Cultural Variation in Mycenaean Attica. A Mesoregional Approach

Abstract

It has been customary in recent times to study the cultural variation and regional diversity of Mycenaean Attica on two different scales: either at a micro-scale level (by examining connections between specific object categories, or traditions and innovations within specific categories, e.g. Attic ceramic forms and wares) or at a macro-scale level (by examining the impact of external cultural developments, such as the spreading of cultural influences from Crete to Attica). Surprisingly, one of the most useful areas of analysis, the meso-scale approach (i.e. the use of a broadly-based comparative approach to the study of cultural variation within Attica) has been more or less assumed rather than properly investigated and utilized. The purpose of this paper is to undertake such an assessment by reviewing the cultural expression and inter-relationships as exemplified in the archaeological record, within a framework of controlled comparison. The method proposed here demands that the geographical units through which the archaeological data is presented are rational and practicable ones: their definition is the first task undertaken. These units are termed ‘mesoregions’. In the second part of the paper the cultural variation within these newly established mesoregions is studied: a roughly diachronic cultural development of Mycenaean Attica is deduced from these data.