Guide of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace

The area of Krovyli – Petrata provides certain evidence on the human presence in Aegean Thrace during the Mid-Paleolithic Age. In the course of superficial survey at the SE valley of Rodopi, the finds revealed that the area to the east of Nestos river was probably inhabited by groups of hunters and gatherers, at least 100,000 years ago, long before the appearance of the first permanent agriculture and farming settlements of the Neolithic Age. According to surveys and observations, the valley appears to have been inhabited by Paleolithic hunter groups during the Pleistocene. These groups lived dispersed in the lakes and the swamps of the area and exploited the flint quarry situated nearby that provided them with row material for the construction of their weapons.

A prehistoric settlement of the Neolithic Age was revealed to the NE of the modern village of Krovyli. The superficial finds include anthropomorphic clay statuettes with engraved and dot decoration (four anthropomorphic and one zoomorphic), stone tools and parts of clay vessels (legs, handles, pottery sherds with engraved or linear decoration) denoting the establishment of an active agricultural settlement, probably of the Neolithic Age.

The architectural sculptures found on the wall revetments of some buildings of the village, which date back to the Early Christian times, bear witness to the continuous habitation of the area from the Prehistoric through, at least, the Byzantine times.