• Many Neolithic settlements in the Aegean region are accompanied by ditches. • Ditches from the flat dispersed settlement Elateia 1 date back to 6000–5800 BCE. • Based on landscape-related and interdisciplinary research, we developed a new model. • Ditches can be multifunctional; one practical use could be water management. • Other early Greek ditches may also have served for watering and drainage of gardens. Neolithic ditches were discovered in Thessaly as early as the 1950s, but have not yet been sufficiently investigated. Many of them belong to the Late Neolithic after 5500 calBC, but our interest in this contribution is directed towards the older ditches, those of the Early and Middle Neolithic (6500 to 5500 calBC). They can provide important insights into more general questions about the economic strategies of this early period. In our study we analyse ditch systems according to their position in the landscape and within the settlement they belong to, i.e., the proximity to a body of water or their position and possible inclination in the general topography of the site. Due to the extensive use of geophysical exploration methods, a wealth of knowledge has been gained over the last ten years. Nevertheless, most of the settlements investigated have not been dated with either relative or absolute accuracy. One exception is Elateia 1, a 10-hectare settlement from the early Middle Neolithic period (6000–5800 BCE). Among its most striking features are linear structures not only along its north-eastern perimeter, but also within its inner area. Furthermore, our spatial functional analyses suggest that we can identify the location of the areas used for cultivation in relation to the residential area. Based on the evaluation of all available information in a Geographic Information System (GIS), we interpret Elateia 1 as a dispersed settlement with accompanying peripheral and interior ditches. Ditches from the Neolithic period in the Aegean may have been multifunctional as they can serve a variety of different purposes, all of them not satisfactorily provable. Without contesting other views, such as their defensive or symbolic implications, we will emphasise in this study their non-defensive, non-ritual character, and will suggest their usage for water management, both for irrigation and drainage. We also argue that their planning, digging and use may have had a significant impact not only on the economic but also on the social interaction of the inhabitants.
Reingruber et al. (2026) studied this question.