CONTEXTUAL REANALYSIS OF THE ARCHITECTURAL FORM AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE PANAGIA HOUSES AT MYCENAE

Abstract

The Panagia Houses, one of the building complexes at Mycenae, located to the south-west of the Citadel, were interpreted by the excavators as a group of three independent units. They were constructed and occupied during the Late Helladic (LH) IIIB phase, with two main phases distinguishable in the archaeological record, followed by a reoccupation phase. Careful analysis of the archaeological data published by Mylonas-Shear, which focused on the arrangement of individual units, formality of layout, access and movement patterns, and visibility, suggests that the group should be interpreted rather as a single complex, developed during the period of the maximum expansion of the settlement. The building was gradually expanded to form an extended household, with primary living space surrounded by a number of additional rooms for storage, work and habitation. It was composed of a rectangular main unit, surrounded by an extension formed around a small inner courtyard. The movement between the two levels was organised through a system of connected rooftops, with trapdoors and staircases ensuring access to the various rooms of the complex. During the LH IIIB2 Early phase, Mycenae was hit by a devastating earthquake. Much of the town was left in ruin, but the Panagia Houses were rebuilt, although in a smaller form, with the main unit abandoned and the courtyard inside the extension transformed into the main room of the complex. The status of the complex probably changed, but it was still inhabited by a middle-class family, who possessed a number of valuables and took part in the palatial mobilisation system. The household probably suffered in a widespread fire which destroyed Mycenae at the end of LH IIIB. Its remains were then used as two small dwellings by the survivors of the catastrophe. The history of the complex reflects the changing vicissitudes of the Lower Town of Mycenae.