The Northern Mycenaean Border in Thessaly 9780860542261, 9781407332598

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Copyright
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Theoretical Considerations
Chapter 2: Sources of Data
Chapter 3: Mycenaean Thessaly
Chapter 4: External Relations
Chapter 5: The Border Region: Northern Thessaly
Chapter 6: The Border Zone: Analysis and Interpretation of Data
Chapter 7: Borders and Frontiers in Thessaly: A Synthesis
Chapter 8: Summary and Conclusions
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
References Cited

Citation preview

The Northern Mycenaean Border in Thessaly

Bryan Feuer

BAR International Series 176 . 1983

B.A.R.

122 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7BP, England

GENERAL EDITORS A .R. Hands, B.Sc., M.A., D .Phil. D .R • Walker. M.A.

B.A.R. -s176,198J!The Northern Mycenaean Border in Thessaly'

©

Bryan Feuer,1983

The author’s moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. ISBN 9780860542261 paperback ISBN 9781407332598 e-book DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9780860542261 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This book is available at www.barpublishing.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS L ist o f F igures L ist o f Tables Acknow ledgements I ntroduct ion

i v v i v i 1

Chapter 1 :

Theoret ica l C ons iderat ions

3

Chapter 2 :

S ources o f D ata

2 2

Chapter 3 :

Mycenaean Thessa ly

3 2

Chapter 4 :

Externa l Re lat ions

5 7

Chapter 5 :

The Border Reg ion - Northern Thessa ly

9 1

Chapter 6 : The Border Z one - Ana lys is a nd I nterpretat ion o f Data

1 43

Chapter 7 :

Borders a nd F ront iers i n Thessa ly - A Synthes is

1 78

Chapter 8 :

Summary a nd Conc lus ions

2 02

Append ix 1 Append ix 2

2 08 2 12

References

2 16

L IST OF F IGURES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 7 1 8 1 9 2 0 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 5 2 6 2 7 2 8 2 9 3 0 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 3 5 3 6 3 7 3 8 3 9 4 0 4 1 4 2 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 6 4 7 4 8 4 9 5 0

Mycenaean S ites i n Thessa ly I n it ia l Border Z one Survey Target Area Survey Target Area i n Northern Thessa ly S ites o f Surface Co l lect ion i n Northern Thessa ly The Ba lkan P en insula Thessa ly a nd Ne ighbor ing Regions D istr ibut ion o f LH I IA-B S ites i n Thessa ly S ite S ize/Frequency i n M essen ia a nd Thessa ly S ize D istr ibut ion o f L ate Bronze Age S ites i n E ast Thessa ly D istr ibut ion o f LH I -IIA P ottery i n Thessa ly D istr ibut ion o f LH IB/IIIA1 Pottery i n Thessa ly Rhod ia: Sherds w ith L inear D es ign Bounarbas i: Sherds w ith Patterned D es ign S ouph l i : R ounded A labastron w ith Rock Pattern M ot if D omen ikon: S tra ight-s ided A labastron w ith Vert ica l Bar Mot if D istr ibut ion o f Mycenaean F igur ines i n Thessa ly Mycenaean F igur ines f rom Thessa ly D istr ibut ion o f Bur ia l Types i n L ate Bronze Age Thessa ly D istr ibut ion o f Mycenaean Ornaments i n Thessa ly LH I IA-B S ite Groupings i n Thessa ly Geograph ica l Subreg ions i n L ate Bronze Age Thessa ly V iew f rom K tour i t o West Ay ios I l ias: Area o f Mycenaean S ett lement V iewed f rom Summ it o f H il l Ay ios I l ias: Mycenaean Sherds Marmar ian i: V iew o f S ite f rom S outh Marmar ian i: Tho los Tomb Marmar ian i: Base Sherds Marmar ian i: Mycenaean P ottery Marmar ian i: Hand le Sherds V iew o f Bounarbas i f rom S outh Bounarbas i: Vesse ls f rom C ist Grave Bounarbas i: Gob lets Bounarbas i: Mycenaean P ottery Bounarbas i: Hand le Sherds Bounarbas i: Sherds w ith Patterned Decorat ion Bounarbas i: Sherds w ith Sp ira l M ot if Sp i l ia: A labastra f rom Tho los Tomb Sp ina: Bronze Kn ife a nd Need le f rom Tho los Tomb V iew o f Gonno i f rom Northwest Gonno i: V iew Northeast t oward t he Va le o f Tempe Gonno i: Hand le Sherds Gonno i: Sherds w ith L inear a nd P atterned D ecorat ion Argyropou l i: V iew o f L ower H il l a nd Chape l o f Ay ia Paraskev i f rom H i l l o f Kastr i Argyropou l i: E roded Mycenaean S tratum V iew o f Rhod ia M agoula f rom Northwest V iew S outh f rom Rhod ia M agou la Rhod ia: Mycenaean P ottery Rhod ia: Mycenaean P ottery Rhod ia: Mycenaean P ottery Rhod ia: Base Sherds

2 3 2 6 2 7 3 0 3 3 3 5 4 0 4 2 4 3 5 0 5 2 6 7 6 7 6 8 6 8 6 9 7 1 7 8 8 3 9 3 9 4 9 7 9 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 1 00 1 01 1 00 1 05 1 05 1 05 1 06 1 07 1 07 1 08 1 08 1 10 1 10 1 10 1 11 1 11 1 14 1 14 1 14 1 14 1 15 1 16 1 17 1 18

5 1 5 2 5 3 5 4 5 5 5 6 5 7 5 8 5 9 6 0 6 1 6 2 6 3 6 4 6 5 6 6 6 7 6 8 6 9 7 0 7 1 7 2 7 3 7 4 7 5 7 6 7 7 7 8 7 9 8 0 8 1 8 2 8 3 8 4 8 5 8 6 8 7 8 8 8 9 9 0 9 1 9 2 9 3 9 4 9 5 9 6 9 7 9 8

Rhod ia : R im Sherds Rhod ia: H and le Sherds Rhod ia: Sherds w ith P atterned D ecora t ion Rhod ia : Exposed C ist Grave M agou la Vryotopo : Mycenaean S herds V iew o f Tatar M agou la f rom Northwest T atar M agou la: M idd le B ronze Age S herds Tatar M agou la: Mycenaean Sherds S ouphl i M agou la : R ounded A labastron f rom Chamber Tomb S ouph l i M agou la: S tra ight-s ided A labastron f rom Chamber Tomb K outsochero: V iew f rom S outhwest Vrast ira M agou la : E ar ly a nd M idd le B ronze Age Sherds Vrast ira M agou la: Mycenaean S herds Tr ika la: Mycenaean P ottery T r ika la: Mycenaean Sherds Exa lophos: Mycenaean Gob lets f rom Grave A Exa lophos: Bronze Art ifacts f rom Grave A Exa lophos: Vesse ls f rom Grave B Agr i l ia: J ug f rom Grave A Agr i l ia: J ug f rom Grave B Agr i l ia: V esse ls f rom C ist Graves Agr i l ia: Three-hand led J ar f rom Grave D Agr il ia : Bronze Art ifacts f rom Grave D Agr i l ia : B ronze Spearpo int f rom Grave F Agr il ia: S tra ight-s ided A labastron f rom Grave H Agr i l ia : J ewe lry f rom Grave H Agr i l ia: H and le less J ar Agr i l ia: M eta l l ic Art ifacts w ithout Spec if ic P roven ience Agr i l ia: I m itat ion Mycenaean P ottery D omen ikon: S tra ight-s ided A labastron V iew o f Europos Va l ley f rom J ust N orth o f M esochor i Northwestern P ort ion o f Va l ley o f E lasson S ites f rom Wh ich D ata W ere Obta ined f or Ana lys is C luster Ana lys is o f Var iab les, S ing le L inkage C luster Ana lys is o f Var iables, Average L inkage C luster Ana lys is o f Cases, Unstandard ized Data C luster Ana lys is o f Cases, S tandard ized Data K-means C luster Ana lys is Mu lt id imens iona l S ca l ing o f S im i lar ity Matr ix Mu lt id imens iona l S ca l ing o f D istance M atr ix Mu lt id imens iona l S ca l ing o f I nteract ion M atr ix D ifferent ia l D istr ibut ion o f Mycenaean P o ttery Types 1 a nd 2 P robab le a nd P oss ib le P o ttery Workshops a nd C eram ic Networks i n L ate Bronze Age Thessa ly P oss ib le Border/Front ier B oundar ies i n L ate Bronze Age Thessa ly D istr ibut ion o f J ewe lry Types i n L ate Bronze Age Thessa ly D istr ibut ion o f Bur ia l Types i n L ate Bronze Age Thessa ly Hypothet ica l H igherleve l M odu les i n L ate Bronze Age Thessa ly The Northern Mycenaean B oundary

1 18 1 19 1 19 1 20 1 20 1 20 1 22 1 22 1 23 1 23 1 26 1 26 1 26 1 28 1 30 1 30 1 30 1 33 1 33 1 33 1 34 1 35 1 35 1 37 1 37 1 37 1 39 1 39 1 39 1 41 1 41 1 41 1 44 1 56 1 57 1 58 1 59 1 60 1 61 1 66 1 68 1 74 1 76 1 80 1 82 1 83 1 84 1 99

L IST OF TABLES

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4

Mycenaean Vesse l F orms a nd Types i n Thessa ly F requency o f Mycenaean Vesse l Types i n Bur ia ls i n Thessa ly F requency o f Mycenaean D ecorat ive M ot ifs a t Mycenae a nd i n Thessa ly D istr ibut ion o f Mycenaean F igur ine Types i n Thessa ly D istr ibut ion o f Mycenaean Ornamenta l Art ifact Types i n Thessa ly S ources o f Sherds U sed i n Ana lys is S im ilar ity M atr ix f or Var iable T emper Type S im i lar ity Matr ix f or Var iable C lay Co lor S im i lar ity Matr ix f or Var iable P a int Co lor S im ilar ity Matr ix f or Var iable Wa l l Th ickness Overa l l C eram ic S im i lar ity Matr ix F actor Ana lys is o f S im i lar ity Matr ix Coeff ic ients o f C eram ic Homogene ity R e lat ive F requency o f Mycenaean C eram ic Types

6 1 6 3 6 4 7 0 8 2 1 45 1 50 1 51 1 52 1 53 1 54 1 62 1 71 1 73

ACKNOWLEDG MENTS I wou ld l i ke f i rst t o a cknow ledge t he g uidance a nd a dv ice g iven t o me by P rofessors M ar i ja G imbutas, J ames H il l , E l izabeth Carter, Hara Georg iou a nd Bernard F r ischer, Sue Sherratt , P au l H a lstead , Dr K enneth Ward le a nd P rof Co l in R enfrew. I am p art icu lar ly g ratefu l t o D r E l izabeth F rench f or k ind ly a l low ing m e t o u se mater ia l c o l lected by h er i n Thessa ly, a nd f or s har ing h er know ledge o f Mycenaean Thessa ly. I am d eep ly i ndebted t o Ephors Dr George Hourmouziad is a nd Dr Konstant ine Ga ins f or t he ir unfa i l ing c ourtesy, c ooperat ion a nd a ss istance; t he ir h e lp i n o bta in ing p erm iss ion f rom t he Greek M in istry o f S c ience a nd Cu lture, t he ir p rov id ing o f f ac il i t ies a t t he Vo los a nd L ar isa Museums, a nd t he a id o f t he ir s taffs - part icular ly Evanghe los a nd O lga Kakavoy iann is a t t he Vo los Museum - made my r esearch i n Thessa ly p oss ib le. I am a lso i ndebted t o Dr H ourmouziad is f or p erm iss ion t o u se unpubl ished mater ia l i n t he Vo los Museum. Here, t oo, I t hank t he M anaging Comm ittee o f t he Br it ish S choo l o f Archaeo logy a t A thens f or a l low ing me t o e xam ine mater ia l i n t he ir s herd c o l lect ion. I am h appy t o a cknow ledge i n a dd it ion t he Amer ican S choo l o f C lass ica l S tud ies a t A thens, where I was a n a ssoc iate member i n 1 979-1980. I w ish t o t hank t he University o f Ca l iforn ia , L os Ange les f or p rov id ing f und ing t hrough a Chance l lor 's P atent Fund Grant a nd Un ivers ity Grant , a nd t he UCLA F r iends o f Archaeo logy f or g iv ing me a R esearch F el lowsh ip. To P rof Bruno Hel ly a nd J ean-C laude D ecourt, I owe g reat a pprec iat ion f or i nv it ing m e t o j o in t he ir s urvey o f western Thessa ly under t he a usp ices o f M a ison d e l ' Or ient , f or t he ir h osp ital i ty, a nd f or i ntroduc ing me t o Thessa ly. I am a lso g ratefu l t o J oan Carothers f or h er e ncouragement a nd a dv ice c oncern ing matters s tat ist ica l. My t hanks t o M argaret F urtkamp, who t yped s evera l v ers ions o f t he manuscr ipt , a nd t o S teve Rh inehart , who d id many o f t he i l lustrat ions. F ina l ly, f or t oo many t h ings t o l i st a bove a nd b eyond t he c a l l o f marr iage, I t hank my w ife, L o is.

I NTRODUCTION Beg inn ing w ith S ch l iemann 's i n it ia l e xcavat ions a t Mycenae a nd T iryns a nd c ont inu ing unt i l t he p resent d ay, by f ar t he g reatest p roport ion o f r esearch c oncern ing Mycenaean c iv i l izat ion h as b een f ocused upon t he h eart land o f t hat c iv i l iza t ion i n c entra l a nd s outhern Greece. Wh i le t he p rov inces o f n orthern Greece h ave by n o means b een n eg lected , t hey c erta in ly h ave n ot r ece ived e qu iva lent a ttent ion. The r easons f or t h is i mba lance a re n ot a t a l l d iff icu lt t o d iscern: t he o r igins a nd most i mpress ive r ema ins o f Mycenaean c iv i l izat ion were r ight ly s ought i n t he s outh, where i t a tta ined i ts h ighest d eve lopment. Bronze Age Thessa ly i n p art icu lar h as b een s omewha t s l ighted b ecause o f t he r eg ion 's i mportance d ur ing t he N eo l ith ic p er iod , when i t -a nd n ot t he s outh - was t he c enter o f c u ltura l a ct iv ity; r esearch i n Thessa ly h as t hus n atura l ly b een more c ons istent ly d irected t o t he e ar l ier p er iod. As r ecent ly a s a f ew y ears a go , i t c ou ld s t i l l b e s a id t hat " in a l l , o ur know ledge o f Thessa ly a t a ny s tage o f t he B ronze Age o r Dark Age must s t i l l b e c ons idered most unsat isfactory" ( Hope S impson a nd D ick inson 1 979: 2 73). S ince Thessa ly was o ne o f t he l argest a nd most p opu lous r eg ions i n Greece d ur ing t he L ate Bronze Age, i t t herefore s eemed t o me t hat a s urvey a nd a na lys is o f t he e x ist ing a rchaeo log ica l mater ia l , i n a dd it ion t o my own r esearch, wou ld c ontr ibute t o a b etter understand ing o f t h is a rea. The f i rst a im o f t h is s tudy i s t hus t o p resent a n a ccount ing o f what i s n ow known a bout Mycenaean Thessa ly. To t h is e nd, I h ave s ummar ized t he e x ist ing a rchaeo log ica l d ata , i nc lud ing d eta i led i nformat ion f rom s ites i n n orthern Thessa ly, where I c arr ied o ut a p rogram i nvo lv ing s urvey a nd s urface c o l lect ion. U s ing e nv ironmenta l a nd s ett lement d ata I d ivide Thessa ly i nto a number o f s ubreg ions i n o rder t o d iscuss a nd e xp la in v ar iat ion w ith in t he r eg ion a nd a s a means o f e xam in ing p o l it ica l a nd e conom ic o rgan izat ion. Add it iona l i nformat ion c oncern ing t hese t opics d er ives f rom t he a na lys is o f p ottery o bta ined by s urface c o l lect ion. The a rchaeo logy o f a ny r egion c onta ins mater ia l o f i ntr ins ic i nterest a nd h istor ic v a lue. By v irtue o f i ts g eography, h owever, Thessa ly a lso i nv ites c ons iderat ion i n s evera l w ider c ontexts. Thessa ly i s t he n orthernmost p rov ince i n Greece s t i l l l arge ly w ith in t he ambit o f Mycenaean c iv i l izat ion, a nd my s econd ma jor a im i s t o e xam ine i ts r e lat ionsh ip t o o ther r eg ions w ith in t ha t c u ltura l s ystem, e spec ia l ly t he c ore a rea. I s, f or e xample, t he mater ia l c u l ture o f Thessa ly e ssent ia l ly s im i lar t o t hat o f o ther r eg ions, o r d id i ts p er iphera l l ocat ion i nf luence t he n ature a nd d eve lopment o f Mycenaean c u l ture , r esu lt ing i n d ifferences n ot a ttr ibutable t o mere r eg iona l v ar ia t ion? How "Mycenaean", i n f act , was Thessa ly? The p erspect ive a dopted h ere i s o f Thessa ly a s a z one o f t rans it ion b etween t he Mycenaean a nd n on-Mycenaean c u ltura l s pheres. I t i s i ndeed my c ontent ion t ha t t he c learest e v idence o f t h is t rans it ion i s t o b e f ound i n Thessa ly, a nd t hat i t s c l imate a nd t opography a ccount i n g reat p art f or d ifferent ia l , a ccu l turat ion b etween t he c oasta l a rea a nd t he i nter ior p la ins. M oreover , Ih ave

