London, March 5 (IANS): Archaeologists have uncovered in Greece the remains of an ancient town and burial complex that date to the Neolithic and Bronze Age.

The Diros Project, a five-year excavation programme in Diros Bay, Greece, has also uncovered several other burials and the remains of an ancient village that suggest the bay was an important centre in ancient times, the researchers noted.

Located outside the entrance to Alepotrypa Cave, the site of Ksagounaki yielded Neolithic buildings and adult and infant burials that indicate the sites together were part of one huge ritual and settlement complex, the researchers noted.

Although Alepotrypa Cave was used for domestic and ritual uses throughout the Neolithic period (ca. 6300-3000 BC), radiocarbon dates indicate that the site of Ksagounaki was used during the Final Neolithic period, 4200-3800 BC.

This period in Greece is noted for wide trading networks, as well as the introduction of copper tools, laying the groundwork for the subsequent Bronze Age.

Perhaps the most surprising discovery was a Mycenaean-period burial structure, filled with the disarticulated bones of dozens of individuals accompanied by Late Bronze Age painted pottery, exotic stone beads, ivory, and a Mycenaean dagger made of bronze, explained William Parkinson from The Field Museum in the US.