Late Bronze Age Aegean Research Articles

THE SWORD IS A PLOUGHSHARE? INTERPRETING THE ‘ARMED WOMAN’ IN LATE BRONZE AGE AEGEAN ART

Despite Late Bronze Age Aegean art containing a number of depictions of armed women, unacknowledged preconceptions about gender continue to divert thoughts away from past women exercising violent or coercive power, and thus affecting significantly our understanding of Late Bronze Age Aegean societies in general. This paper examines the depiction of armed women in the art of the Late Bronze Age Aegean and considers how previous generations of researchers have chosen to interpret it. The author then uses recent developments in gender theory and political theory to suggest that the connection of women to power needs to be reassessed.

A View to a Kilt – The Late Bronze Age Aegean Costume in the Context of Social and Cultural Changes

Abstract The connection between the Late Bronze Age (LBA) Aegean costumes and social, cultural and political changes is a rather unexplored topic. Probably the only exception are kilts, the connection of which to such changes on Crete during the 15th century BCE remains a commonly discussed topic in studies focusing on the LBA Aegean iconography and other data sets. However, many questions remain open and the topic is far from exhausted. In this paper I build on the work of various scholars who have studied LBA Aegean kilts in the context of social, political and cultural changes. I diachronically study the changes in the representations of kilts since the beginning of the LBA in the Aegean until the end of the Palatial period on the Greek Mainland (ca. 1700/1600–1200 BCE). Moreover, I examine the spatial distribution of specific kilt types in different periods. In cases of several different kilt types appearing in contemporary contexts in the same region, I explore whether similar costumes might have had different social connotations within the same communities. Moreover, I examine the influence of elite power structures and socio-political changes on the perception of kilts. However, I do not observe kilts as passive reflections of specific social, cultural and political contexts, but rather as material forms actively used in the creation of social realities.

:Minoische Bild-Räume: Neue Untersuchungen zu den Wandbildern des spätbronzezeitlichen Palastes von Knossos

:<i>Minoische Bild-Räume: Neue Untersuchungen zu den Wandbildern des spätbronzezeitlichen Palastes von Knossos</i>

Wars Between the Aegeans did not Take Place … Development of Iconography and Ideology of Battle, Lion Hunting, and Figures of Power in the Late Bronze Age Aegean

This paper examines representations of battle in Late Bronze Age (LBA) Aegean iconography and their connection to depictions of lion hunters and figures of power and authority. Representations of battle scenes, lion hunters, and figures of power are examined because of their mutual symbolic correlation and importance in the expression of elite identities from the beginning to the end of the LBA in the Aegean. The paper defines the spatial and chronological distribution patterns of the three types of representations. The main focus of the paper is to determine the connection between the changes in these three groups of depictions and changes in the sociopolitical organization of Crete and the Greek Mainland during the LBA. In the context of Crete, the paper explores the changes in the transition between the Neopalatial and Final Palatial periods. As regards the Greek Mainland, the paper examines three main developments. First, it examines the active selection of originally Cretan iconography on the early LBA Greek Mainland. Second, it examines the disappearance of battle scenes and changes in the remaining two groups of representations during the transition between the early Mycenaean and Palatial periods. Third, it examines the re-emergence of battle scenes at the very end of the Palatial period. However, the paper does not treat Crete or the Greek Mainland as integral territorial entities, but acknowledges regionality in the way iconography correlates to socio-political changes.

Boy, You Fight like a Woman … Representations of Defeated Enemies, Boys and Male Nudity in the Late Bronze Age Aegean Iconography and Their Role in the Expression of Masculinity

This paper examines depictions of male nudity, flaccid penises and phalli (erect penises) attested in the representations of boys, defeated warriors and figures of authority in late Bronze Age Aegean (ca. 1700–1050 BCE). It is argued that, similarly to ancient Egyptian iconography, the flaccid penis, as a sign of weakness and the lack of developed masculinity, was contrasted to the phallus, as a sign of masculine strength and sexual virility. Moreover, the paper argues that there was a gradual change in the depictions of male nudity around 1420/1400 BCE. In the period between ca. 1700–1420/1400 BCE, male nudity was restricted to representations of boys and defeated warriors. After ca. 1420/1400 BCE, most depictions of male nudity represented figures of power and authority with erect penises/phalli. We believe that the depictions of male nudity in combination with phalli were used to accentuate masculinity of such figures.

