic. This evidence indicates early maritime activity by mobile hunter-gatherers, with at least one phase of occupation in the 9th millennium BCE. Together, these findings challenge earlier assumptions that the Cyclades were first settled in the late Neolithic and contribute to a revised understanding of seafaring and early settlement in the Mediterranean.

Select Bibliography

Carter, T., D.A. Contreras, S. Doyle, D.D. Mihailovic & N. Skarpelis. 2016. « Early Holocene interaction in the Aegean islands: Mesolithic chert exploitation at Stélida (Naxos, Greece) in context. » 275-286. In Géoarchéologie des îles de Méditerranée. M. Ghilardi ed. Paris: CNRS Editions

Carter, T., D.A. Contreras, J. Holcomb, D.D. Mihailović, P. Karkanas, G. Guérin, N. Taffin, D. Athanasoulis & C. Lahaye. 2019. “Earliest occupation of the Central Aegean (Naxos), Greece: Implications for hominin and Homo sapiens’ behavior and dispersals.” Science Advances 5.10: eaax0997.

Carter, T., D.A. Contreras, D.D. Mihailović, T. Moutsiou, Y. Pitt, N. Singh & C. Zogheib. 2025. “Middle Paleolithic Behavioral Insights from the Stelida Chert Source, Naxos (Greece).” Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 13.1-2: 32–59.

Skarpelis, N., T. Carter, D.A. Contreras & D.D. Mihailović. 2017. “Petrography and geochemistry of the siliceous rocks at Stélida, a chert source and early prehistoric stone tool manufacturing site on northwest Naxos, Greece.” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 12: 819-833

To learn more, visit the project website: https://stelida.mcmaster.ca/