The lake settlement itself was discovered during the dry winter of 1932, which lowered the lake level and revealed traces of the settlement. A preliminary survey was made in 1935 by Antonios Keramopoulos. Excavations began in 1992, led by George Hourmouziadis, professor of prehistoric archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The site appears to have been occupied over a long period, from the final stages of the Middle Neolithic (5600–5000 BC) to the Final Neolithic (3000 BC). A number of items were found, including ceramics, wooden structural elements, the remains of wooden walkways,[3] seeds, bones, figurines, personal ornaments, flutes and a tablet with marks on it.
The tablet's discovery was announced at a symposium in February 1994 at the University of Thessaloniki.[4] The site's paleoenvironment, botany, fishing techniques, tools and ceramics were described informally in a magazine article in 2000,[5] and by Hourmouziadis in 2002.[citation needed]
The tablet itself was partially damaged when it was exposed to the oxygen-rich environment outside of the mud and water in which it was immersed for a long period of time, and so it was placed under conservation. As of 2023[update], the full academic publication of the tablet apparently awaits the completion of conservation work.