1

a ttempted t o d eterm ine t he e xtent t o wh ich M ycenaean c iv il iza t ion p enetrated Thessa ly a nd t o d e l im it t he l im its o f i t s e xpans ion, i .e. t o l ocate w ith a s much a ccuracy a s p oss ible o ne s egment o f i t s n orthern b oundary. A r e lated c oncern i s t he n ature a nd e xtent o f c ontact b etween Mycenaean a nd n on-Mycenaean c u l tures. O uts ide Thessa ly . , s uch c ontact s eems t o h ave b een l im ited, a s c ompar ison o f Thessa ly w ith t he n e ighbor ing r eg ions o f M acedon ia a nd Ep iros i nd ica tes. I s uggest , h owever, t hat t here e x isted i n t he i nter ior o f Thessa ly a n i nd igenous p opu lat ion, wh ich m ay h ave a dopted c erta in a spects o f Mycenaean c u lture. D ea l ing w ith t he i nteract ion o f c u l tures i n a p er iphera l r eg ion a lso r a ises t he quest ion o f c u l tura l o r e thn ic i dent ity, e .g. wh ich o r h ow many e lements o f m ater ia l c u lture must a n a rchaeo log ica l a ssemblage c onta in t o b e t ermed "Mycenaean"? A lthough t hese i ssues p erta in s pec if ica l ly t o L ate B ronze Age Thessa ly, b order r eg ions h ard ly c onst itute a un ique phenomenon. I t wou ld s eem, r ather , t ha t s uch a reas wou ld h ave c erta in c ommon c haracter ist ics. A t h ird ma jor a im i s t herefore t o p rov ide a t heoret ica l f ramework f or t he s tudy o f p er iphera l r eg ions i n a n a rchaeo log ica l c ontext, u s ing Thessa ly a s ac ase i n p o int. I n o rder t o d o s o , I h ave d rawn upon work d one i n a n umber o f d isc ipl ines, i nc lud ing a nthropo logy, g eography a nd h istory. H ere I d iscuss t he n ature o f b orders, b oundar ies a nd f ront iers, emphas izing v ar ious p rocesses a nd k inds o f i nteract ions w ith in a nd b etween c u l tura l s ystems. I h ave a lso a ttempted t o a ddress prob lems i nvo lved i n i dent ify ing a nd c haracter iz ing s uch phenomena a s t hey o ccur i n t he a rchaeo log ica l r ecord. My a pproach i n t h is work h as b een t o b eg in w ith t hese t heoret ica l c ons iderat ions a s a m eans o f o bta in ing t he b roadest poss ib le i n it ia l p erspect ive. I t hen d iscuss t he s ources o f d ata, i nc lud ing t he r esearch d es ign, s amp l ing s trategy a nd m ethods o f d ata c o llect ion emp loyed i n my p rogram o f s urvey a nd s urface c o l lect ion. These d ata a re t hen p resented i n s evera l c hapters, f i rst t o g ive a p icture o f Thessa ly a s a r eg ion d ur ing t he L ate B ronze Age , n ext by way o f c ompar ison w ith t he c ore M ycenaean a rea a nd t he n e ighbor ing r eg ions o f M acedon ia a nd E p iros, a nd t hen t o c ons ider i ntra-reg iona l r e lat ionsh ips. F ina l ly, I r econs ider t he d ata i n l i ght o f t he i n it ia l t heoret ica l c oncerns i n o rder t o a ssess t he ir v a l id ity a nd t o c haracter ize Thessa ly a s ab order r eg ion.

2

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS I n t he b roadest s ense, t h is s tudy i s c oncerned w ith t he v ar iabi l ity o f h uman b ehav ior a s r ef lected i n t he s pa t ia l d istr ibut ion o f mater ia l c u l ture, a nd more p art icu lar ly a s i t i s e xpressed i n t erms o f s oc ia l a nd p o l it ica l o rgan iza t ion. 1 s ha l l t herefore d raw u pon t he f i e lds v ar ious ly known a s s ett lement a rchaeo logy, s pat ia l a rchaeo logy a nd r egiona l a na lys is t o p rov ide a n a ppropr ia te t heoret ica l f ramework. I am h ere c oncerned p art icu lar ly w ith v ar iab il ity b etween a nd among r eg iona l a nd s ubreg iona l g roup ings. M ore s pec if ica l ly, t he d iscuss ion w il l f ocus upon a reas c haracter ized a s b order r eg ions, f or I wou ld a ssert t ha t s uch r eg ions c an p rov ide a most u sefu l c ontext f or s tudy ing c u l tura l v ar iat ion. C larke h as n oted t ha t " a l though e very a rchaeo log ica l s tudy, p ast a nd p resent, h as s ome s pat ia l c omponent , n everthe less t he a rchaeo log ica l d iscovery a nd c onquest o f s pace h as o n ly r ecent ly b egun o n a s er ious s ca le" ( 1977: 5 ). E ar l ier e fforts wh ich l a id t he g roundwork f or t h is p resent s urge o f i nterest i nc lude s tud ies d one by a nthropo-geographers, c u l tura l-h istor ica l a nthropo log ists, a nd g eograph ica l ly-or iented a rchaeo log ists emphas iz ing t he r e lat ionsh ip o f a rchaeo log ica l s i tes t o t he ir phys ica l e nv ironment a nd t he mapp ing o f a rt ifact d istr ibut ions ( Ib id.: 2 -3). R ecent ly, s tud ies o f a rchaeo log ica l s pat ia l p attern ing h ave p ro l iferated a s t he r esu l t o f s t imu lus f rom i n it ia l r esearch i n a n umber o f a reas: e co log ica l lyo r iented a na lyses o f r eg iona l s ett lement p atterns ( Wiley 1 953, 1 956; Gumerman 1 971; H o le e t ah 1 969); p atterns o f p reh istor ic s oc ia l i nteract ion ( H i l l 1 970; L ongacre 1 968); a nd t he s patia l p attern ing o f a rt ifacts ( C larke 1 978; H odder 1 978a; H odder a nd O rton 1 976). The t erms s pat ia l a rchaeo logy, s ett lement a rchaeo logy a nd r eg iona l a na lys is m ay a l l b e s ubsumed u nder t he g enera l r ubr ic o f t he s pat ia l o rgan iza t ion o f c u l ture. Spat ia l a rchaeo logy, a s d ef ined by C larke ( 1977: 9 ), i s c lear ly m eant t o b e a n a l linc lus ive t erm: The r etr ieva l o f i nformat ion f rom a rchaeo log ica l s pa t ia l r e lat ionsh ips a nd t he s tudy o f t he s pat ia l c onsequences o f f ormer h om in id a ct iv ity p atterns w ith in a nd b etween f eatures a nd s tructures a nd t he ir a rt icu lat ion w ith in s ites, s ite s ystems a nd t he ir e nv ironments... S ett lement a rchaeo logy, t hen, may b e c ons idered a n a spect o f s pat ia l a rchaeo logy d ea l ing w ith t he r e lat ionsh ip o f s ites t o e ach o ther a nd t o t he ir n atura l e nv ironment; c erta in a spects o f r eg iona l a na lys is a lso o ver lap w ith t hose o f s pat ia l a rchaeo logy. The r e lat ionsh ip o f s ites may b e a na lyzed i n t erms o f a s ett lement s ystem, i n wh ich a n i nd iv idua l s ite c onst itutes o ne o f many i nterre lated e lements. G iven s uch a s ystem o f c ontemporaneous s i tes, we may i nqu ire h ow t hey a re d istr ibuted w ith in a r eg ion, i .e., whether t hey a re r andom ly d istr ibuted , c lustered , o r s paced i n a r egu lar f ash ion ( Hodder a nd O rton 1 976; Haggett 1 965). Var iab les wh ich h ave b een p resumed t o p lay a r o le i n d eterm in ing t hese p atterns i nc lude s o i l t ype , a ccess t o water ,

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r esource a va i lab il ity, e ase o f c ommun icat ion a nd d efens ibil i ty ( B int l iff 1 977: 9 -13; C larke 1 977: 1 3-14; J ohnson 1 977: 4 89-490). S evera l e conom ic a nd g eograph ic s ubtheor ies h ave a lso b een a ppl ied o r mod if ied i n o rder t o e xpla in s ite l ocat ion u s ing pr inc iples s uch a s m in im izat ion o f e ffort a nd max im izat ion o f r esources; wh ile t he a ppl icabil i ty o f s ome o f t he ir under ly ing a ssumpt ions t o p reindustr ia l c ontexts h as b een q ues t ioned , t hey d o a t l east a l low h ypotheses c oncern ing s ite l ocat ion t o b e f ormulated a nd t ested ( C larke 1 977: 2 1-24). I n a dd it ion t o t h is " hor izonta l" d imens ion o f s i te l ocat ion a nd pattern ing, t here i s a s we l l a " vert ica l" d imens ion, c oncern ing patterns o f i nteract ion b etween s i tes. D epend ing upon t he s oc ia l a nd p o l it ica l o rgan izat ion o f a c u ltura l s ystem, t here may b e a h ierarchy o f s ites, w ith e ach l eve l r epresent ing w ider s pheres o f i ntegrat ion; t he more c omplex t he s ystem, t he more l eve ls t here w il l b e. E ach o f t hese l eve ls may b e v iewed s ystem ica l ly, i n t he s ense t hat t he f orma l p o l it ica l o rgan izat ion o f t he Un ited S tates c ompr ises c ity, c ounty, s tate a nd n at iona l g overnments, e ach l eve l f unct ion ing a s a s ubsystem o f l arger p o l it ica l e nt it ies. The most w idely u sed a nd t ested mode ls t o e xpla in s ite h ierarchy a nd i ntegrat ion, p art icu lar ly i n more c omplex s oc iet ies, p resent ly d er ive f rom Centra l P lace Theory, wh ich p ostu lates c erta in r elat ionsh ips between c entra l p laces a nd t he ir s ate l l ites ( Cr istal ler 1 966; Crum ley 1 976). S evera l c oro l lary a ssumpt ions based upon t h is mode l h ave b een proposed, s uch a s a p os it ive c orre lat ion between t he r ank o f a s i te i n t he h ierarchy a nd i t s s ize, a n egat ive c orre lat ion b etween s ite s ize ( and t herefore r ank) a nd s ite f requency, a nd i dent if icat ion o f t he number o f l eve ls i n a s ite h ierarchy by g raph ing s ite s ize a ga inst s ite f requency ( Crum ley 1 976: 6 2-66; Hodder a nd Orton 1 976: 6 9-73; J ohnson 1 972). Renfrew h as o ut l ined a s im i lar s tructura l a na lys is o f s ocia l o rgan izat ion, o ffer ing t he f o l low ing g enera l iza tions: ( 1) t he b as ic s oc ia l g roup i s d ef ined by t he h abitua l a ssociat ion o f p ersons w ith in a t err itory; ( 2) human s oc ia l o rgan izat ion i s s egmentary i n n ature a nd human s pat ia l o rgan ization i s t herefore c el lu lar a nd modu lar; ( 3) bas ic s oc ia l g roups d o n ot e x ist i n i so lat ion, but a ff i l iate i nto l arger g roups, meet ing t ogether a t p er iod ic i nterva ls; ( 4) human s oc iety i s o f ten h ierarch ia l i n n ature, a nd human s patia l o rgan izat ion i s t herefore s trat if ied; ( 5) t he e ffect ive p o l ity, t he h ighest o rder s oc ia l un it , may b e i dent if ied by t he s ca le a nd d istr ibut ion o f c entra l p laces; ( 6) s pec ia l i nteract ions b etween pol it ies undoubted ly t ake p lace, c reat ing un iform it ies i n a rt ifact d istr ibut ion, but s uch un iform it ies i n t hemse lves d o n ot d ocument s oc iet ies o r " peoples" ( 1978: 1 02-106). Many u seful i nferences a bout t he s tructure a nd f unct ion ing o f preh istor ic c u ltura l s ystems c an a lso b e d er ived f rom t he s pat ia l d istr ibut ion o f a rt ifacts o r a rt ifact c lasses. S tud ies e xam in ing t he r e lat ionsh ip between t he d ens ity o r f requency o f a n a rt ifact a nd t he r ange o f i ts d istr ibut ion h ave s hown t hat f requency t ends t o d ecrease i n a r egu lar g rad ient b eyond t he a rea o f i t s o r igin o r p lace o f manufacture a nd g reatest u se; v ar iables a ffect ing t he s lope o f t h is g rad ient i nc lude t he v a lue a nd f unct ion o f t he a rt ifact, mode o f t ransm iss ion, a nd e ase o f c ommun ica t ion ( C larke

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1 978: 4 26-435; H odder a nd O rton 1 976: 9 8-134). O ther s tud ies d ea l ing w ith s oc ia l a nd e conom ic i mp l icat ions h ave i nd icated t hat t he s im i lar ity o f a rchaeo log ica l a ssemblages i s l arge ly a f unct ion o f d istance, a nd t hat t he a ssemblages f rom s i tes c loser t ogether w i l l t herefore s hare a g reater p ercentage o f a rt ifact t ypes t han t hose a t a g reater d istance. S im i lar ity i s a ssumed t o v ary w ith t he i ntens ity o f i nteract ion b etween s i tes; t he c loser t he s i tes, t he g reater t he s im i lar ity ( Hodder 1 977a: 3 11-320; 1 978b: 9 3-104). Hodder, h owever, h as i ssued a n ecessary c aveat c oncern ing a ny s imple c orre lat ion b etween m ater ia l a nd n on-mater ia l c u l ture: F or b oth w ith in-s ite a nd b etween-s ite p atterns i t s eems t hat a rchaeo log ists a re n ot i n t he p os it ion o f b e ing a ble t o make s tra ightforward i nterpretat ions o f g roup ings o f s tyles a nd a rtefacts w ith in t he ir d ata. Whether o ne i s c ons ider ing t he i nterpretat ion o f a rchaeo log ica l c u l tures a s e thn ic g roups, o r t he r es idence a nd d escent p atterns w ith in a s i te, i t i s a pparent t hat a o ne-to-one r e lat ionsh ip b etween s ty le a nd a rtefact c lusters a nd un its i n o ther a spects o f c u l ture c anno t b e a ssumed. A lthough s imp le c orre lat ions a re e v idenced t h is i s n o t a lways t he c ase ( 1978c: 2 4). Thus , a lthough t he p roposed r e lat ionsh ip b etween d istance a nd a ssemblage s im i lar ity may b e v a l id o n a b road o r g enera l s ca le ( i .e., a t t he l eve l o f t he a rchaeo log ica l c u lture), s ome d eta i led a na lyses o f s ty l ist ic a ttr ibutes s uggest , i f n ot a n a l ternate mode l , a t l east a c ross-cutt ing o r s uper imposed p attern o f r eg iona l v ar iat ion ( Hodder 1 977b: 3 2-34; S hennan 1 978); d epend ing u pon t he d egree o f v ar iat ion, t he e x istence o f r egiona l s ubcu l tures m ay b e i nd icated ( cf . C larke 1 978: 2 52). There i s a lso s ome e v idence t o s uggest t ha t a rt ifact g roupings a nd a ssoc iat ions f orm a s pa t ia l h ierarchy s im i lar t o t hat o f s ites; s ome n on-ut i l itar ian a rt ifact t ypes, s uch a s o rnaments, f or i nstance, s eem t o h ave a sma l ler a nd more l oca l ized d istr ibut ion t han u t i l itar ian o nes ( Hodder 1 977a : 3 04-305; c f. B inford 1 972a: 2 02-205). S ince t h is s tudy w i l l f ocus u pon t he s ubreg iona l , r eg iona l a nd s uprareg iona l l eve ls, s ome b r ief a ttent ion must b e p a id t o t he f i e ld o f r eg iona l a na lys is. As w ith s pat ia l a na lys is, most o f t he c oncepts d iscussed were d eve loped by g eographers (McDona ld 1 972: 1 2-19), f or t he i dea o f t he r eg ion i s c entra l t o t hat d isc ipl ine b oth a s a t heoret ica l c onstruct a nd a s a un it o f a na lys is. Archaeo log ists h ave a lso u t il ized t he r eg iona l c oncept a s a m eans o f d e l im it ing a reas, u sua l ly o n t he b as is o f phys iograph ic o r e co log ica l c r iter ia , t o a ccompl ish " the i so lat ion a nd d ef in it ion o f t he c ontent, t he s tructure, a nd t he r ange o f a c u ltura l s ystem, t ogether w ith i t s e co log ica l r e lat ionsh ips" ( Binford 1 972b: 1 37), most c ommon ly u s ing a r esearch d es ign p red icated u pon a rchaeo log ica l s urvey w ith a g iven s ampl ing s trategy. I n g enera l , a r eg ion may b e c haracter ized a s t he s tructur ing a nd d el im itat ion o f s pat ia l v ar iat ion a nd d istr ibut iona l i nequa l it ies (McDona ld 1 972: 3 -4). R eg ions may b e c haracter ized i n t erms o f t he ir d ef in ing c r iter ia; t he s implest k ind o f r eg ion t o d ef ine i s t he h omogeneous r eg ion b ased u pon a s ing le f eature o r c r iter ion, a nd