Amulets, Gaming Pieces, Toys or Offerings? Thoughts on Animal Figurines and Funerary Practices in the Late Bronze Age Aegean

Abstract The assemblage of four cones (ivory, stone) and an astragalus marked with dots from Katsambas in Crete is so far the best evidence of gaming pieces uncovered in an Aegean tomb of the Late Bronze Age. A small faience animal associated with the same burial, that of a child, attracted however little attention, and raises the question whether it may be added as a possible game piece to this set. Although this holed piece was certainly used as a personal ornament or amulet, this paper gives the opportunity to review the functions of small faience, stone and ivory animal figurines in the Aegean, especially the couchant ones. It also introduces the notion of chance and fate linked to playing on the basis of cross-cultural comparisons in the Eastern Mediterranean. Additionally, the hypothesis that small standing terracotta quadrupeds may have initially served as toys before having functioned as votive or funerary offerings in Aegean cult places and tombs is further explored. Special interest is shown on Mycenaean funerary assemblages from Prosymna in the Argolid and Perati in Attica featuring small terracotta animals and cone shells, inasmuch as these objects may be seen as potential toys and gaming pieces.

Why so Serious? An Extraordinary Cone Shell Group from Mycenae and the Problem of Identifying Mycenaean Board Gaming Material

Abstract In 1974 in Room Θ3 of House Θ in the Southwest Quarter of the Mycenae citadel, an extraordinary find came to light: 545 conus mediterraneus ventricosus shells were found together with 12 small objects in a crevice of the bedrock. 353 cones were intentionally pierced and ground, and 9 of them were filled with lead. This assemblage includes the largest collection of cone shells known from the Late Bronze Age Aegean, and it is now possible to attempt an interpretation of its use, after the publication of the Southwest Quarter excavation. The find is examined in detail, in comparison to other large cone shell groups from Mycenaean contexts. The facts suggest that the Θ3 assemblage artefacts could have been markers for a kind of game, for which games of strategy, skill and chance known in the Eastern Mediterranean, are suggested as possible candidates. Under this hypothesis, context finds from the Room Θ3 deposit are also examined. This study highlights the difficulty in identifying the material remains of board games, as well as the need to include the game – being a basic human activity- in the potential interpretations of archaeological records from the Mycenaean period.

Koan Painted Medium-Coarse to Coarse Pottery and the “SASCAR String” : Towards a Navigation Model for the Aegean Late Bronze Age

Koan Painted Medium-Coarse to Coarse Pottery and the “SASCAR String” : Towards a Navigation Model for the Aegean Late Bronze Age

Archaeometric evidence for the earliest exploitation of lignite from the bronze age Eastern Mediterranean

This paper presents the earliest evidence for the exploitation of lignite (brown coal) in Europe and sheds new light on the use of combustion fuel sources in the 2nd millennium BCE Eastern Mediterranean. We applied Thermal Desorption/Pyrolysis–Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Polarizing Microscopy to the dental calculus of 67 individuals and we identified clear evidence for combustion markers embedded within this calculus. In contrast to the scant evidence for combustion markers within the calculus samples from Egypt, all other individuals show the inhalation of smoke from fires burning wood identified as Pinaceae, in addition to hardwood, such as oak and olive, and/or dung. Importantly, individuals from the Palatial Period at the Mycenaean citadel of Tiryns and the Cretan harbour site of Chania also show the inhalation of fire-smoke from lignite, consistent with the chemical signature of sources in the northwestern Peloponnese and Western Crete respectively. This first evidence for lignite exploitation was likely connected to and at the same time enabled Late Bronze Age Aegean metal and pottery production, significantly by both male and female individuals.

Book Review of Beyond Thalassocracies: Understanding Processes of Minoanisation and Mycenaeanisation in the Aegean, edited by Evi Gorogianni, Peter Pavúk, and Luca Girella

Based on a collection of papers presented at the 114th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (Seattle, 3–6 January 2013) and augmented by four specifically commissioned contributions, this volume promises to take us beyond traditional explanations of cultural interaction in the Middle and Late Bronze Age Aegean that have often been grouped under the modern categories of “minoanization” and “mycenaeanization.” The agenda of “Minoan” or “Mycenaean” influence in the broader Aegean region is a familiar one to AJA readers, with these labels intended as conventional terms for set

Review and New Evidence on the Molluscan Purple Pigment Used in the Early Late Bronze Age Aegean Wall Paintings

The production and use of the pigment extracted from the murex molluscs is discussed here in association with the purple textile dyeing industry in the Prehistoric Aegean. “True” purple has been identified in a number of archaeological finds dating from the early Late Bronze Age, found in old and recent excavations at three different but contemporary sites: Akrotiri and Raos on Thera, and Trianda on Rhodes. The chemical composition of the shellfish purple pigment either found in lump form or applied on wall paintings is discussed in relation to the archaeological context of several examined finds and with reference to Pliny’s purpurissum. The results of a comprehensive methodology combining new data obtained with molecular spectroscopies (microRaman and FTIR) and already reported data obtained with high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector (HPLC–DAD) applied to samples of the murex purple finds are discussed in comparison to published data relating to few other instances of analytically proven murex purple pigment found in the Aegean over the timespan of its documented exploitation.

