Early Mycenaean culture

A recently published study of the skeletal remains from Mycenae Shaft Grave III showed that it was the burial place of a woman and two men. Panayotis Stamatakis, supervisor of Schliemann’s excavations on behalf of the Archaeological Company, in his valuable diary, has provided a drawing on the position of the skeletons and of their grave goods.

The absence of weapons, despite the presence of two male burials, suggests the special role of the deceased, which most probably derived from priesthood. The quantity and quality of the woman’s (M) finds, suggest that she was the most important person buried, perhaps along with the infant originally placed on her chest, to whom the gold investment covering body and face and one of the large diadems belonged. The infant was in all cases meant to inherit her office.

The aim is to set out the evidence for burial practices in the southern and western Peloponnese of Greece during the Middle Helladic and Early Mycenaean periods (circa 2050/2000BC to 1445/1415BC), and to interpret the evidence in terms of human agency and in relation to wider social structures. The analytical methodology allows for examination of the evidence in terms of four main areas of human activity: grave location, grave construction, pre-mortuary rites, and rites in the tomb. Evidence from 62 sites is analysed in order to provide answers to the following questions: where were tombs situated, how were they occupied and what was their place in the encultured landscape; what was the meaning and effect of architecture; what did people do in tombs and as part of mortuary rites; how were practices and structures maintained and altered through time, and what brought about their widespread reproduction? Themes include the place of the grave in the landscape, funerary architecture, evidence for preparatory acts before funerals, and mortuary practices. The conclusions trace the inception and proliferation of different practices at different times, questioning the notion of a uniform early Mycenaean culture, and offering ways in which instances of burial practice can be understood in local and regional, rather than global, contexts.

Mycenae culture became due to its own merits, the most important one in continental Greece for more than four centuries all along the II Millennium B.C. Its commercial importance due to the fact they took advantage of the minoans exchange routes and their own economic interests made them reach far regions even in Central Mediterranean and the Near East. But all of that must’ve been difficult if they hadn’t encountered a powerful army who support their colonial and commercial adventures. Numerous Lineal B writings, pictorial and archaeological remains are witness to the importance the military world provides to those former Mycenaean. Therefore, in this article we will try to show the diverse aspects related to the Mycenaean army who supported its power in continental Greece in spite of this, neither the reforms taken in 13th century B.C. got that mycenaeans culture survival, when their settlements were destroyed.

Aegean rhyta (ceramic, stone or metal) constitute a remarkable (yet diverse) category of specialized vessels, which were also employed in the performance of libations. This paper discusses the earliest examples of these vessels on the Greek Mainland, where they seem to make a remarkable debut in the Shaft Graves of Grave Circle A. The proliferation of rhyta in the Circle A graves stands in stark contrast with the near absence of such vessels from other contemporary Mainland assemblages, even including the spatially distinct, but chronologically overlapping Grave Circle B. Although ritual practices associated with the pouring of liquids might have been served by a variety of other vessel types or installations (and they probably were during the Middle Helladic period), the elite group or groups associated with Circle A pioneered the use of an ‘exotic’ (whatever the actual source of inspiration or place of manufacture) ritual implement in the transformed Helladic elite behaviour represented by the Shaft Graves.

This paper presents the results of the preliminary study of a recently excavated LH IIB pottery assemblage
from the Ano Englianos ridge at Pylos in western Messenia. The deposit comes from Trench 5Z and its six extensions,
situated northeast of Carl Blegen’s Main Building, and was uncovered during the archaeological investigations associated
with the construction of the new roof over the Palace of Nestor. The material fills a gap in the local sequence and
reveals significant information on pottery consumption trends at Pylos during the crucial transition from the early to
the late formative stage of Mycenaean palatial society. Specifically, our analysis suggests that the ceramics from the 5Z
deposit may represent the remains from feasting activities, which occurred during a late stage of LH IIB, and highlights
the importance of Messenian and Minoan cultural traditions in the gradual formation process of Mycenaean Pylos. If
corroborated through future research, these conclusions raise the possibility that LH IIB may have been a key phase for
the elaboration and performance of those feasting practices, which constitute a distinctive feature of the Pylian social
space during the final Mycenaean Palatial period.

[English below] W okresie ŚH I – PH IIB teren Argolidy stał się areną przemian społecznych, prowadzących do wykształcenia się wzorców znanych
jako kultura mykeńska. Są one uchwytne zwłaszcza w rytuale funeralnym, gdzie tradycje głęboko zakorzenione w okresie ŚH
łączono z nowymi elementami. Dotyczy to także aktu pochówku mnogiego, gdzie dochodzi do przejścia z wtórnie wykorzystywanych
obiektów na rzecz konstrukcji tworzonych z myślą o zbiorowym grobowcu. Widoczne są także tendencje do wyszczególniania
ich w krajobrazie oraz do deponowania większej ilości darów.
Zmiany te można interpretować jako część strategii obranych przez grupy funkcjonujące w ramach systemu wodzowskiego. Ich
uwaga skupiona była na więzach krwi, dzięki którym wypracowywano, a później i utrzymywano pozycję w systemie. Kolejne grupy
mogły określać swoją indywidualność przy jednoczesnym eksponowaniu pochodzenia – gdzie koligacje między przodkami i potomkami
służyły definiowaniu, uwypuklaniu i komplikowaniu kolejnych relacji społecznych.

During the MH I – LH IIB period, region of Argolid was a witness of social changes leading to the phenomena known as Mycenaean
culture. These are recognizable in burial rites transforming the traditional patterns into the new social perception. Within the most
significant ones, the attitude to secondary burials should be noted. Their increased dimensions (reflecting the conversion from single
to multi burials tombs) are connected with a tendency for additional grave marking, and with more sophisticated burial offerings.
These changes might be interpreted as a part of new conditions developed by the community functioning within the chiefdom
system. Their emphasis was given to the kinship relations playing an important role in creation and preservation of the position inside
the community. Particular groups simultaneously defined their individuality and displayed their origin, where the connections
between ancestors and descendants were crucial to define, emphasize and develop social relations.

Abstract of paper delivered at the 121st Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Washington, DC. Paper offers preliminary analysis of Tomb 11 at ancient Eleon in eastern Boeotia, an LH I ossuary associated with the Blue Stone Structure.

The pottery of the Volcanic Destruction Level at Akrotiri falls into an identical pattern of wares within each building. The pattern is shown most clearly in the West House pottery, as the building has been completely excavated and the study of the material is well advanced. The West House pottery group includes all the various types of local and imported wares of the Volcanic Destruction Level, which date the final phase of the house to the 'mature' Late Minoan IA.
The West House is the only building in which systematic stratigraphic research is being carried out. The pottery deposits below the floors of the final phase indicate the first phase of the building. This earlier phase overlaps chronologically with an early stage of Late Minoan IA.
The rather fragmentary evidence from the other buildings on the site, when looked at in the light of the research in the West House, suggests that the whole settlement of Akrotiri entered its last period of occupation, divided into two phases, in the Late Middle Cycladic era.

The Mycenaean culture of Greece (ca. 1700–mid-11th century BC) has left an outstanding material legacy in terms of buildings and artefacts. For a long time, its exploration has focused on palaces and funerary monuments. However, in recent years the state of research has changed significantly, opening up new perspectives for a broader understanding of the emergence of Mycenaean culture in the 17th to 15th centuries B.C. The contributions in this volume provide new information, either insights from recent fieldwork, the fresh analysis of key assemblages, or more comprehensive comparative studies that, by examining settlements and tombs alike, open up new perspectives on the emergence of a new social order.