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s uch r eg ions may b e d ist inguished by means o f t he p resence o r a bsence o f v ar ious mutua l ly e xc lus ive f eatures a long a s ing le d imension. Homogeneous r egions may t hus b e c haracter ized by c u ltura l v ar iables s uch a s l anguage o r r e l igion o r by phys ica l o nes s uch a s t emperature o r r a infa l l. H eterogeneous r egions, o n t he o ther h and, a re d ef ined by s evera l c r iter ia, a nd a re a ccord ing ly o f ten more d if f icu lt t o d e l ineate, s ince t he s evera l d istr ibut ions may n ot e xact ly c o inc ide. Examples o f t h is l a tter t ype w ou ld b e n atura l r eg ions d ef ined i n t erms o f r a infa l l , a l t itude, t emperature, a nd v egetat ion, o r p o l it ies based upon c r iter ia s uch a s r ace, r el igion, a nd l anguage ( Ibid.: 2 0-29, 3 9-53). Reg ions may a lso b e c haracter ized a ccord ing t o s tructura l pr inc iples. F orma l r eg ions " represent a c lass if icat ion o f a reas a ccord ing t o a h omogene ity o f l ocat iona l a ttr ibutes", whereas f unct iona l r egions " resul t f rom a n o rgan ized p attern ing o r s tructure o f s pat ia l i nteract ion, u sua l ly i nvo lv ing a n o r ientat ion t o s ome c ommon c enter o r c enters wh ich a ffect i nteract ion t hroughout an a rea" ( So ja 1 971: 4 ; c f. Haggett 1 965: 2 42). S ince t hese methods o f c lassif icat ion a re n ot mutua l ly e xc lus ive, v ar ious k inds o f r eg ions c an t herefore b e c reated. Boundar ies, borders a nd f ront iers c ompr ise a s pec if ic s ubset o f t he more g enera l t op ics d iscussed a bove, o ne f ocus ing o n p er iphera l a nd marg ina l , r ather t han c entra l o r c ore, a reas. Such a reas a re g eneral ly c ons idered t o be p er iphera l i n t erms o f po l it ica l , cultura l a nd e conom ic r e lat ionsh ips a s we l l , a l though t h is g enera l izat ion h as r are ly b een t ested. Border a reas a lso s erve a s f oc i f or v ar ious p rocesses a nd i nteract ions a t a number o f l evels: ( 1) between t he c ore a rea o f a s oc iocu ltura l s ystem a nd i t s p er iphery, i nvo lv ing a spects o f p o l it ica l , c u ltura l , a nd e conom ic i ntegrat ion a nd r eg iona l v ar iat ion; ( 2) b etween t wo o r more s oc iocu ltura l s ystems, where i nterest i s d rawn t o t he n ature a nd k inds o f r e latonsh ips b etween t hem a nd t he ir e ffect , i f a ny, upon a n i nterven ing border a rea; ( 3) w ith in t he b order a rea i t se lf , part icu lar ly r egard ing s im i lar it ies a nd d ifferences b etween b order r eg ions wh ich may i nd icate a ny s tructura l un iform it ies a nd t he var iables wh ich a ccount f or t hem. Before p roceed ing f urther, h owever , i t i s n ecessary t o d ist ingu ish among t he t erms b oundary, f ront ier, a nd b order , s ince t hey h ave o f ten b een c onf lated o r u sed i nterchangeably by prev ious r esearchers (McDona ld 1 972: 6 ; P rescott 1 965: 3 3-34). The b asic d ist inct ion u sed by g eographers i s t hat b oundary r efers t o a l ine, wh i le f ront ier r efers t o a z one ( Prescott 1 965: 3 0; c f . Boggs 1 940: 2 2; L att imore 1 951: 2 38). A more e laborate d ef in it ion o f b oundary i s " the l ine o f d e l im itat ion o r d emarcat ion b etween adm in istrat ive un its o r b etween g eograph ica l r eg ions o f v ar ious t ypes, whether phys ica l o r human" ( Br it ish Assoc iat ion Geograph ica l G lossary Comm ittee 1 951: 4 59). Moreover , " the boundary... i s i nner-or iented... I t i s , i n f act , t he o uter l ine o f e ffect ive c ontro l e xerc ised by t he c entra l g overnment... The r ange a nd v igor o f c entr ipeta l f orces i s i nd icated by t he b oundary" (Kr istoff 1 959: 2 72).

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A f ront ier, o n t he o ther h and, i s " a b order r eg ion, z one, o r t ract wh ich f orms a b e lt o f s eparat ion, c ontact , o r t rans it ion b etween t wo p o l it ica l un its" ( Br it ish A ssoc iat ion G eograph ica l G lossary C omm ittee 1 951: 4 58). Thus, " the f ront ier i s o utero r iented. I t s ma in a ttent ion i s d irected t oward t he o ut ly ing a reas wh ich a re b o th a s ource o f d anger a nd a c oveted p r ize... The f ront ier i s a man ifestat ion o f c entr ifuga l f orces" ( Kr istoff 1 959: 2 71-272). A b order m ay b e d ef ined a s " the d istr ict l y ing a long t he e dge o f a c ountry o f t err itory, a f ront ier" ( Oxford E ngl ish D ict ionary 1 971: d ef in it ion 2 ). The t erms b order a nd f ront ier, i n f act , a re u sua l ly t reated a s s ynonymous. F ront ier , h owever , a s i t i s u sed i n t he r e levant l i terature, h as c erta in c onnotat ions wh ich r estr ict i ts a pp l icat ion t o c erta in k inds o f p er iphera l t err itor ies, a nd I w il l s hort ly a ttempt t o d ist ingu ish t he t wo t erms more s harp ly. R esearch c oncern ing b oundar ies, f ront iers a nd b orders embraces a number o f d isc ip l ines - p r imar i ly g eography, h istory a nd a nthropo logy; unt i l v ery r ecent ly ( e.g. Green e t a l. 1 978), a rchaeo log ists h ave n ot i nqu ired d eep ly i nto s uch p henomena. As a r esu lt, t he s ources o f d ata upon wh ich a ny t heoret ica l c onstruct c ou ld b e b ased a re r ather d isparate a nd i n s ome c ases d iff icu lt t o r econc i le. These s ources may b e c haracter ized a s f o l lows: ( 1) modern e v idence d er ived f rom f i e ldwork a nd o ther c ontemporary d ocumentat ion ( e.g. Barth 1 969a ; P eterson 1 976; P rescott 1 965); ( 2) h istor ica l a nd e thnoh istor ica l d a ta ( e.g. L othrop 1 939; M i l ler a nd S teffen 1 977; S tone 1 959); ( 3) a rchaeo log ica l d ata. M any s tud ies, o f c ourse, h ave u t i l ized s evera l t ypes o f d ata ( e.g. J ones 1 959; L att imore 1 951). C erta in p roblems a r ise, h owever , when g enera l izat ions b ased p r imar i ly u pon n on-archaeo log ica l d ata a re a pp l ied t o b orders i n a n a rchaeo log ica l c ontext. M odern d ata f rom Western i ndustr ia l ized s oc iet ies ( ma in ly c o l lected b y g eographers) t ends t o b e i nterpreted, n atura l ly e nough , i n t erms o f c erta in modern, Western b iases: The c onvent iona l Western p o l it ica l m ap i s t hus h igh ly l inear, i ncred ibly p rec ise ( a t l east i n a ppearance), part it ioned i nto d ist inct p arce ls, a nd c ont inuous i n t he s ense t hat , w ith o n ly a f ew e xcept ions ( genera l ly i nvo lv ing unpopu lated a reas), i t i s e nt ire ly " f il led". Moreover t he s epara te c ompartments a re p erce ived a s be ing i mbued w ith a s ense o f i ndependent i ntegrity a nd i nterna l h omogene ity ( So ja 1 971: 9 ). Modern d ata c o l lected i n n on-Western s oc iet ies by e thnographers, o n t he o ther h and , t end t o b e i nterpreted i n t erms o f n onmater ia l r ather t han mater ia l c u l ture. F ina l ly, h istor ica l d ata , s uch a s t hose c oncern ing t he i mper ia l R oman o r Ch inese f ront iers, most o f ten c ome f rom s oc iet ies wh ich k ept e xtens ive wr itten r ecords o f t he ir a ct iv it ies, r ef lect ing a l eve l o f s oc iopo l it ica l o rgan izat ion wh ich c an s e ldom b e d emonstrated i n a pure ly a rchaeo log ica l c ontext. As o ur c ond it ioned p erspect ive s ub ject ive ly a nd r eg ions

c oncept ions o f b orders, boundar ies a nd f ront iers a re t o s ome e xtent by t he k inds o f d ata u sed a nd t he o f t hose e xam in ing t hem, s o t oo a re t hese n ot ions v ar iab le w ith in d ifferent v a lue s ystems. B oundar ies r epresent t he s pat ia l e xpress ion o f c oncepts t ha t a re

7

f or t he most p art s oc ia l a nd p o l it ica l , r a ther t han " natura l" c onstructs, f or " any a nd e very s oc iety c reates i t s o wn k ind o f f ront ier" ( Latt imore 1 962b: 2 5). I t s hou ld n ot b e d iff icu l t t o e nv is ion t hat b ands, t r ibes, c h iefdoms a nd s tates - t o u se S erv ice 's ( 1962) c lass if icat ion, a l though a ny s im i lar t ypo logy w ou ld d o - wou ld employ c orrespond ingly d ifferent c oncepts o f t he p o l it ica l c ontro l o f s pace. F or e xamp le, " a w e l l-known f ea ture o f f euda l ism i s t hat i t p roduced a p atchwork p o l it ica l map. D iscont inuous h o ld ings w ere c ommon, a nd w ere t o lerable b ecause o f t he d ecentra l ized n ature o f f euda l r u le a nd w arfare" ( Jones 1 959: 2 47; c f. K r istoff 1 959: 2 78). E conom ic f actors a re o f c ourse a lso i nvo lved , f or t he m anor ia l s ystem o f l and t enure c ontr ibuted a s we l l t o t he p attern o f n on-cont iguous p o l it ica l u n its ( B loch 1 961). F or p urposes o f a na lys is, boundar ies m ay b e d iv ided i nto f our t ypes: s oc ia l , p o l it ica l , c u ltura l ( or e thn ic) a nd phys ica l. S oc ia l boundar ies a r ise f rom t he s egmentary n ature o f h uman s oc ia l o rgan izat ion a nd t he n eed o r d es ire t o s tructure t he r e lat ionsh ips b etween m embers o f v ar ious s egments. Wh i le i t i s a ssumed t ha t t here i s ag reater i ntens ity o f i nteract ion w ith in s oc ia l g roups t han b e tween t hem , i t i s c lear t ha t b oundar ies p ers ist d esp ite a f l ow o f p ersonne l a cross t hem. I n o ther words , c a tegor ica l e thn ic d ist inct ions d o n ot d epend o n a n a bsence o f mobi l ity, c ontact a nd i nformat ion, but d o e nta i l s oc ia l processes o f e xc lus ion a nd i ncorporat ion whereby d iscrete c ategor ies a re m a inta ined d esp i te c hang ing part ic ipat ion a nd membersh ip ( Barth 1 969b: 9 -10; i ta l ics i n o r ig ina l). G iven t h is emphas is u pon c ogn it ive f actors i nvo lved i n t he c reat ion, m a intenance a nd f unct ion ing o f s oc ia l b oundar ies, i t i s c lear t hat s uch b oundar ies n eed n o t b e e xpressed s pa t ia l ly. When t hey a re, h owever, i t h as b een s uggested t hat t h is i s a man ifestat ion o f t err itor ia l ity, t he m a jor c omponents o f wh ich a re a s ense o f s pat ia l i dent ity , a s ense o f e xc lus iveness w ith r espect t o t err itory , a nd t he c ompartmenta l izat ion o r c hanne l ing o f h uman i nteract ion i n s pace ( So ja 1 971: 3 4). Cu l tura l b oundar ies a re i n many r espects s im i lar t o s oc ia l boundar ies, p art icu lar ly i n t he m a intenance o f g roup i dent ity by means o f i ncorporat ion a nd e xc lus ion. By t hemse lves, h owever , d ifferences i n l anguage o r r e l igion, f or e xample, may r esu l t i n d e f acto r ather t han d e j ure b oundar ies, a nd may p erhaps more proper ly b e s een a s v ar iables wh ich r e inforce t he s trength o f o ther k inds o f b oundar ies. Such b oundar ies m ight t herefore e x ist w ithou t n ecessar i ly h av ing a f unct ion o r a ny t ang ible e ffect u pon human i nteract ion. D iscont inu it ies i n v ar ious a spects o f mater ia l c u lture may a lso i nd icate t he p resence o f a c u l tura l b oundary (Hodder 1 977b; c f. S o ja 1 971: 2 7-28). A p o l it ica l b oundary marks t he p o int where t he t err itor ies o f t wo p o l it ica l un its meet ( cf . Kr istoff 1 959: 2 77). I n a dd it ion t o more o r l ess p rec ise ly d emarcat ing t he e xtent o f t err itor ia l s overe ignty, " funct ions o f I po l it ica l l b oundar ies a re i n g enera l n egat ive r ather t han p os it ive. To a t l east s ome d egree t hey