ATOP THE KADMEIA: MYCENAEAN ROOF TILES FROM THEBES IN CONTEXT

Questions were raised in the past regarding the use of Mycenaean tiles as ‘roof tiles’ on the basis of the small numbers of them recovered in excavations and their overall scarcity in Mycenaean domestic contexts. The investigation of the Theodorou plot in 2008 in the southern part of the Kadmeia hill at Thebes yielded the single and, so far, largest known assemblage per square metre of Mycenaean tiles from a well-documented excavation. This material allows, for the first time convincingly, to identify the existence of a Mycenaean tiled roof. This paper presents the results of our work on the Theodorou tiles, placing emphasis on their construction, form and modes of production, offering the most systematic study of Mycenaean tiles to date. It also revisits contexts of discovery of similar material from excavations across Thebes. Popular as tiles might have been in Boeotia, and despite their spatially widespread attestation, their use in Aegean Late Bronze Age architecture appears, on the whole, irregular with central Greece and the north-east Peloponnese being the regions with the most sites known to have yielded such objects. Mycenaean roof tiles date mostly from the mid- and late fourteenth centurybcto the twelfth centurybc. A study of their construction, form, production and contexts suggests that their role, apart from adding extra insulation, might have been one of signposting certain buildings in the landscape. We also present the idea that Mycenaean tile-making was guided by a particular conventional knowledge which was largely influenced by ceramic-related technologies (pottery- and drain-making). While production of roof tiles might have been palace-instigated to begin with, it does not appear to have been strictly controlled. This approach to Mycenaean tile-making may also help explain their uneven (in terms of intensity of use) yet widespread distribution.

The lion, the weapon and the warlord: historical evaluation of the early Late Bronze Age Aegean iconography

This paper historically examines the depictions of warriors, lion hunters and figures of power and authority dated to the early phases of the Late Bronze Age Aegean. We argue that the depictions of warriors and lion hunters reflect warrior hierarchies of the early Late Bronze Age Aegean. Moreover, we define different types of figures of power and authority and argue that two different and parallel elite iconographies depicting such figures were developed during the Neopalatial period on Crete. We suggest that the antagonism between the two elite groups identifying with two parallel elite iconographies is directly visible in some of the combat scenes. We believe that the two iconographies were also used in the self-representation of different Neopalatial elite groups to negotiate their positions in society. However, we suggest that a new iconographic repertoire emerged from the new social reality with the beginning of the Final Palatial period. Later in the paper we turn to the Greek Mainland to compare warrior hierarchies depicted in representations of combat and lion hunt to the warrior hierarchies attested in the burial record. In our view, originally Cretan themes were actively consumed in the context of the Greek Mainland and used to create new elite identities.

5. White Hair and Feeding Bottles: Exploring Interactions Between Children and the Elderly in the Late Bronze Age Aegean

Scholarship on age and gender in prehistoric Greece has taken an adult-centric approach with focus placed mostly on young to middle-aged men and women and, as a result, two significant age groups – children and the elderly – have been widely neglected. Lacking a strong insight into attitudes that were shown towards these two age groups, however means that archaeologists do not really harbour a concept of the whole span of life in the cultures that developed in the Aegean region during the Late Bronze Age. Making children and the elderly visible in the archaeological record and examining their social roles, agency and interactions is vital for a better understanding of the social workings of the prehistoric Aegean world. Integrating an interdisciplinary methodology with a systematic study of the available material remains – ranging from the study of funerary contexts to iconographic sources and textual references, this study seeks to assess the evidence for childhood and old age in the Late Bronze Age Aegean, and to shed light − for the first time − on the interactions between the younger and older segments of the population in both life and death from the mid-seventeenth to the twelfth centuries BC.

CHICKEN OR EGG? RETHINKING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SILVER AND TINNED CERAMIC VESSEL ASSEMBLAGES

Since the 1960s, when the existence of tinned ceramic vessels in the Late Bronze Age Aegean was first recognised, our knowledge of this phenomenon and the catalogue of known examples have expanded significantly. Even before the nature of these objects was fully understood, scholars had suggested that their primary purpose was to imitate metal, particularly silver, vessels. Several silver vessel assemblages, including one from the tholos at Kokla, have been singled out for their perceived special relationship with tinned ceramics. However, closer analysis of tinned vessels has suggested that they were less similar to silver vessels than previously thought, especially in terms of their range of forms, details of shape and even colour. Recent scholarship has also emphasised that the concept of imitation is very complex and its investigation requires a more nuanced approach. Yet references to tinned vessels as straightforward imitations of, or even substitutes for, silver vessels remain common. In 2014, an opportunity arose to examine the Kokla silver vessels in greater detail. A strong connection between the Kokla group and tinned vessels is evident, although this does not mean that the latter depended upon assemblages such as the former for inspiration. The unique features of the Kokla group suggest it may have been a local innovation to emulate the usage of tinned vessels while simultaneously stressing the higher social status of its users. This paper concludes that situating tinned vessels within the ceramic tradition and thus regarding them as an enhanced form of ceramic, rather than an inferior form of metal vessel, better explains the nature of this phenomenon.

