Social Change in Aegean Prehistory

This volume brings together papers that discuss social change. The main focus is on the Early Helladic III to Late Helladic I period in southern Greece, but also touches upon the surrounding islands. This specific timeframe enables us to consider how mainland societies recovered from a ‘crisis’ and how they eventually developed into the differentiated, culturally receptive and competitive social formations of the early Mycenaean period. Material changes are highlighted in the various papers, ranging from pottery and burials to domestic architecture and settlement structures, followed by discussions of how these changes relate to social change. A variety of factors is thereby considered including demographic changes, reciprocal relations and sumptuary behavior, household organization and kin structure, age and gender divisions, internal tensions, connectivity and mobility. As such, this volume is of interest to both Aegean prehistorians as to scholars interested in social and material change. The volume consists of eight papers, preceded by an introduction and concluded by a response. The introduction gives an overview of the development of the debate on the explanation of social change in Aegean prehistory. The response places the volume in a broader context of the EH III-LH I period and the broader discussion on social change.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction by C.W. Wiersma and S. Voutsaki
2. W. Gauss & M. Lindblom, Premycenaean pottery shapes of the Central Aegean: A new resource in development
3. J.B. Rutter, An alternative approach to MH chronology
4. E. Weiberg, Early Helladic III: a non-monumental but revitalized social arena?
5. D.J. Pullen, Feasting, hospitality, and exchange relationships: exploring the dynamics of Bronze Age social structures through reciprocity
6. C.W. Wiersma, Building the Bronze Age. Architectural and social change on the Greek mainland from EH III to LH I
7. S. Voutsaki, A society in flux: Social change in the MH Argolid
8. E. Gorogianni, Social complexity in MBA and LBA Cyclades: A view from Ayia Irini
9. B. Legarra Herrero, Tradition and transformation in the burial record of Pre- and Protopalatial Crete
10. J. Bintliff, Long-term developments in southern mainland settlement systems from EH to LH as seen through the lens of regional survey
11. T. Whitelaw, Urbanism in the prehistoric southern Aegean: a comparative perspective on scale, complexity and integration

Response by J.F. Cherry