The Aegean from Bronze Age to Iron Age

320 Pages·2006·3.79 MB·English

by  Oliver Dickinson

THE AEGEAN FROM BRONZE AGE
TO IRON AGE
Following Oliver Dickinson’s successful The Aegean Bronze Age, The Aegean
from Bronze Age to Iron Age is an up-to-date synthesis of the period between
the collapse of the Bronze Age civilisation in the thirteenth and twelfth
centuriesbc, and the great advances towards Greek civilisation in the eighth
centurybc.
Breaking away from outmoded theories which give undue credit to Athens
for Greek development, Dickinson offers a fresh examination of the latest
material and archaeological evidence and forms the compelling argument
that many characteristics of Ancient Greece developed in the Dark Ages.
In accessible thematic chapters, this highly informative text considers the
structure and economy of the early Iron Age communities, their crafts, burial
customs, external contact, trade and religion, with a separate chapter on the
Postpalatial period, and comments on the relevance of Homer, revealing:
• the reasons for the Bronze Age collapse, bringing about the Dark Ages
• the processes that enabled Greece to emerge from the Dark Ages
• the degree of continuity from the Dark Ages to later times.
Including chapter bibliographies, distribution maps and new illustrations,
this book will prove to be essential reading for students and specialists alike,
as well as an illuminating read for the interested general reader. This is an
authoritative survey of the period from a leader in the field.
Dr Oliver Dickinson recently retired as Reader Emeritus from the Depart-
ment of Classics and Ancient History, University of Durham, where he
taught from 1976–2005. He is a specialist in Greek prehistory.

THE AEGEAN FROM
BRONZE AGE TO
IRON AGE
Continuity and change between the
twelfth and eighth centuries bc
Oliver Dickinson
First published 2006
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2006 Oliver Dickinson
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN10: 0–415–13589–3 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–13390–7 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–96836–0 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–13589–4 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–13590–0 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–9683–9 (ebk)
Dedicated to the memory of Dorothea Gray and Vincent Desborough, my
mentors in Homeric and Early Iron Age archaeology; Mervyn Popham, who
encouraged me to study the Protogeometric material from Lefkandi; Bill
McDonald, who offered me the opportunity to participate in the excavations
at Nichoria; and Willy Coulson and Cindy Martin, valued colleagues at
Nichoria.

CONTENTS
List of illustrations viii
Preface x
Acknowledgements xii
List of abbreviations xiv
Note on usage and nomenclature xvi
Introduction 1
1 Terminology and chronology 10
2 The collapse of the Bronze Age civilisation 24
3 The Postpalatial period 58
4 The structure and economy of communities 79
5 Crafts 114
6 Burial customs 174
7 Trade, exchange and foreign contacts 196
8 Religion 219
9 Conclusions 238
Glossary 259
Bibliography 261
Index 285
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
1.1 Terminological system, with relative and absolute
chronological phases 23
2.1 Significant Third Palace Period sites in the mainland and
nearest islands 26
2.2 Linear B tablet An 657, first of the o-ka series, from the
palace at Pylos 27
2.3 Plan of Dhimini palace 28
2.4 The international setting of the Aegean in the Third Palace
Period 31
2.5 Ivory inlay from the House of Sphinxes, Mycenae 32
3.1 Important Postpalatial sites and regions 59
3.2 Bronze vessel from Pylos 68
3.3 The Warrior Vase from the House of the Warrior Vase,
Mycenae 71
4.1 Distribution map of sites outside the southern mainland,
c. 1050–800 85
4.1a Distribution map of sites on the southern mainland,
c. 1050–800 86
4.2 Plan of EIA Athens 89
4.3 LM IIIC sites in Crete 91
4.4 Plan of Kavousi area settlement clusters 92
4.5 LH IIIC structures: (1) Lefkandi Phases 1 and 2, (2) Tiryns
House W 105
4.6 Plan of Karphi 106
4.7 Plan and reconstruction of the Lefkandi ‘Heroön’ 108
4.8 Plan and reconstruction of Nichoria Unit IV-1 109
5.1 Moulds for bronze tripod legs from Lefkandi 117
5.2 Gold earrings from Areopagus, Athens 119
5.3 Elaborate LH IIIC stirrup jars 123
5.4 LM IIIC Fringed Style pyxis from Kritsa 123
5.5 Typical LH IIIC vases 125
viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
5.6 Submycenaean and contemporary vases 126
5.7 North Aegean amphora decorated with compass-drawn
circles 130
5.8 Typical Attic LPG vases 133
5.9 EPG belly-handled amphora from Kerameikos, Athens 134
5.10 Typical Euboean PG and SPG vases 135
5.11 MPG krater from the Lefkandi ‘Heroön’ 136
5.12 Plate (LPG or SPG I) from Lefkandi 137
5.13 Typical Attic EG-MG I vases 138
5.14 Typical MG II-LG vases 139
5.15 MG I belly-handled amphora from Kerameikos, Athens 140
5.16 LG Ia grave-marker amphora NM 804 from the Dipylon
cemetery, Athens 141
5.17 Examples of other PG and SPG styles 143
5.18 Distribution map of iron items from pre-1000 contexts in
the Aegean 148
5.19 Bronze vessel types 151
5.20 Bronze figurine types 154
5.21 Weapon types 156
5.22 Early jewellery 160
5.23 LPG gold necklace from Lefkandi 168
5.24 Later jewellery 169
6.1 Plan of Perati cemetery 179
6.2 Plan of an Elateia Type B chamber tomb 182
6.3 Plan of Lefkandi: Skoubris cemetery 184
6.4 PG pit and hole cremation in the Kerameikos cemetery,
Athens 187
6.5 Plan of burials in the Lefkandi ‘Heroön’ 188
6.6 Plan of Lefkandi: Toumba cemetery 192
7.1 Distribution map of special pottery types 208
7.2 Faience vessels from Lefkandi 210
7.3 Bronze bowl from Lefkandi 211
7.4 Distribution map of pre-800 Greek pottery outside
the Aegean 212
8.1 Postpalatial and EIA sites with significant ritual evidence 220
8.2 Some early shrine plans 226
8.3 A range of LM IIIC ritual items 227
8.4 Postpalatial and EIA clay figures and figurines 229
8.5 The Lefkandi centaur 230
Tables
4.1 Faunal remains from Cretan Postpalatial–EIA sites 81
4.2 Estimated populations of Cretan Postpalatial–EIA sites 100
ix