Julie Hruby and Debra Trusty (eds). From Cooking Vessels to Cultural Practices in the Late Bronze Age Aegean.

This book had its origin in a panel held at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in January 2014; the papers given there, suitably adapted for publication, have been added to by contributions from scholars working on comparable material. All chapters are substantial, and apart from the short introduction and finale all are illustrated with a range of photographs, drawings, tables and sometimes thin-sections. It is well-presented, with a colourful cover showing, on the front, modern replicas of Minoan-style cooking pots, made by Jerolyn Morrison, one of the contributors to this book, in use.

‘There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch’

Reciprocity has seen much less attention by Aegean archaeologists than other economic concepts such as redistribution, largely because of an assumption that reciprocity is characteristic of ‘egalitarian’ or less developed societies, as well as a related interest in political economies of more complex (palatial) societies, which are assumed to be characterized by redistribution. In Aegean archaeology, consideration of reciprocity is usually limited to gift exchange, either royal in the context of Late Bronze Age interactions with other societies in the eastern Mediterranean, or among elites in a Homeric model. Yet reciprocity has great potential to help us understand better the political economies and social organization of the Late Bronze Age Aegean. Reciprocity encompasses the social dynamics of any exchange between individuals and how these social relationships form the structure of social organization. Of particular interest here is how the standard categories of reciprocity—that is generalized (gift exchange), balanced (trade or immediate discharge of debt), and negative (one-sided benefit)—are manipulated through strategies such as competitive generosity and asymmetrical exchanges, leading to indebtedness of one exchange partner to the other; this can be institutionalized into hierarchical social structures. Feasting is one important category of exchange that can result in asymmetrical relationships and social inequality, and the Mycenaean evidence allows us to examine feasting in detail. Recent work in Linear B texts has suggested that palatial elites manipulated reciprocity through feasting as a strategy for maintaining social and political power. Likewise, elites utilized gifts of prestige items within their own polities to forge alliances and maintain social power

The Rise and Fall of the Transport Stirrup Jar in the Late Bronze Age Aegean

The Rise and Fall of the Transport Stirrup Jar in the Late Bronze Age Aegean

The development of integrated terrestrial and marine pathways in the Argo-Saronic region, Greece

Least cost path applications can be a powerful tool for understanding connectivity across a landscape. A limitation to this method is its difficulty in integrating terrestrial, marine, and cultural factors – all of which would have been at play in the prehistoric Aegean. This study looks at a method of modeling pathways that integrates major factors (land, sea, and culture) that would be in play while considering medium- to long-distance travel in the Aegean. This test case explores the possible relationships between proposed routes for communication and identified coastal sites with parameters modeled in geographic information system that affect travel in cultural, marine, and terrestrial contexts. The methods presented have significance beyond the Late Bronze Age Aegean. The development of a methodology that incorporates marine, cultural, and terrestrial environments provides a mechanism by which specific hypotheses regarding complex communication routes may be addressed in regions of the world where there is an intensive interplay between terrestrial and marine geographies.

Textual evidence for Aegean Late Bronze Age ritual processions

In the Aegean Late Bronze Age there exists rich iconographic evidence for the ritual practice of processions, demonstrating the practice’s importance within Mycenaean official cult. In contrast, due to the nature of the Linear B documents which are the records of the palace administration referring to particular aspects of the palace economy, hardly any explicit textual information about processions in Mycenaean times is available. Among the rare exceptions is the outstanding tablet Tn 316 from Pylos whose lexical items seem to point to a ritual of this kind. Moreover, the term te-o-po-ri-ja/*θεοφóρια (“the carrying of the gods”) is generally understood as the name of a religious festival in which a (terracotta) cult figurine representing a deity was carried in a procession. Some additional textual evidence on processions may be provided by terms ending in -po-ro/-φóρος. Along these lines, this paper argues that the term to-pa-po-ro may denote men whose description reflects activities they have performed in connection with processions. Similarly, it is suggested that the individuals who are described as ka-ra-wi-po-ro (“female key-bearer”) and di-pte-ra-po-ro (whose traditional interpretation as “wearer of hide” is disputed) may act as carriers in the course of a procession. The textual and linguistic analysis of these words is combined with iconographic evidence of the Aegean Bronze Age.