in Greek, etc. It takes that name from the marshes surrounding the place. a Greek one, (), later shortened to () or lengthened to () by epenthesis, which became in Italian (probably by rebracketing) and in French. Its etymology is not certain. A traditional etymology, proposed by the early 15th-century traveller Nompar de Caumont and repeated as late as the works of Karl Hopf, ascribed the name to the Navarrese Company, but that is clearly an error since the name was in use long before the Navarrese presence in Greece. In 1830, Fallmereyer proposed that it could originate from a body of Avars who settled there, a view adopted by a few later scholars like William Miller. Modern scholarship, on the other hand, considers it more likely that it originates from a Slavic name meaning "place of maples". The name of /, although in use before the Frankish period, came into widespread use and eclipsed the French name of and its derivations only in the 15th century, after the collapse of the Frankish Principality of Achaea. In the late 14th or early 15th century, when it was held by the Navarrese Company, it was also known as , and called (, "village of the Spaniards") by the local Greeks. Under Ottoman rule (1498–1685, 1715–1821), the Turkish name was (). After the construction of the new Ottoman fortress () in 1571/2, it became known as ( or , "new castle") among the local Greeks, while the old Frankish castle became known as ( or , "old castle"). History Neolithic Pylos The region of Pylos has a long history, which goes hand in hand with that of Peloponnese. It starts in the depths of prehistory, as the region has been inhabited since the Neolithic, when populations from Anatolia began to spread in the Balkans and Greece around 6500 BC, bringing with them the practice of agriculture and farming. Excavations have demonstrated a continuous human presence from the Late Neolithic period (5300 BC) on several sites of Pylia, in particular in those of Voidokilia and of Nestor's cave, where numerous ostraca or fragments of painted, black and polished ceramics have been found, as well as later engraved and written pottery. The Neolithic period ended with the appearance of bronze metallurgy around 3000 BC. Mycenaean Pylos During the Bronze Age (3000–1000 BC), the Mycenaean civilization developed, particularly in Peloponnese. Pylos then became the capital