8

r estr ict t he movements o f p eop les a nd t he e xchange o f g oods, o f money, e ven o f i deas" ( Boggs 1 940: 1 1). Po l it ica l b oundar ies h ave b een c lass if ied a nd c haracter ized i n a n umber o f ways ( e.g. B oggs 1 940: 2 2-31; H artshorne 1 936: 5 6-57), but t he d ist inct ion wh ich h as r ece ived t he most d iscuss ion i s t hat b etween n atura l a nd a rt if ic ia l boundar ies ( Prescott 1 965: 9 -25). N atura l b oundar ies h ave b een d ef ined a s t hose wh ich c o incide w ith s ome phys ica l f ea ture i n t he l andscape, s uch a s t he c ourse o f a r iver, wh i le a rt if icia l boundar ies d o n ot. M ost r ecent p o l it ica l g eographers, h owever, c ons ider t h is t o b e l arge ly a s pecious d ist inct ion, s ince a l l h uman boundar ies a re a rt if ic ia l i n t he s ense t hat t hey a re a bstract c onstructs. B ecause o f t he ir s ign if icance t o t he f unct ion ing o f a p o l ity, p o l it ica l b oundar ies a re more l i ke ly t o b e d emarcated prec isely a nd t o h ave a t ang ib le e x istence t han t he o ther boundar ies d iscussed. More o f ten t han n ot, t hese d ifferent k inds o f b oundar ies w i l l o ver lap. S oc ia l a nd c u ltura l b oundar ies t end t o c o incide, part icu lar ly f or sma l l g roups a nd a t l ower l eve ls o f s ociopo l it ica l o rgan izat ion, b ecause s uch g roups t end t o b e c u ltura l ly h omogeneous. S im i lar ly, p o l it ica l a nd c u ltura l b oundar ies a re o ften c oterm inous b ecause p o l it ica l e nt it ies f orm a t l east i n it ia l ly o n t he basis o f a c ommon e thos. P o l it ica l b oundar ies f requent ly f o l low n atura l f eatures, p art icu lar ly r ivers, wh ich h ave t he a dvantage o f b e ing e asi ly r ecogn ized a nd d efended ( cf. K imes e t a l. 1 982: 1 27). Natura l f eatures may a lso c onven ient ly d emarcate s ocia l o r c u ltura l boundar ies; moreover, s uch a c orrespondence i s a ttested by o bservat ions wh ich s uggest t hat d ifferent ia l a daptat ion t o v ary ing e co log ica l z ones s eems t o b e c orre lated w ith c u ltura l d ifferences (Barth 1 956; T inda le 1 976: 1 4). Wh i le f ew r eg ions a re a s homogeneous a s, l et u s s ay, J apan ( whose g eograph ica l i so la tion s urely e nhances t hat h omogene ity), i t s hou ld b e a pparent t hat s uch c orrelat ions a re n ot e ntire ly f ortu itous. I t wou ld a lso f o l low t hat t he more k inds o f boundar ies t hat c o incide, t he more marked a nd durable s uch b oundar ies a re l i ke ly t o b e. On t he o ther h and, i t i s p oss ible t o c ite numerous e xamples o f d ifferent k inds o f boundar ies wh ich d o n ot c o incide - e .g. t he s uper impos it ion o f p o l it ica l b oundar ies o ver p re-ex ist ing l i nguist ic a nd r el ig ious g roup ings i n Europe a nd t r iba l b oundar ies i n Afr ica. Th is l ack o f c orrespondence a r ises b ecause e ach k ind o f boundary r epresents a n i ndependent v ar iable, a nd a l though f requent a ssoc iat ion c an b e d emonstrated b etween t hem, n o s uch c orre lat ion n eed n ecesar i ly e x ist. Unless t he e v idence o f s uch c orre lat ion i s man ifest, t herefore, i t c annot b e a ssumed t hat d ifferent k inds o f boundar ies w i l l n ecessar i ly c o incide i n a ny g iven i nstance o r a rea. I t s hou ld b e emphasized t hat t he pr imary f unct ion o f boundar ies i s d iv is ive ( Kr istoff 1 959: 2 73). The e xtent t o wh ich i ntegrat ion a cross a ny boundary i s i mpeded w i l l d epend upon i t s p ermeabi l ity, wh ich i n t h is c ontext may v ary i n t wo ways: i n t he d ifferent ia l f reedom o f v ar ious k inds o f i nteract ions a nd i n t he t ota l i nteract ion f l ow a cross boundar ies. I n t he f i rst i nstance, c erta in i nteract ions - s uch a s e conom ic t ransact ions - may t ake p lace, wh i le o thers - s uch a s i ntermarr iage - may n ot; h ere t he ma in v ar iab le a ffect ing p ermeabi l ity wou ld s eem t o b e t he k ind o r

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k inds o f b oundar ies i nvo lved. I n t he s econd i nstance , t he s ign if icant v ar iab les wou ld b e t he s trength o f t he b oundary a nd t he r e lat ive s im i lar ity o f g roups o n e i ther s ide o f t he b oundary; t hese v ar iab les a re n o t o n ly i nterre lated, but mutua l ly c ausa l a s we l l , f or a l though t he d egree o f s im i lar ity m ay a ffect t he s trength o f t he b oundary, t he s trength o f t he b oundary m ay a l so e nhance d iss im i lar ity .1 I n a dd it ion t o t he i nstances a lready d iscussed , t here i s a more g enera l r e lat ionsh ip b etween t he p hys ica l e nv ironment a nd b oundar ies. N ot o n ly d o n atura l f ea tures o f ten c o inc ide w ith o r f orm b oundar ies, but t hese f eatures m ay a lso c ontr ibute t o t he r e lat ive s trength o r p ermeab i l ity o f b oundar ies, s ince e ase o f c ommun icat ion a cross n atura l b arr iers s uch a s r ivers, m ounta ins a nd d eserts w il l v ary c ons iderab ly. F urthermore, v ar iables s uch a s t erra in a nd c l imate may a ffect t he c oncept o f t he b oundary i t se lf ; t hus, f or e xample, t r iba l b oundar ies c an b e o f a t l east t wo d ifferent k inds. Over most o f Austra l ia i mportant g eograph ica l f eatures, s uch a s r ivers a nd water h o les, wh ich a re s urrounded by f ood-bear ing v egetat ion, t end t o b e s eparated by t racts o f d r ier , r e lat ive ly i nfert i le c ountry. I n s uch c ases a t r ibe i s l i ke ly t o b e c entered o n o ne o r more o f t hese w ater f eatures, i t s t err itory e xtend ing o ut f rom i t i n s evera l d irect ions. Tr iba l boundar ies w i l l l i e s omewhere i n t he i nfert i le n o-man 'sl and a nd may b e d iff icu l t t o d eterm ine e xact ly.... The s econd t ype o f t r iba l b oundary i s e ncountered i n r icher c ountry t hat c onst itutes a c ont inuous f oodbear ing b e lt , w ith f requent r ivers a nd c op ious v egetat ion a long a nd b etween t hem.... Thus, a b oundary t hat a ctua l ly l i es a long a f eature s uch a s a r iver i s o n ly l i ke ly t o b e e ncountered i n... unusua l ly r ich c ountry ( D ixon 1 976: 2 08-209). I f , t hen, t wo g roups c ompete f or t he s ame r esources w ith in a n e co log ica l z one, t he ir mutua l b oundary w ith in t ha t z one i s l i ke ly t o b e s crupu lous ly m arked a nd o bserved; i f , h owever, t hey a re n o t e xp lo it ing t he s ame r esources o r a re e xp lo it ing d ifferent e co log ica l z ones, t he b oundary may b e l ess s trong ly d efended s ince t hey a re n o t i n d irect e conom ic c ompet it ion. Such e co log ica l f actors m ight a ccount a t l east i n p art f or s i tua t ions i n wh ich a t r ibe 's b oundary w ith o ne n e ighbor ing g roup may b e d ist inct a nd v igorous ly ma inta ined , wh i le t hat w ith a nother may b e more d iffuse a nd p ermeab le ( Barth 1 969a ; H odder 1 978d , 1 979; Knutsson 1 969; c f . M cGu ire 1 982: 1 68-170). F ina l ly, when v iewed f rom a n e vo lut ionary p erspect ive, s oc ia l boundar ies s eem s trongest a nd most p reva lent a t t he b and o r t r iba l l eve l o r w ith in s ubsystems o f o rgan ized p o l it ies, whereas p o l it ica l boundar ies b ecome i ncreas ing ly more e v ident a s s ystems b ecome l arger a nd o rgan izat iona l ly c omplex. L ikew ise , t he a va i lable e v idence s uggests t hat a s s oc iopo l it ica l s ystems e vo lve, s o d o t he ir boundar ies; t hus r eg ions f ormer ly c haracter ized a s marshes o r n oman 'sland t end t o s hr ink a s t he p ower o f c entra l a uthor ity

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i ncreases unt i l t hey f u l ly i ntegrate i nto o ne p o l ity o r a no ther , r esu lt ing i n a more o r l ess e xact b oundary ( Kr istoff 1 959: 2 71). And a s t he r esources a nd t he p ower o f t he s ystem i ncrease, a c orrespond ing ly g reater e ffort i s m ade t o ma inta in a nd d efend t err itor ia l i ntegr ity, l ead ing u l t imate ly t o f ort if ied b oundar ies s uch a s t he Roman l imes o r t he Ch inese G reat W a l l. Th is d eve lopment , i n wh ich s oc ia l b oundar ies a re s uperseded b y p o l it ica l o nes, m ay b e l inked t o t he c hang ing n a ture o f h uman g roup t err itor ial i ty ( So ja 1 971: 3 9-45), a s we l l a s t he more t ang ible n eeds o f t he s ystem t o e xerc ise c ontro l o ver a nd p ro tect i t s p eop le a nd r esources ( Latt imore 1 951: 2 39-240). The s t imu lus f or a nd t he g enerat ion o f t heoret ica l a pproaches t o t he s tudy o f f ront iers d er ive p r incipa l ly f rom t wo men, F reder ick J ackson Turner a nd Owen L att imore. I n h is s tudy o f t he Amer ican f ront ier , Turner put f orth a n umber o f i deas c oncern ing s oc ia l , e conom ic a nd p o l it ica l f orces o perant o n t he f ront ier a nd t he ir e ffect upon Amer ican s oc iety a s a who le ( 1920), a nd s ubsequent r esearchers h ave s pent much e ffort t oward p rov ing o r d isprov ing t he " Turner t hes is" (M i l ler a nd S teffen 1 977; T aylor 1 956). Wh i le " tests o f t he f ront ier t hes is h ave b een n o l ess but s carce ly more s uccessfu l t han t ests o f t he Ho ly S cr ipture" ( Hudson 1 977: 1 1), s uch a ttempts h ave g iven r ise t o c ons iderable d iscuss ion o f f ront iers i n g enera l , a nd t he r e lat ionsh ip o f f ront iers t o c u ltura l c ore a reas i n p art icu lar. S omewha t l ess a ttent ion, h owever , h as been p a id t o L att imore 's p o tent ia l ly more v a luab le r esearch c oncern ing t he n orthern Ch inese f ront ier ( 1951, 1 962a). I t i s g enera l ly a ssumed t ha t i n a f ront ier t he e xpand ing c u l ture w i l l b e s edentary, a s we l l a s t echno log ica l ly a nd o rgan izat iona l ly s uper ior t o t he i nd igenous c u lture o r c u l tures. The mot ives f or e xpans ion may b e v ar ious, a l though L att imore s tresses e conom ic c ons idera tions: Any s oc iety s eeks o ut more l and o f t he k ind t hat i t a lready knows h ow t o e xplo it by t he t echn iques t hat i t a lready h as. Changes t hat f o l low i n t he o rgan iza t ion o f t he s oc iety i n a l arger t err itory, a nd i n t he a pp l ica t ion o f t he o ld e conom ic p ract ices o n a l arger s ca le, a re n ot t he p lanned purpose o f t he e xpans ion but i t s i nev itable c onsequences. E ither i n t he c ourse o f e xpans ion o r when i t i s r etreat ing f rom c ompet itors a s ociety may move i nto g radua l ly c hang ing t erra in, but o ne t ha t i s a s l i ke a s p oss ib le t o t he t erra in t ha t i t a lready knows h ow t o u se ( 1962b: 2 5). I f t he i nd igenous i nhab itants e xp lo it a d ifferent e co log ica l n iche t han t he e xpand ing c u l ture, t hen t he t wo c u l tures may c oex ist. I f n ot, t he e xpand ing c u lture, b ecause o f i ts t echno log ica l a nd o rgan izat iona l s uper ior ity, w i l l p resumably e ither c onquer o r o therw ise i ncorporate t he i nd igenous c u lture ( Latt imore 1 962c: 4 69). As l ong a s i t i s p oss ib le t o e xpand i nto t err itory t hat c an b e e xp lo ited by t rad it iona l a nd c haracter ist ic means , g rowth w i l l c ont inue a nd t he s ystem w il l e xpand w ithout c hang ing i t s b as ic s tructure, e xcept f or c hanges n ecess itated by a n i ncrease i n magn itude. Under s uch c ond it ions, t hose a reas . wh ich w ere o nce

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f ront ier w i l l e ventua l ly b ecome v irtua l ly i nd ist ingu ishable f rom t he c ore a rea; t hese a reas may b e t ermed z ones o f i nc lus ion, a nd wh i le e xpans ion i s s t il l p oss ib le, " open f ront iers" ( Latt imore 1 951: 2 06; c f. Kr istoff 1 959: 2 69-270). A d ifferent p rocess t akes p lace, h owever, when t he e xpand ing c ul ture c onfronts a n e nv ironment t hat b ecomes i ncreas ing ly l ess amenable t o i ts f am il iar m ethods o f e xplo itat ion. Under t hese c ircumstances, i t i s o f ten p oss ible t o a dapt o r t o mod ify s ubs istence s trategy i n o rder t o c ont inue e xpans ion. E ven s o , a n e nv ironmenta l t hresho ld w i l l b e e ventua l ly r eached, a t wh ich po int " a s oc iety e ither c ont inues a t hread o f d eve lopment o n wh ich i t i s a lready l aunched , i ntens ify ing a nd s oph ist icat ing i t s c haracter ist ics but n ot c hang ing t hem i n k ind , o r d iverges t o a t rend t hat w i l l r esul t i n c reat ing a d ifferent k ind o f s oc iety" ( Latt imore 1 962c: 4 77). S ince s oc iet ies r are ly c hange t he ir b as ic s tructure ( of wh ich s ubs istence i s o ne o f t he most b as ic e lements) except under c atastroph ic c ond it ions o r t hose o f l ong-term s tress, t he l atter o pt ion i s p resumably s e ldom e xercised. I t i s o ut o f t he n eed f or t he e xpand ing c u lture t o d eve lop s ome o ther e ffect ive r esponse t hat t he f ront ier s i tuat ion i s c reated. And s ince t he n ature o f t he r esponse i s c ond it ioned by t he i nab il ity o f t he s ystem 's c ore t o e xpand f urther i n t h is d irect ion, t he t err itory i n quest ion c an b e c haracter ized a s a z one o f e xc lus ion o r a c losed f ront ier; a s o pposed t o t he " dynam ic" f ront ier o f c ont inu ing expans ion, s uch a n a rea may a lso b e t ermed a " stat ic" f ront ier ( ib id.). Because o f i ts r e lat ive s im i lar ity t o t he c ore z one a nd a lso because e xpans ion i s s t i l l o ccurr ing, t he b oundar ies o f a n o pen f ront ier t end t o be d iffuse a nd o n ly v ague ly d ef ined. I n a c losed f ront ier, h owever, where s harper p o l it ica l , e conom ic, e nv ironmenta l and c u ltura l d ifferences a re more a pt t o b e e ncountered , t he boundary b etween t he c ore z one a nd t he f ront ier w i l l b e more d ist inct. I n t he ir most e xtreme f orm, s uch b oundar ies mark t he d iv id ing l ine b etween " us" a nd " them" o r b etween " civ i l izat ion" a nd " barbar ism" ( cf. L att imore 1 951: 2 75-278). But a s Latt imore p o ints o ut, e ven a mass ive e ffort t o ma inta in e xc lus ion by m eans o f a r ig id b oundary l ike t he Great Wa l l o f Ch ina c annot who l ly p revent i nteract ion a cross i t ( ibid.: 4 70-474); i t wou ld s eem t hat o n ly modern t ota l itar ian s tates wou ld b e c apable o f c reat ing s uch a n i mpermeab le b arr ier a s t he B er lin Wa l l. Such i nteract ion t akes p lace n ot w ith in t he f ront ier a re o pen s ystems,

o n ly b ecause t he but a lso b ecause

e nt it ies f ront ier

popu lat ions - c ompr ised o f both e xpand ing a nd i nd igenous c u ltures - o f ten s hare a mutua l ity o f i nterest t hat t ranscends o r c onf l icts w ith t i es t o t he ir own c u lture. The d egree o f mutua l ity w il l , o f c ourse, b e i nf luenced o r d eterm ined by s oc ia l, c u ltura l a nd e conom ic s im ilar it ies b etween members o f d ifferent g roups, t he ir r elat ive i ntegrat ion i nto o ppos ing s ystems, a nd t heir d istance a nd i so lat ion f rom t he c ore a rea. N everthe less, be ing a z one o f t rans it ion f rom t he s phere o f o ne way o f l i fe t o a nother, a nd r epresent ing f orces wh ich a re n e ither f u l ly a ssim i lated t o n or s at isf ied w ith e ither , i t prov ides a n e xce l lent o pportun ity f or mutua l

