Investigation of consumption practices in the early Mycenaean period through biomolecular analyses: The case of the Ayios Vasileios North Cemetery (Laconia)

Abstract

The Early Mycenaean cemetery of Ayios Vasileios in Laconia offers unique insights into social practices at the dawn of the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1700 1500BCE). The North Cemetery consists mostly of large and carefully constructed cist tombs, but the majority of burials were unfurnished. Although a number of studies are engaged in the investigation of this formative period, integrated approaches which focus on the social practice of consumption and contextualised understanding of material culture are still scarce. In this paper we present the results of an integrated study of ceramic vessel use, implementing gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and a detailed typological characterisation of the pottery recovered, as well as correlations drawn with the results from isotope analyses on the skeletons. Our aim is to explore the ways technological, ecological, and social factors affect consumption in the mortuary sphere. Ceramic offerings are few in number and consist only of one or two small vases per burial, usually a drinking cup and a small jar, but variety in style and fabric suggests increased interaction with areas further afield. Organic residue analysis shows that several of the vessels in the graves had been used before deposition and contained lipids from animal sources and plant lipids. Isotope analyses on bone collagen indicate the exploitation of similar types of food sources by the living community, with little observable variation.New perspectives are offered for better understanding of the social practices in Early Mycenaean Laconia, while reflecting on everyday life and subsistence by drawing together multiple lines of analysis.