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i nterpenetrat ion a nd sway.... I t i s p rec ise ly t h is water ing d own o f l oya lt ies a nd b lurr ing o f d ifferences t hat t he c entra l g overnments a ttempt t o f oresta l l b y s ubst itut ing t he s em i-autonomous f ront iers w ith a c ontro l led a nd e xact border l ine ( Kr istoff 1 959: 2 73). B ecause o f t he ir a mbiva lent p o l it ica l s tatus, t hose a reas a t t he i nner e dge o f t he f ront ier f unct ion a s what L att imore c a l ls a " front ier r eservo ir", c apable o f a l l iance w ith g roups o n e ither s ide, d epend ing u pon wh ich c ourse m ight b e s een a s most b enef ic ia l a t a g iven t ime ( 1962e: 1 15-116). Thus t he f ront ier m ay b e v iewed a s a s er ies o f z ones o f i ntegrat ion r ad iat ing o utward f rom t he c ore a rea o f a s oc iocu l tura l s ystem , r ang ing f rom f u l l i ntegrat ion i nto t he s ystem t hrough p art ia l t o a t ota l l ack o f i ntegrat ion. I n a dd it ion t o t he f orego ing i nduct ive g enera l iza t ions, w e may a lso c ons ider a mode l o f t he f ront ier " deve loped t o e xp la in s oc iocu ltura l c hange undergone by i ntrus ive p eoples i n c o lon iza t ion o r f ront ier s ituat ions" ( Lew is 1 973: 8 4). The m ode l p roposes s ix p recond it ions wh ich a re n ecessary, but n ot s uff ic ient , t o i dent ify a f ront ier s ituat ion: ( 1) t here must b e p resent a nd i n c ontact w ith o ne a nother t wo c u ltura l ly d ist inct e nt it ies, o ne o f wh ich i s more t echno log ica l ly c omplex t han t he o ther ; ( 2) t he a rea o f c ontact must b e s eparated f rom o r b e l oca ted o n t he p er iphery o f t he t err itory o ccup ied by t he more c omplex c u lture; ( 3) t he i ntrus ive o r e xpand ing c u lture must e xh ib it a t l east a c h iefdom l eve l o f s oc iocu ltura l i ntegrat ion; ( 4) t he i nd igenous c u lture must e xh ib it a l ower l eve l o f i ntegrat ion t han t he i ntrus ive c u l ture; ( 5) t he a rea o f c o lon izat ion must c onta in t he p otent ia l o f u sefu l e xp lo itat ion by t he i ntrus ive c u l ture; ( 6) t he a rea o f c o lon izat ion must b e f u l ly a ccess ib le t o t he i ntrus ive c u lture. These p recond it ions must b e f ound i n c on junct ion w ith t he f o l low ing c haracter ist ics: ( 1) c ontact b etween t he a bor ig ina l a nd i ntrus ive c u l tures s hou ld t ake p lace w ith s ome mutua l d iffus ion a nd s oc iocu l tura l a daptat ion; ( 2) t he i ntrus ive c u l ture w il l b ecome more g enera l ized a nd unspec ia l ized ( "cu ltura l i mpover ishment"); ( 3) t he s ett lement p attern o f t he i ntrus ive c u l ture w i l l b ecome n ot iceably more d ispersed; ( 4) s ett lements i n t he a rea o f c o lon iza t ion s hou ld r ef lect a " co lon izat ion g rad ient" o f s uccess ive p hases o r z ones o f i ntegrat ion; ( 5) t he s ett lement p attern o f t he i ntrus ive c u l ture must b e l inked by a c ommun icat ions n etwork wh ich a lso t i es t hem t o t he a bor ig ina l c u l ture; ( 6) a f ocus o f t he f ront ier s ystem, s uch a s a n e ntrepot , s hou ld b e p resent; ( 7) t he s ett lements, e spec ia l ly t hose l y ing f urther f rom t he f ocus, s hou ld b e c haracter ized by t he p resence o f l arge , c omplex h ouseho lds; ( 8) t he a gr icu ltura l c rops u t i l ized by t he i ntrus ive c u lture w i l l b e much f ewer i n number t han t hose g rown i n t he c ore z one; ( 9) e v idence o f f act iona l ism s hou ld b e p resent; ( 10) a n i ncreased r ate o f i nnovat ion, d ue t o a n i n it ia l a daptat ion t o a n ew e nv ironment , m ay s eem t o o ccur i n t he a rea o f c o lon izat ion i mmed iate ly a fter c ontact ( ibid.: 9 6-98). Ip resent t h is mode l i n s ome d eta i l n ot b ecause I n ecessar i ly b e l ieve t hat i t i s a pp l icable t o a l l f ront ier s i tuat ions o r e ven i n a l l r espects t o M ycenaean Thessa ly, but b ecause i t i s t he o n ly a ttempt, a s f ar a s I know, t o mode l t he f ron t ier i n t erms o f

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t estable hypotheses. A t p resent, i t d oes n ot s eem p oss ib le t o c onstruct a more g enera l ly a ppl icable mode l , g iven t he c ons iderable v ar iat ion i n t he n ature o f t hose a reas d es ignated a s f ront iers. Cooter, f or e xample, p o ints o ut s ign if icant d ifferences b etween i ndustr ia l a nd p reindustr ia l f ront iers ( 1977), wh i le L att imore h as n oted g reat d ifferences b etween t he Amer ican a nd Ch inese f ront iers ( 1951: 1 4-15; 1 962f : 1 35-137). I t may b e n ecessary, t herefore, t o r edef ine t he f ront ier i n more s pecif ic t erms i n o rder t o d ist ingu ish i t f rom o ther r e lated phenomena. As I h ave a lready s uggested, d ist inct ion c an b e made b etween border a nd f ront ier r egions, a nd t h is d ist inct ion m ay s erve a s a f irst s tep t oward a m ore p recise d ef in it ion a nd c lass if ica t ion o f marg ina l o r p er iphera l a reas. F or t he purposes o f t h is s tudy, t hen, a b order w i l l b e c ons idered t o b e t hat a rea o f a s edentary s oc iocultura l s ystem e xtend ing f rom t he l im its o f i t s c ore z one t o t he l im its o f i ts p o l it ica l c ontro l; whether t h is o uter l im it o f c ontro l c onst itutes a s tr ict ly-enforced b oundary o r mere ly a d e f acto o ne w i l l d epend t o a g reat e xtent upon t he p o l it ica l r esources a nd t he o rgan izat ion o f t he s ystem. I f t he t err itory b eyond t h is b oundary l i es under t he c ontro l o f a s ystem o f a pprox imate ly e qua l o r g reater o rgan izat ion a nd/or i ntegrat ion, t h is a rea w i l l c onst itute t he b order o f t hat s ystem. I f , h owever , t he i nd igenous i nhab itants t here c ompr ise a s ystem o r s ystems l ess h igh ly o rgan ized, t he a rea beyond t he b oundary w i l l b e c ons idered a f ront ier z one. Thus, f or example, t hose Roman p rov inces i n wh ich t he i nd igenous p opu lat ion was g ranted c it izensh ip a nd a ssoc iated p r iv i leges wou ld b e c ons idered border p rov inces, wh i le t hose i n wh ich t hey were n ot wou ld be f ront ier p rov inces. Over t ime, o f c ourse, f ront ier prov inces may b ecome s uf f ic ient ly a ss im i lated i nto t he s ystem t o b e t ermed border r eg ions. I t s hou ld b e c lear f rom t hese d ef in it ions t hat t he e x istence o f border o r f ront ier r eg ions i s l arge ly a f unct ion o f c entra l iza t ion, a nd t hat s uch phenomena wou ld n ot b e p resent i n n on-sedentary o r a cepha lous s edentary s oc iet ies. M oreover, t he d ist inct iveness o f s uch p er iphera l r egions i s d ependent upon t he d egree o f d ifference between a d jacent s ystems a nd t he amount o f d ifferent ia l i ntegra tion - b e i t c u ltura l , p o l it ica l , s ocia l o r e conom ic - w ith in t hem. I n r egard t o i ntegration, h owever, i t s hou ld b e understood t hat I am r eferr ing t o d ist inct ions t hat c an b e made s pat ia l ly, r ather t han t he k ind o f d ifferent ia l i ntegration f ound i n a ny s ystem o f moderate c omplex ity ( B inford 1 972a: 1 96-199). F ina l ly, i t may b e r eca l led t hat s ince t he p ermeab i l ity o f boundar ies v ar ies a nd d ifferent k inds o f boundar ies d o n ot a lways c o incide, t he d egree o f d ifferent k inds o f i ntegrat ion w ith in p er iphera l r egions may a lso v ary; f or e xample, a f ront ier z one may l i e o uts ide o r under nom ina l po l it ica l c ontro l o f a s ystem, wh i le a t t he s ame t ime b e ing more f ul ly i ntegrated i nto i t s e conom ic s ubsystems. Both borders a nd f ront iers f unct ion, by v irtue o f t he ir l ocat ion, a s f oc i f or i nteract ion b etween s oc iocu ltura l s ystems. L et u s t herefore c ons ider t he s pecif ic k inds o f s oc ia l , c u ltura l , po l it ica l a nd e conom ic p rocesses t hat m ight b e e xpected t o o ccur i n t hese a reas. One m ight b egin by n ot ing t hat, a t l east i n t heory, i t i s p oss ib le t hat n o i nteract ion t ake p lace. Th is phenomenon wou ld

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b e o f c ons iderab le i nterest i n i t se lf , but t hough i t i s p oss ib le t o c once ive c ond it ions under wh ich t ota l mutua l a vo idance m ight e x ist - s uch a s t he i nterpos it ion o f av irtua l ly i mpassab le n atura l b arr ier -i t s eems v ery l i ke ly t hat a t l east s ome m in ima l c ontact w ou ld t ake p lace. G iven t he i nev itab i l ity o f c ontact , t he f o l low ing p rocesses may a lso b e c haracter ized i n t erms o f d irect iona l ity, i .e., whether t hey a re o ne-way o r t wo-way i nteract ions. 2 One s uch p rocess i s d iffus ion. We may f i rst d ist ingu ish b etween e xpans ion d iffus ion - t he t ransm iss ion o f a n i dea o r o b ject t hrough s pace - a nd r e loca t ion d iffus ion, t he m igrat ion o f p eop le who b r ing w ith t hem a p art icu lar c u l tura l i nventory ( Gou ld 1 969: 3 ). I n t he f ormer i nstance, t he s peed , r ange a nd t horoughness o f d iffus ion d epend u pon f actors s uch a s d istance, phys ica l a nd c u ltura l b arr iers, a nd t he n a ture o f t he o b ject o r i dea ( Hodder 1 978e: 2 46-269). I n ab order z one, t herefore, we m ight e xpect t ha t d iffus ion wou ld p roceed a t a s lower a nd more i rregu lar r a te t han i n t he c ore z one, w ith d ifferent ia l a cceptance o f i deas m ore o r l ess a ppl icab le t o a p art icu lar r eg ion a daptat ion; t he s ame wou ld p resumably h o ld t rue e ven more s trong ly i n a f ront ier z one, d epend ing, o f c ourse , o n t he s trength a nd p ermeab il ity o f b oundar ies. M odels o f r e locat ion d iffus ion h ave o f ten b een a ppl ied t o t he s pread o f s ett lement i n a g iven r eg ion; o f p art icu lar r e levance h ere a re v ar ious " front ier wave" mode ls u sed t o d escr ibe p rogressive s tages o f s ett lement ( e.g., A lexander 1 978; Hudson 1 977). D ist inct ion h as a lso b een m ade b etween p r imary d iffus ion, wh ich i s r estr icted t o t he a rea w ith in wh ich a p art icu lar t ra it o r ig inates, a nd s econdary d iffus ion, wh ich r efers t o t he t ransm iss ion o f a t ra it o uts ide t ha t a rea ( C larke 1 978: 4 21; c f . D ixon 1 928: 5 9-106). I t h as b een a ssumed t hat i n s econdary d iffus ion t he t endency t oward d istort ion o r d ev iat ion i ncreases g reat ly a s a g iven t ra it b ecomes d ivorced f rom i t s o r ig ina l c u l tura l c ontext a nd i s a dapted t o a d ifferent o ne ( C larke 1 978: 4 21). W e wou ld t hus e xpect t o f ind e v idence o f s econdary d iffus ion w ith in t he f ront ier z one, a nd p erhaps w ith in t he b order z one a s w e l l. N ew i deas, h owever, may a l so o r igina te o n t he p er iphery a nd d iffuse s ubsequent ly t o t he c ore z one, a nd t he b order r eg ion i n p art icu lar may s erve a s t he f ocus f or r eciproca l d iffus ion. Such i nnovat ions may a r ise a s t he r esu l t o f a daptat ion t o a n e nv ironment d ifferent f rom t hat o f t he c ore a rea o r a s a r esu l t o f c ontact w ith o ther c u l tures; t h is phenomenon h as b een t ermed " front ier i nnovat ion a nd i nvent ion" ( C larke 1 978: 4 23; Hudson 1 977: 2 4). D iffus ion a ctua l ly i nvo lves t wo phases, t he f i rst b e ing t ransm iss ion by t he d onor a nd t he s econd a cceptance by t he r ec ipient. We may, t herefore, d iscuss i n t h is c ontext t he c lose ly r e lated p rocess o f a ccu l turat ion, wh ich i nvo lves t h is s econd p hase o f d iffus ion. G iven t he d ef in it ion o f a b order z one, w e wou ld e xpect a ny i nd igenous p opu lat ion t o b e more f u l ly a ccu l tura ted t han t hat i n a f ront ier z one. I n t he b order z one, t he d egree o f a ccu lturat ion w il l b e d eterm ined by a n umber o f f actors, i nc lud ing t he s trength o f v ar ious l oca l t rad it ions, t he r at io o f i nd igenous i nhabitants t o t hose o f t he d om inant c u lture, a nd t he i n it ia l s im i lar ity o f t he t wo c u l tures. These s ame f actors wou ld a lso b e

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p resent i n t he f ront ier z one, but h ere we wou ld e xpect s omewhat l ess a ccu lturat ion o n t he p art o f t he i nd igenous p opu lat ion. L ess t han t ota l a ccu lturat ion w ou ld i mply d ifferent ia l a cceptance o f v ar ious a spects o f t he d onor c u lture, wh ich m ight b e e xpressed i n t wo ways: ( 1) t he a cceptance o f s ome t ra its a nd t he r e ject ion o f o thers; o r ( 2) a g reater d egree o f a cceptance b y s ome g roups a nd c ommun it ies t han o thers. A lthough a s tr ict ly c o lon ia l s ituat ion c haracter ized by " c iv i l ized/barbar ian" d ichotomy), more o f ten i t wou ld b e t he c ase t hat t wo-way a ccu lturat ion wou ld t ake p lace b etween t he d om inant a nd i nd igenous c u ltures. I n t he a bsence o f ame l iorating f actors, w e wou ld e xpect a g reater d egree o f mutua l a cculturation i n t he b order z one t han i n t he f ront ier z one. G iven t he s trength o f v ar iables s uch a s d istance a nd i so lation f rom t he c ore z one a nd mutua l ity o f e conom ic i nterests w ith t he i nd igenous c ul ture, mutua l a ccu l turat ion i n t he b order z one may l ead i n t ime t o s ome d egree o f c u l tura l d ifferent iat ion o f t he b order popu lat ion f rom t hat o f t he c ore z one. Under c ond it ions wh ich c ont inue t o f oster t h is p rocess, a d ist inct b order c u lture, s uch a s t hat d escr ibed by L att imore ( 1962c: 4 70), w i l l emerge, wh ich may f urther d eve lop i nto a r eg iona l s ubcu lture. Th is c entr ifuga l t endency i s i n t urn c ountered by t he c entr ipeta l o r i ntegrat ive f orce e xerted by t he c ore z one. One wou ld e xpect, t herefore, t hat a s o ne moves o utward f rom t he c ore z one, t hrough t he b order z one a nd i nto t he f ront ier z one, t hat c entr ifuga l p ressure wou ld i ncrease a s c entr ipeta l p ressure d ecreases. L att imore r efers t o t h is phenomenon a s " front ier pu l l" , wh ich c ontrasts w ith t he " front ier pressure" ma inta ined by unass im i lated g roups w ith in o r b eyond t he f ront ier z one ( 1962e: 1 10-111). F ront ier p ressure c an b e a ssoc iated w ith a nother p rocess, t ha t o f h ost i le i nteract ion b etween g roups, i n t he f orm o f i nterm ittent r a ids o r f u l l-sca le warfare. P resumably s uch h ost i l it ies wou ld t ake p lace p r imar i ly i n t he f ront ier z one i f t he m i l itary s trength o f t he s ystem i s s uff ic ient t o ma inta in i ts t err itor ia l i ntegr ity; h owever, t he border z one m ight a lso b e a ffected by mass ive r a ids o r i nvas ion, o r i f t here w ere n o i nterven ing f ront ier o r buffer z one b etween t he s ystem a nd a nother s ystem o f a pproximate ly e qua l s trength. Another f orm o f h ost i le i nteract ion wou ld a r ise f rom t he r evo lt o f s ome s egment o f t he i nd igenous popu lat ion i n t he border z one, i .e., w ith in t he s ystem i t se lf; t he d ist inct ion h ere wou ld b e s im i lar t o t hat o f Toynbee 's i nterna l a nd externa l p ro letar iats ( 1957: 4 31-480). Thus f ront ier pu l l a nd f ront ier p ressure r epresent t he e xtreme p o les o f a c ont inuum f rom i ntegrat ion t o e xc lus ion o r f rom p eacefu l c oex istence t o unrestr icted warfare. Such h ost i le i nteract ions may a ga in b e o neway, i nvo lv ing r a id ing o r c onquest, o r t wo-way, i nvo lv ing a ttack a nd r eta l iat ion o r c ont inua l s kirm ish ing, o ne p oss ible man ifestat ion be ing f ront ier m i l itary i nsta l lat ions s uch a s wal ls o r f ortresses. Ment ion s hou ld a lso b e made o f e conom ic p rocesses t ak ing p lace i n b order o r f ront ier z ones. I n a dd it ion t o s ubs istence a ct iv it ies a nd t he movement a nd d istr ibut ion o f g oods w ithin t he border z one i tse lf , e conom ic t ransact ions may t ake p lace b etween

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t he b order a nd c ore z ones; d epend ing upon h ow s trong ly t he s ystem i s i ntegrated, s uch t ransact ions may t ake t he f orm o f r ed istr ibut ion o r i nter-regiona l t rade. S im i lar ly, t rade o f v ar ious k inds may t ake p lace b etween t he b order a nd f ront ier z ones - o r e ven b etween t he c ore a nd f ront ier z ones, bypass ing t he b order z one, i n c erta in k inds o f t rade (Renfrew 1 972: 4 65-471; Vans ina 1 962). Trade, o f c ourse, a lso s erves a s b oth a m echan ism f or a nd man ifestat ion o f e xpans ion d iffus ion. E conom ic i nteract ion w ith in e ither t he b order o r f ront ier z one may b e e ssent ia l ly o ne-way, where a f orm o f e conom ic e xplo itat ion o f t he i nd igenous p opu lat ion i s p ract iced by t he d om inant c u lture o r t r ibute i s e xacted by e ither g roup, o r t wo-way, c haracter ized by r eciproca l t rade r e lat ions. O f c ourse, t rad ing a nd r a id ing a re n o t mutua l ly e xclus ive a ct iv it ies, e ven i f t hey d o n o t o ccur s imu ltaneous ly, a nd i t must b e emphas ized t hat t he f orego ing d iscuss ion o f p rocesses d oes n o t a ttempt t o c apture t he f u l l c omplex ity o r p oss ible p ermutat ions o f i nteract ions b etween g roups i n p er iphera l r egions. I t i s d c 4 btfu l , i ndeed, t hat t he f ul l m easure o f c omplex ity c ou ld b e d educed s o le ly f rom t he a rchaeo log ica l r ecord ( e.g., r egard ing a ccu lturat ion, s ee Spencer 1 979). I t s hou ld n everthe less b e p oss ible t o i dent ify s ome o f t hese p rocesses. The c entra l unspoken a ssumpt ion i n t he p reced ing d iscuss ion i s t hat t he c oncepts, h ypotheses a nd p rocesses p resented d o i n f act r efer t o p ast a s we l l a s p resent phenomena. U s ing a rchaeo log ica l d ata, h owever, poses a number o f methodo log ica l problems, t he most i mmed iate b e ing t he i dent if icat ion O i t hese phenomena i n a n a rchaeo log ica l c ontext. S ince t h is s tudy f ocuses o n t he r egiona l a nd i nter-regiona l l eve ls o f a na lys is, t hr r elevant a rchaeo logica l e nt it ies s hou ld b e o f a n e qu iva lent s ize a nd l eve l o f o rgan izat ion; f urthermore, i t wou ld s eem t hat borders, bot . _ dar ies a nd f ront iers c an b e more e as i ly r ecogn ized o n t h is s ca le t han c an sma l ler a nd l ess h igh ly o rgan ized s ystems. The e nt ity most c ommon ly r ecogn ised a t t h is l eve l i s t he a rchaeo log ica l c u l ture, wh ich Ch i 1de d ef ined a s " an a ssemblage o f a ssociated t ra its t hat r ecur r epeated ly" ( 1951: 4 0). C larke d escr ibes t hree a l ternate mode ls o f a rt ifact d istr ibut ion p atterns: t he " cu ltura l b r ick" mode l, t he " rad ia l c ontour" mode l , a nd t he p o lythet ic mode l. The c u ltura l br ick mode l " impl ies t hat c u ltura l a ssemblages a re r ig id monothet ic g roups o f a rtefacts w ith i dent ica l ly s hared d istr ibut ions, c utt ing o ff s harp ly a t t he c u ltura l boundar ies c ont iguous w ith o ther c u ltures. The mode l t hus s uggest ing [ s ic ] t hat c u l tures c an b e r epresented a s r ather s o l id e nt it ies w ith c lear b oundar ies" ( 1978: 2 63). The r ad ia l c ontour mode l i s b ased o n t he d iffus ion ist n ot ion o f " a c u ltura l ' core a rea ' i n wh ich a l l t he c u ltura l a rtefacts a re f ound a nd t hat t h is c ore i s s urrounded by r ough ly c oncentr ic c ontours r ef lect ing t he d ifferent ia l d istr ibut ions o f t he d iffused a rtefact-types" ( ibid.: 2 64). C larke c haracter izes t he p o lythet ic mode l a s f o l lows: I nd iv idua l d istr ibut ions o f t he s pecif ic a rtefact-types f rom o ne c u lture e xtend i n i rregu lar l obes i n v ar ious d iffer ing d irect ions, many t ypes a lso o ccur ing a s c omponents i n o ther c u ltura l a ssemblages i n

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n e ighbour ing a reas, a nd v ice v ersa. However, t he r espect ive i rregu lar d istr ibut ion a reas o ver lap t o vary ing d egrees i n s uch a way t hat a n a rea e x ists w ith in wh ich more t han 5 0 p er c ent o f t he t ota l number o f t ypes o ccur t ogether i n p o lythet ic a ssemblages a ssoc iat ing v ar ious s ets o f t he c u ltura l a rtefact-types. The boundar ies o f t h is c u l ture a rea o n ly o ccas iona l ly c o inc ide w ith t he b oundar ies o f a ny s pec if ic a r tefactt ype o r g roup o f a rtefact-types.... N everthe less, t he d istr ibut ion p a ttern i s n ot w ithout r egu lar ity s ince t he d ens ity o f t he t ype d istr ibut ions d o f a l l away r ap id ly i n f requency o f o ccurrence t owards t he b oundaries o f t he d ispers ion a rea. H owever, b ecause t h is g radat ion i s more e xponent ia l t han a s teady g rad ient , e ven t he boundary a ssemblages o f v ery i nterm ixed n e ighbour ing cu l tures w i l l n ecessar i ly c onta in a g reater n umber o f t ypes f rom o ne c u l tura l s et a nd l esser numbers f rom o thers ( ibid.: 2 65-266). Not o n ly d oes e ach o f t hese mode ls s t ipu late a d ifferent c oncept o f t he a rchaeo log ica l c u lture, but e ach a lso i mpl ies a d ifferent e xpectat ion c oncern ing t he n ature o f borders a nd boundar ies. D eta i led a na lyses o f t he a ssociat ion o f a rt ifact d istr ibut ion p atterns s eem t o i nd icate t hat t he c u ltura l b r ick a nd r ad ia l c ontour mode ls a ccount l ess a dequa te ly t han t he p o lythet ic mode l f or t he c omplex ity o f d istr ibut ion p atterns i n t he a rchaeo log ica l r ecord (Hodder 1 977a , 1 978a ; Hodder a nd O rton 1 976). The p o lythet ic mode l a lso s eems t o b e more c ongruent w ith t he c onc lus ions r eached e ar l ier i n t h is c hapter a bout boundar ies, borders a nd f ront iers i n g enera l. Recent ly, h owever, t he v a l id ity o f t he e nt ire c oncept been quest ioned. R enfrew, f or e xample, s uggests t ha t

h as

v ery o f ten, wh i le i mag in ing t hat we a re a l low ing r ea l patterns t o emerge f rom t he a rchaeo log ica l d ata patterns wh ich must, i t i s t hought, betoken s ome s ocia l r ea l ity - we a re i nstead i mpos ing t axonom ic c ategor ies upon t he d ata wh ich a re pure ly c onstructs o f o ur own d ev ising ( 1978: 9 4). He proposes i nstead t hat t he " po l ity" b e a dopted a s t he most a ppropr iate a rchaeo log ica l a na lyt ica l un it , a nd s tates t hat p ol i t ies c an b e r ecogn ised a rchaeo log ica l ly by t he s ymbo l ism w ith wh ich t he c entra l a uthor ity e xpresses i t s p ower o r by r econstruct ing t he h ierarchy o f c entra l p laces ( ibid.: 1 05). Shennan n otes t hat c u ltures h ave b een t reated a s f orma l r ather t han f unct iona l r eg ions a nd t hat t he d eta i led a na lys is o f a rt ifact a ttr ibutes t ends t o d im in ish t he s ign if icance o f a c u ltura l c ore a rea ( 1978: 1 14). O ther r ecent s tud ies h ave e xam ined t he quest ion o f e thn ic ity i n a n a rchaeo log ica l c ontext ( e.g., M cGu ire 1 982; S chuy ler 1 980). I nasmuch a s e thn ic ity wou ld r epresent a n i mportant v ar iable i n r egard t o b order o r f ront ier p opu lat ions - part icu lar ly w ith r espect t o p rocesses s uch a s a ccu lturat ion - i t may b e a sked whether o r how much a n a rchaeo log ica l c u lture c an b e i dent if ied w ith a g iven e thn ic g roup.

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We h ave s een t hat t he b oundar ies o f p o l it ica l , s ocia l , c u ltura l a nd e conom ic s ystems o r s ubsystems d o n ot c ons istent ly c o inc ide, a nd f or t hat r eason i t wou ld b e unrea l ist ic t o e xpect t hat a ny s ing le c onstruct c ou ld i nc lude a l l phenomena o f i nterest i n t he a rchaeo log ica l r ecord. Ent it ies s uch a s p o l it ies, e conom ic n etworks o r i nteract ion s pheres ( Ca ldwe l l 1 964; B inford 1 972a) c onst itute l eg it imate un its o f a na lys is, d epend ing u pon o ne 's s pecif ic r esearch g oa ls. And s o, I wou ld a rgue, d o a rchaeo log ica l c u ltures, wh ich r epresent a t a m in imum, a c erta in d egree o f s hared mater ia l c u lture. F or t he s tudy o f borders, boundar ies a nd f ront iers, t he a rchaeo log ica l c u lture r ema ins a h eur ist ic c oncept , I wou ld s uggest, a l though c onstructs c oncern ing o ther a spects o f t he a rchaeo log ica l r ecord may p rove u sefu l a s w e l l. A lthough t he b oundar ies o f a rchaeo logica l c u ltures a re r out inely d emarcated o n maps, f ew e fforts h ave b een made by a rchaeo logists t o s et f orth e xpl ic it ly t he c r iter ia f or o r t he means by wh ich s uch b oundar ies were c hosen. I n many c ases t he boundar ies g iven r ough ly c o incid2 w ith n atura l o nes; t h is v ague a nd g enera l s ort o f d emarcat ion r ef lects, a t l east i n p art , a n awareness t hat p er iphera l a reas a re o ften l ess we l l s urveyed t han t he c ore a rea a nd t hat boundar ies d o f luctuate t o s ome e xtent o ver t ime. F or e xample, a f ter d emarcat ing t he l im its o f M esoamer ica i n s uch t erms, Arm i l las s tates t hat a c u ltura l c hasm s et a part t he M esoamerican f armers f rom t he ir n omad ic hunt ing-gather ing n orthern n e ighbors; t he h istor ic l im it o f f arm ing s ett lement r ough ly c o inc ided w ith t he border l i ne o n t he o ther. The s outhern b oundary was l ess s harply d ef ined, e ither e co logica l ly o r c u ltura l ly ( 1964: 2 91). O ther a ttempts t o d enote a rchaeo log ica l b oundar ies ( e.g., L othrop 1 939) c ombine h istor ica l , e thnoh istor ica l a nd l i ngu ist ic e v idence w ith a rchaeo logica l d ata i n t he f orm o f d iagnost ic a rt ifacts o r f eatures. Boundar ies d er ived by t hese methods may i ndeed b e qu ite va l id , a nd s hou ld c erta in ly n ot b e d isregarded o n t hat bas is; h owever, o ther a pproaches s hou ld b e c ons idered a s we l l , part icu lar ly f or a reas i n wh ich o n ly a rchaeo log ica l e v idence i s a va i lable. G iven t he p o lythet ic mode l o f a n a rchaeo log ica l c u lture, s evera l methods m ight b e u sed t o d eterm ine i t s b oundar ies. One method wou ld b e t o e stabl ish a c r iter ion f or i nclus ion b ased upon t he p ercentage i n a ssemblages o f a rt ifacts o r a rt ifact t ypes f ound i n t he c ore z one; a l i ne m ight t hen b e d rawn j ust b ey9nd t hose s ites wh ich meet t h is c r iter ion t o i nd icate t he b oundary Another method wou ld b e t o p lot t he d istr ibut ions o f i nd iv idua l a rt ifact t ypes, n ot ing t he ir l im its i n e ach c ase; h ere t he p roblem b ecomes e ssent ia l ly t hat o f d ef in ing a f orma l r egion. One s o lut ion t o t h is prob lem i s t o i nterpo late a med ian b oundary f rom t hose o f e ach i nd iv idua l d istr ibut ion s o a s t o a pprox imate a n " average" d istr ibut ion l im it ( cf. Green 1 955); t h is a ssumes, h owever , t hat e ach i nd iv idua l d istr ibut ion boundary i s a d eterm inant o f e qua l va l id ity (Haggett 1 965: 2 47), whereas i f t he s ize, v a lue a nd f unct ion o f a rt ifact t ypes h ave s ign if icant e ffect o n t he ir

1 9

d istr ibut ion p attern, o ne m ight w ish t o w e ight t hem a ccord ing ly. A s omewhat d ifferent p rocedure, measur ing t he f a l l-off r ate o f s ing le a rt ifact t ypes r ef lect ing a s pecif ic e thn ic o r c u ltura l i dent ity, h as a ls ( r ecent ly b een p roposed ( K imes, e t a l . 1 982). U s ing a f orm o f r egress ion a na lys is, t he p rocedure o ffers t he p otent ia l n ot o n ly o f l ocat ing r eg iona l c u ltura l b oundar ies, but o f i nd icat ing t he ir w idth a s we l l ( such a n a rea wou ld t hus c orrespond t o ab order z one a s I h ave l e ii led i t ) . —n ,, t her a pproach wou ld b e t o t reat a rchaeo log ica l c u ltures a s f unct iona l r ather t han f orma l r egions. Thus, f or e xample, o ne m ight a ttempt t o f o l low R enfrew 's s uggest ion c oncern ing s ett lement patterns, a ccept ing h is a ssumpt ion t hat h uman s pat ia l o rgan izat ion i s c e l lu lar a nd modular a nd t hat modu les c ompr is ing a ny g iven h iera I dea l l eve l a re o f c omparable s ize ( 1978: 1 02) . I f t he a ppr)x imate s ize o f h igher modu les were known o r c ou ld b e e st imated, t he ir boundar ies c ou ld b e i nd icated by i nscr ibing a c i rch w ith a r ad ius o f t he a ppropr iate l ength f rom t he c entra l p lac e f t hat module. O r o ne m ight a ttempt t o r econstruct s uch mode ls u s ing Th iessen p o lygons ( Haggett 1 965: 2 47-248), a s h as been d one i n s evera l i nstances ( Bint l iff 1 977; Hammond 1 972; Renfrew 1 977); o ne d isadvantage o f t h is m ethod, h owever, i s t hat i t i s more u sefu l f or p art it ion ing a n a rea whose l im its a re a lready known t han f or d eterm in ing o uter b oundar ies. S im i lar ly, t he s ame pr oce : ' ures c ou ld b e a ppl ied t o l owerleve l modu les o n t he per p , J ry; i n f act , t he boundary o bta ined by c onnect ing t hose o f e z , -eh n odu le m ight b e more a ccurate t han t hat f or t he h igherleve l m) du le o r modu les t o wh ich t hey b e long.

2 0

NOTES TO CHAPTER 1 1 2 3

Such variables would, of course, be affected in turn by more s pecific social, political, economic and cultural factors. Here only the interaction of two systems is considered; with more than two, the pattern of interaction is considerably more complex. Clarke sets this criterion at 50%, but this figure seems rather arbitrary and could arguably be set somewhat higher or lower with equal justification •

21

CHAPTER 2 SOURC ES OF DATA To this date, some seventy reasonably well-documented Mycenaean sites are known in Thessaly (see Appendix 1 and Figure 1) • More than half of these have been identified solely on the basis of surface finds. Of those sites that have been. excavated in a more or less systematic fashion, slightly over half represent fully-excavated burials, many of which had been robbed either in antiquity or in modern times. Systematic excavations of the fifteen or so habitation sites range from limited test excavations to full­ scale, long-term projects. Clearly then, the archaeological record in Thessaly is, as elsewhere, highly variable. Moreover, much of the data obtained remain to this point unpublished, and are thus essentially unavailable to researchers. I have examined almost all of the unpublished material from northern Thessaly that could be located, and thus the material I have utilized - counting that which I myself collected - represents almost a 100% sample of the available data for that area. For the rest of Thessaly and other areas of Greece, I have relied primarily upon published material. Some brief mention should be made of the major research efforts concerning the Mycenaean period in Thessaly. The earliest scientific excavations were carried out principally by Tsountas, Arvanitopoulos and Stilis. The first attempt to synthesize the prehistory of. Thessaly was made by Wace and Thompson (1912), w ho conducted an extensive survey, excavated a number of sites, and combined their new data with those previously collected. Although the work of Wace and Thompson was subsequently updated by Hansen (1933), a considerable hiatus in archaeological research in Thessaly then ensued, and serious research, with one or two exceptions, was not resumed until after the Second World War. The next attempt at synthesis was also the only work to date focusing solely on the Bronze Age in Thessaly. Hunter (1953), in addition to examining, cataloguing and analyzing all of the Mycenaean material then known and available, also conducted a survey, discovering several new sites. Some years later, in the early 1960's, David and Elizabeth French carried out yet another survey, not yet published, whose intent was to clarify and expand the work of Wace and Thompson; this survey, the most comprehensive yet done in Thessaly, added considerably to the roster of known Mycenaean sites in Thessaly. Another significant and long-term research project, employing both excavation and surface collection, was effected by Milojcic (1955, 1959). Finally, there is the work of the Greek Archaeological Service under the direction of the ephors Verdelis, Theocharis and Hourmouziadis, respectively, which has contributed much of our recent knowledge concerning Mycenaean Thessaly. The results of all of the above . efforts have also been successively summarized in compilations by Alin (1961), Des borough (1972), and Hope Simpson (1981). These sources of published material largely form the data base of previously collected information used in this study.

22

i n T hessa ly

I n t he f a l l o f 1 979 I c arr ied o ut a p rogram o f s urvey a nd s urface c o l lect ion i n n orthern Thessa ly. 1 The p r imary g oa ls o f t h is program were t o: ( 1) i nvest igate t he p er iphery o f Mycenaean c u lture i n n orthern Thessa ly, a n a rea p rev ious ly r e lat ive ly unexp lored; ( 2) l ocate i f p oss ib le und iscovered Mycenaean s i tes o r s ites wh ich m ight b e c haracter ized a s marg ina l o r t rans it iona l i n t erms o f t he ir a rt ifactua l r ema ins; ( 3) g ather d escr ipt ive d ata c oncern ing t he p rec ise l ocat ion, s ize, a nd e nv ironmenta l s ett ing o f Mycenaean s i tes i n n orthern Thessa ly; a nd ( 4) o bta in d ata f rom t hese s i tes by means o f s urface c o l lect ion i n s uff ic ient quant ity t o p rov ide a n a dequate s ample f or purposes o f quant itat ive a nd qua l itat ive a na lys is o f t he r e lat ionsh ips o f t he s i tes t o e ach o ther a nd t o Mycenaean s i tes e lsewhere i n Thessa ly a nd i n Greece. The p rogram o f r esearch s ubsequent ly f o l lowed was d es igned t o a ch ieve t hese g oa ls. G iven c erta in c onstra ints i mposed by weather c ond it ions, f inances, a nd a va ilable p ersonne l,' i t t hus s eemed e v ident t hat s ome f orm o f e xtens ive, r ather t han i ntens ive, s urvey s hou ld b e employed. An e xtens ive s urvey may b e d ef ined a s o ne wh ich a ttempts t o c over a f a ir ly l arge t err itory, o ften r elat ive ly unknown a rchaeo log ica l ly, i n o rder t o p rov ide b as ic d ata f or f uture r esearch. By c ontrast , a n i ntens ive s urvey i s d es igned t o e xplore t horough ly a more l im ited a rea , e ither e nt irely o r by means o f a p redeterm ined s ampl ing p rocedure, i n o rder t o o bta in d eta i led a nd i nc lus ive d ata (Renfrew e t a l ., 1 977: 5 8-61). Another s im i lar d ist inct ion may b e d rawn b etween what h as been c a l led " purpos ive s ampl ing t echn iques" ( Sch iffer e t a l. 1 978: 5 ) a nd s ystemat ic s ampl ing p rocedure. I n t he f ormer i nstance, s pec if ic c r iter ia a re employed i n o rder t o o bta in most e ff ic ient ly part icu lar k inds o f d ata; i n t he l atter i nstance, a t arget a rea i s part it ioned i nto s ampl ing un its o f a g iven s ize ( usua l ly quadrants o r t ransects), a p ercentage o f t hese un its a re s e lected a ccord ing t o a s ampl ing p rocedure ( e.g., r andom, s trat if ied, o r s ystemat ic) f or s urvey, a nd t he r esu lts a re t hen e xtrapo lated f or t he e nt ire t arget a rea. A l l o f t he s urveys c onducted i n Thessa ly - a s we l l a s t he g reat ma jor ity o f t hose e lsewhere i n Greece ( B int l iff 1 977a: 6 ) - may b e d escr ibed a s e xtens ive a nd purposive, wh i le most o f t hose b egun more r ecent ly ( e.g., B lackman a nd Bran igan 1 977; Cherry 1 979) a re b o th i ntens ive a nd s ystemat ic. Two f urther c ons iderations p rompted my d ecis ion t o a dopt a n e xtens ive a nd purpos ive s urvey s trategy. One was my d es ire t o e xp lore a n a rea l arge e nough t o e ncompass a l l known Mycenaean s ites i n n orthern Thessa ly, i n a dd it ion t o a s ubstant ia l s tr ip o f t err itory b eyond t he known l im its o f o ccupat ion. The s ize o f t h is a rea was much t oo l arge t o b e s urveyed i ntens ive ly, e ven by s ampl ing t he most m in ima l ly s tatist ica l ly va l id p ort ion. The s econd c ons iderat ion h as t o d o w ith t he n ature o f t he t erra in a nd t he e xpected s i te d ens ity, my a ssumpt ion b e ing t hat t he d ens ity o f s ett lement i n what must b e c ons idered marg ina l a reas wou ld b e s o l ow t hat e ither r andom o r s ystemat ic s ampl ing wou ld b e h igh ly i neff icient means o f l ocat ing s i tes. The

The p rogram o f d ata c o l lect ion purpose o f t he f i rst phase was

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t o

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2 4

was d iv ided i nto t wo phases. t o s earch f or Mycenaean s i tes t hose

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known ,

i n

a ccordance w ith t he p rev ious ly-stated r esearch o b ject ives. The f i rst s tep w as t o d ef ine, broad ly a t f i rst, t he t arget a rea. The s outhern b oundary o f t he t arget a rea was d emarcated by t he n orthernmost l im its o f i dent if ied Mycenaean s i tes i n Thessa ly. I n n ortheastern Thessa ly, t h is boundary f o l lows v ery c losely t he n orthern e dge o f t he Thessa l ian p la in. I n t he more s parse ly s ett led n orthwestern p ort ion, h owever, t he b oundary c annot b e a s c lose ly c orrelated w ith a ny s pec if ic g eograph ica l o r t opograph ica l f eature: h ere t he b oundary f o l lows t he n orth b ank o f t he P ene ios r iver a s f ar west a s Tr ika la a nd t hence westward i n a s tra ight l i ne t o t he western b oundary f ormed by t he P indos mounta ins. Two o ther n atura l f eatures f ormed t he o ther b oundar ies, t he Aegean s ea t o t he e ast a nd t he A l iakmon r iver t o t he n orth ( F igure 2 ). I n t erms o f t he modern p o l it ica l s ubd iv is ions o f Greece, t hen, t he t arget a rea embraces t he n orthern p ort ion o f t he p rov ince o f Thessa ly a nd t he s outhern p ortion o f t he p rov ince o f W estern M acedon ia. W ith in t h is b road t arget a rea o f a pprox imate ly 5 000 s quare k i lometers, s evera l sma l ler a rea w ere t hen s e lected. These a reas were d ef ined by e l im inat ing a l l a reas wh ich were p r imar i ly c omposed o f h igh ly mounta inous t erra in, wh ich c ompr ise a l arge p ercentage o f t he t arget a rea. Areas o f h igh ly mounta inous t erra in were e l im inated f or t he f o llow ing r easons: ( 1) i t was a ssumed t hat t he e conom ic o r ientat ion o f t he L ate Bronze Age i nhab itants, h ad t hey b een s trongly i nf luenced by Mycenaean c u lture, wou ld h ave b een p r imar i ly s edentary a gr icu lture r ather t han n omad ic o r s em in omad ic p astora l ism , a nd t hat t hey wou ld t herefore h ave s e lected s ites w ith p rox im ity t o s uf f ic ient l eve l g round t o p rov ide a s ign if icant p roport ion o f t he ir s ubs istence f rom c rops, 3 ( 2) i t was a lso a ssumed t hat t here wou ld b e a g reater p robabil i ty o f l ocat ing Mycenaean s ites w ith in a nd a long t he n atura l n orth-south r outes o f c ommun icat ion b etween Thessa ly a nd M acedon ia o r Ep iros t han i n t he mounta ins t hemse lves; ( 3) i t was f urther a ssumed t hat i f Mycenaean s i tes e x isted i n t he t arget a rea , t hose l ocated i n mounta inous a reas wou ld b e smal ler a nd more s cattered t han t hose i n t he v a l leys, r ender ing t he l i ke l ihood o f t he ir d iscovery m in ima l , e ven u s ing a purpos ive s urvey s trategy. F ive p otent ia l a reas w ith in t he b roader t arget a rea t hus r ema ined: ( 1) t he s er ies o f v a l leys d ra ined by t he T itaresos r iver a nd i ts t r ibutar ies; ( 2) t he n orthwestern p ort ion o f t he Thessa l ian p la in, wh ich n arrows i n a n orthwester ly d irect ion t oward Ka lambaka; ( 3) t he s tretch o f l and b etween t hese t wo a reas b ounded o n t he s outh by t he P ene ios r iver a nd o n t he n orth by t he Kamvoun ian f ooth i l ls; ( 4) t he c oasta l p la in l ead ing f rom t he Tempe v a l ley t oward Thessa lon iki; a nd ( 5) t he a rea o n t he s outh bank o f t he A l iakmon r iver i n t he v icin ity o f S erv ia. On ly t he f i rst t hree a reas were, h owever, s urveyed, s ince t he r esul ts o f t he s urvey o f t he f i rst t hree a reas ( see b e low) c onv inced me t hat Mycenaean s i tes wou ld b e e ven more un l ike ly i n a reas e ven f urther r emoved t han t hose t hree. The

t hree

a reas

c omb ined

f orm

a r ough ly

U-shaped t err itory

o f 8 40 s quare k i lometers, c ont iguous o n i t s s outhern e dge w ith t he known e xtent o f Mycenaean o ccupat ion i n Thessa ly ( F igure 3 ). Th is a rea was t hen f urther s trat if ied, u s ing c r iter ia d es igned t o

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I n it ia l B order Z one S urvey T arget A rea.

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F igure 3 .

S urvey T arget A rea i n N orthern T hessaly .

2 7

max im ize t he p robabil i ty o f l ocating Mycenaean s i tes o f moderate s ize, i .e., h ectare o r l arger. 4 Var ious l ocationa l p r inc ip les h ave b een s uggested t o a ccount f or t he p lacement o f s i tes w ith in a part icu lar e nv ironment ( e.g., B int l iff 1 977; c f. H ope S impson 1 981: 1 -2), b ased upon c erta in a ssumpt ions c oncern ing t he t he maxim izat ion o f e nv ironmenta l f eatures a nd r esources. The b as ic c r iter ia employed i n t h is i nstance - c hosen b ecause most Mycenaean s ites s eem t o h ave b een l ocated u s ing t hem - were p rox im ity t o a water s ource, a n a rea o f l ow t o moderate e levat ion, a nd r easonably l eve l g round i n t he v ic in ity. L oc i w ith in t he t arget a rea wh ich m et t hese c r iter ia were p lotted a nd v is ited. I n e ach i nstance, t he i mmed iate a rea s urround ing t he l ocus was e xp lored o n f oot. Where t erra in a nd v is ibi l ity p erm itted, we wa lked c ourses 4 0-50 meters a part, a d istance g reat e nough t o a l low u s t o c over s evera l l oci p er d ay a nd sma l l e nough t o i nsure t hat a l l but v ery s ma l l s i tes wou ld b e d etected. I n a l l , 4 5 l oc i were s urveyed i n t h is manner; t he a rea e ncompassed by t he l oc i, t he ir i mmed iate e nv irons a nd r outes wa lked b etween t hem was 1 17 s quare k i lometers. Thus a lmost 1 4% o f t he t arget a rea was s e lect ive ly a nd purpos ive ly s urveyed. Th is t ype o f purpos ive s ampl ing m ight b e c ons idered a p art icu lar k ind o f s trat if ied s ampl ing, i n wh ich o n ly c erta in s trata a re e xplored. Thus, i n e l im inat ing 7 5% o f t he broader t arget a rea, o ne e nv ironmenta l s tratum - mounta inous t erra in - was i gnored. The 1 4% o f t he r ema in ing a rea ( c. 2 % o f t he b roader t arget a rea), r epresents, a s i t were, a s ingle s tratum d ef ined by t he l oca l c r iter ia g iven a bove; t h is s tratum m ight t hus b e t ermed " areas where Mycenaean o ccupat ion h ave t he h ighest p robabil ity o f o ccurr ing" ( cf. Hope S impson 1 981: 2 ). C lose t o 1 00% o f t his s tratum was s ampled, wh i le n one o f t he o ther p oss ible s ampl ing s trata were i nvest igated. The 1 17 s quare k i lometers s ampled t herefore c annot b e c ons idered r epresentat ive o f t he e nt ire t arget a rea , a nd t he c onc lus ions d rawn f rom t he s urvey a pply o n ly t o t he part icu lar s tratum d ef ined a bove. A lthough numerous s i tes o f v ar ious p er iods ( especia l ly Byzant ine) were n oted a t o r b etween t hese l oc i , n o Mycenaean s ites were d iscovered - i .e, n o i dent if iable Mycenaean p ottery was f ound. There a re t wo p oss ible e xplanat ions wh ich m ight a ccount f or t h is r esul t. One i s t hat Mycenaean s i tes d o e x ist i n t he t arget a rea , but were n ot l ocated due t o t he n ature o f t he s urvey p rogram; i .e., t hat t he a ssumpt ions a nd e xpectat ions g iven a bove upon wh ich t he s urvey was p red icated m ay h ave b een i ncorrect. Th is c ou ld h ave o ccurred f or a number o f r easons: ( 1) s ites f or Mycenaean s ett lements m ight h ave b een s e lected a ccord ing t o c r iter ia o ther t han t hose u sed t o i dent ify a reas o f h igh p o tent ia l f or o ccupat ion ( the l oc i) - t hey m ight , f or e xample, h ave b een a t h igher e levat ions w e l l i nto mounta inous t erra in; ( 2) Mycenaean o ccupat ion i n t he t arget a rea may h ave b een s o s parse a nd/or s cattered t hat a n e xtens ive s urvey m ight h ave m issed t hem; ( 3) t he s urvey was n ot d es igned t o l ocate v ery s ma l l s i tes wh ich may i ndeed h ave b een p resent. Concern ing t he l a tter t wo p oss ibi l it ies, i t i s p ossib le t hat a more i ntens ive f orm o f s urvey wou ld h ave l ocated t hese s i tes. I t s eems l i ke ly, h owever , t hat i f s uch s i tes e x isted , a t l east o ne o r t wo o f t hem wou ld h ave b een d iscovered a t

2 8

o r b etween s ome o f t he l oc i;; t he p robabi l ity t hat n o s i tes e x isted a t t hese l oc i , but d id e x ist e lsewhere, i s , i t s eems t o m e, e xtreme ly l ow. I f , o n t he o ther h and , my a ssumpt ions c oncern ing l ocat iona l c r iter ia were i ncorrect - i f , f or e xample, d ifferent c r iter ia f or s i te s e lect ion o bta in i n b order a reas ( at l east i n t h is part icu lar border a rea) o r t he e conom ic mode i n t h is a rea w ere predom inant ly p astora l r ather t han a gr icu ltura l - t hen a d ifferent s urvey s trategy wou ld h ave t o b e employed i n o rder t o d eterm ine whether t here i s t ru ly a n a bsence o f Mycenaean s ites. D ifferent l ocat iona l c r iter ia m ight b e u sed o r ,a ga in, a more i ntens ive f orm o f s urvey c ou ld b e undertaken, p erhaps c oncentrat ing u pon more mounta inous t erra in .5 The s econd e xp lanat ion i s t hat t he h ypothes is i s i n f act c orrect, a nd t hat Mycenaean s ett lements wou ld t herefore n e ither b e e xpected n or f ound b eyond t he e dge o f t he p la in ( or e ven, i n n orthwestern Thessa ly, up t o t he e dge o f t he p la in). A f ew a rt ifacts f ound n ear E lasson, D omen ikon, Vouva la ( a l l c hance f inds l ack ing e xact p roven ience o r a rchaeo log ica l c ontext, but p resumed t o b e f rom c ist g raves) a nd Agr i l ia i nd icate t hat Mycenaean mater ia l c u l ture was n ot unknown t here; y et a l though t hose v ic in it ies were s earched w ith p art icu lar c are, n o s ett lements w ere l ocated. Th is i s n ot t o s ay t hat n o s uch s ett lements e x isted t here, f or g iven t he c aveats c oncern ing s urvey d es ign a nd p rocedure , s ome may s t i l l b e f ound. N everthe less, a s a r esu lt o f t h is s urvey, i t c an be s tated w ith s ome c erta inty t hat i f Mycenaean s ett lements e x isted i n t he t arget a rea , t hey were n ot numerous a nd were p robably v ery sma l l. The s econd phase o f t he d ata c o l lect ion p rogram was d es igned t o g ather s i te s ett lement d ata, a nd was c arr ied o ut a t n ine prev ious ly-known Mycenaean s ites i n n orthern Thessa ly ( F igure 4 ). A t e ach s i te, we a scerta ined i t s e xact l ocat ion by m eans o f map c oord inates, measured t he a pprox imate d imens ions o f t he s herd s catter, a nd made o bservat ions c oncern ing i ts e nv ironmenta l s ett ing. We t hen c onducted a n i ntens ive s urface c o l lect ion i n a n a rea d ef ined by t he boundar ies o f t he most c oncentrated s urface s catter, a rt ifacts h and les,

t he o b ject ive o f wh ich was t o c o l lect a l l M ycenaean a nd d iagnost ic a rt ifacts ( i .e., p a inted s herds, r ims, a nd bases) f rom o ther p er iods. The purpose o f t h is

p rocedure was t o o bta in a s c omplete a nd r epresentat ive s ample o f Mycenaean a rt ifacts a s p oss ible a nd t o i dent ify o ther p er iods o f o ccupat ion. I t s hou ld b e a pparent t hat t he s ampl ing p rocedure employed h ere was n o t a t horough ly c ontro l led o ne. E fforts w ere made, h owever, t o c o l lect c lose t o 1 00% o f Mycenaean s herds o n t he s urface o f e ach s i te. Though i t was n ot p oss ible t o a ch ieve t h is g oa l i n a l l c ases, i t i s n everthe less f a ir t o s ay t hat t he s amples o bta ined a ccurate ly r epresent t he Mycenaean s urface d epos it ion a t t he t ime o f c o llect ion.

2 9

C L ) S -

L i

C r )

3 0

N orthern T hessaly

NOTES TO CHAPTER 2 1

2

3

4

5

F und ing f or t h is r esearch was p rov ided i n p art by g rants a nd f el lowsh ips f rom t he Un ivers ity o f Ca l iforn ia , L os Ange les a nd t he UCLA F r iends o f Archaeo logy. Perm iss ion f or s urvey a nd s urface c o l lect ion was o bta ined f rom t he Greek M in istry o f S c ience a nd Cu lture t hrough t he a ss istance o f Ephors G . Hourmouziad is a nd K . Ga lls. The o pt imum p er iod f or s urvey a nd s urface c o l lect ion i n Thessa ly i s l ate s ummer a nd e ar ly a utmun, a f ter c rops h ave b een h arvested ( so t hat v is ibi l ity i s a t a max imum) a nd b efore t he w inter r a ins b eg in; p ersonne l f or t h is p ro ject were l im ited t o my w ife a nd myse lf. Th is a ssumpt ion d er ives f rom t he o bservat ion t hat i n c entra l and s outhern Greece, t he p r imary mode o f s ubs istance was f rom a gr icul tura l c rops a nd l ivestock, a nd n ot s o le ly f rom h erd ing. My t erm ino logy i n t h is r espect d iffers s omewhat h ere a nd e lsewhere f rom t hat o f H ope S impson ( 1981: 3 ), who g ives t he f o l lowing p rov is iona l s ca le o f s ett lement s ize: sma l l = up t o ha; sma l l t o med ium = 4 t o l ha ; med ium = 1 t o 1 4h a; med ium t o l arge = 1 4 t o 2 ha; l arge = 2 t o 4ha; v ery l arge = over 4ha. S ince s ites o ccup ied by p astora l ists l eave f ewer t races, h owever, s uch a n e ffort m ight we l l b e unproduct ive, g iven t he c ost i n t erms o f t ime a nd e ffort.

3 1

CHAPTER 3 MYCENAEAN THESS ALY

l ook t he

To a pprec iate t he phys ica l s ett ing o f Thessa ly, we must f i rst a t i t i n i ts l arger g eograph ica l c ontext a s p art o f Greece a nd Ba lkan p en insula ( F igure 5 ). The Ba lkan p en insu la ( or

s outheastern Europe, t he t erms b e ing r ough ly s ynonymous), wh ich a ccord ing t o o ne r ecent d ef in it ion c ompr ises " that t err itory c over ing t he modern s tates o f A lban ia , Bu lgar ia, Greece, R oman ia a nd Yugoslav ia , a long w ith t he a rea known a s European Turkey" ( Carter 1 977: 1 ), i s a l arge ly mounta inous l and mass s urrounded by t he Adr iat ic, I on ian, Aegean a nd B lack S eas. The western Ba lkans a re d om inated by t he f orm idab le D inar ic A lps i n t he n orth a nd t he P indos r ange f urther s outh, b oth r unn ing i n a NW-SE d irect ion, wh i le t o t he e ast t he Transylvan ian A lps i n t he n orth a nd t he Ba lkan a nd Rhodope mounta ins i n t he s outh a re o r iented i n a r ough ly E -W d irect ion. As ide f rom t he b road p la ins o f t he Danube a nd Mar ica r ivers a nd t he n arrower c oasta l p la ins, t he a reas o f d ensest i nhab itat ion a re t he numerous upland b as ins a nd r iver v a l leys, wh ich a lso r epresent t he ma jor o ver land r outes o f c ommun icat ion; t he ma jor N-S r oute f o l lows t he Vardar-Morava s ystem, wh i le t he more d iff icu lt E -W passages p roceed v ar ious mounta in passes (Hammond 1 976: 2 1-33).

by

way

o f

I n t he s outh, part icu lar ly i n s outhern a nd c entra l Greece, t he c l imate a nd v egetat ion a re M ed iterranean, c haracter ized by h ot, d ry s ummers a nd m i ld, wet w inters, wh ich e nable c u lt ivat ion o f t he v ine a nd o l ive (Ange l 1 972: 8 8; R enfrew 1 972: 2 66-267). F urther north, t he v egetat ion a nd c l imate a re more c ont inenta l , w ith c o lder w inters, g reater e xtremes i n t emperature, a nd, f or t he most p art, greater p rec ipitat ion. The t rans it ion b etween t hese c l imat ic a nd v egetat iona l z ones b eg ins i n Thessa ly. Thessa ly may b e d escr ibed i n g enera l a s a l arge i n land b as in - t he l argest i n Greece ( Ph il ippson 1 959: 1 5) - a lmost e nt ire ly s urrounded by a s er ies o f h igh mounta ins o r mounta in r anges; t he pr imary e xcept ion t o t h is g enera l c onf igurat ion i s t he s outheastern p la in o f Vo los, wh ich i s a ccess ible f rom t he Aegean S ea ( F igure 6 ). To t he e ast, t he i nter ior i s c ut o ff f rom t he s ea by M t. P el ion and M t. Ossa, wh ich e ffect ive ly f orm a wa l l a long t he e astern c oast, b roken o n ly t o t he n orth o f M t. O ssa by t he n arrow d ef i le o f Tempe. Beyond t he Va le o f Tempe, i n t he n ortheastern c orner o f Thessa ly, l ooms M t. O lympos, t he t a l lest ( 2917 meters) a nd most mass ive p eak i n Greece. To t he west o f M t. O lympos l i es t he Kamvoun ian r ange, whose f ooth i l ls d escend g radua l ly t o t he northern e dge o f t he Thessal ian p la in. F urther t o t he w est t he P indos c ha in a ga in f orms a n a lmost i mpassab le wa l l , c urv ing a round s omewhat t o t he s outh a s we ll. The f ina l b r ick i n t h is a lmoste nc irc l ing wa l l i s M t. O thrys i n t he s outheast ( ibid.: 1 6-17). A l though t he Sperche ios va l ley a nd t he n orthern Sporades a re a lso s omet imes c ons idered part o f Thessa ly ( e.g., Hope S impson a nd D ickinson 1 979, Hunter 1 953), I have n ot i nc luded t hem b ecause t hey h e o uts ide t hese b oundar ies. A lthough t he mounta ins p resent a c ons iderable o bstac le t o over land t rave l i nto a nd o ut o f t he i nter ior o f Thessa ly, t here a re

3 2

F igure 5 .

T he B alkan P eninsu la ( E levat ion o ver 5 00 M . i ndicated b y s haded a reas).

3

n evertheless a number o f r outes l ead ing n orth a nd s outh. These a re a s f o l lows ( see F igure 6 ): ( 1) i n t he n ortheast, t he Va le o f Tempe prov ides a n o ut let f rom t he e astern p la in t o t he c oast. The va le i tse lf i s qu ite n arrow ( averag ing c . 5 0 meters) a nd d eep, a nd c an e as ily b e b locked a nd d efended a ga inst a l arge f orce by a sma l ler b ody a t a number o f po ints. Once t hrough t he v a le, h owever, t he passage n orth a long t he c oasta l p la in i nto c entra l Macedon ia i s unencumbered; a more d iff icu lt r oute f rom Gonno i a round t he west s lope o f M t. O lympos i s a lso p oss ib le; ( 2) i n t he north, western Macedon ia c an b e r eached t hrough t he T itaresos bas in b y means o f t wo r outes o ut o f t he e astern p la in, o ne t hrough t he M elouna P ass a nd a more r oundabout r oute f o l low ing t he c ourse o f t he T itaresos. Both o f t hese r outes l ead t o t he s trateg ic p ass a t E lasson, a nd f rom t here p roceed t hrough h i l l c ountry a long t he western e dge o f O lympos t o S erv ia i n t he m idd le A l iakmon v a lley; t h is i s a moderate ly d iff icu lt p assage; ( 3) i n t he n orthwest, t here i s a r oute f rom Tr ika la t hrough K a lambaka i nto t he upper r eaches o f t he P ene ios v a l ley, p roceed ing f rom t here e ither westward t hrough t he Zygos P ass t oward I oann ina i n Ep iros o r n orth o ver t he Chas ian f ooth i l ls t o Grevena o r S erv ia i n western Macedon ia; t he r oute i nto Ep iros i s p art icu lar ly d iff icu l t a nd i s o ften i mpassab le i n w inter; ( 4) i n t he s outh, t here a re t wo r outes a round M t. O thrys. Both r outes p ass t hrough o r by Lam ia i n t he Sperche ios v a l ley b efore p roceed ing i nto Bo iot ia o r Phok is. There a re, o f c ourse, o ther r outes o f c ommun icat ion a s we l l , but t hese a re l ess e as ily t raversed a nd a re n orma l ly u sed o n ly by s hepherds. There i s i n a dd it ion o ne ma jor s ea r oute, f rom Vo los t hrough t he Gu lf o f Vo los a nd a long t he e astern c oast , by means o f wh ich ports i n Macedon ia , Eubo ia , Bo iot ia, A tt ika a nd t he Pe loponnese c an be r eached w ithout g reat d iff icu lty (Hammond 1 976: 2 4; Hansen 1 933: 1 4-18; Ph il ippson 1 959: 1 9-20). The i nter ior o f Thessa ly i s d iv ided i nto t wo l arge p la ins by a r ange o f f ooth il ls wh ich a re i n f act a c ont inuat ion o f t he Kamvoun ian r ange, a nd wh ich r un i n a NW-SE d irect ion; t hese f ooth i l ls c lear ly s eparate t he t wo p la ins, but d o n ot present a s er ious b arr ier t o t he c ommun icat ion b etween t hem. The sma l ler e astern p la in - o r P la in o f Lar isa ( c. 1 150 s q. km.) - i s a d jo ined by t wo b as ins: t hat f ormed by t he Gulf o f Vo los i n t he s outheast, wh ich i nc ludes t he smal ler c oasta l p la ins o f Vo los a nd A lmyros, a nd t hat f ormed by t he T itaresos r iver a nd i ts t r ibutar ies t o t he north. Both o f t hese bas ins a re s eparated f rom t he p la in by f ooth il ls. E ast o f t he c entra l f ooth i l ls ( Kynoskepha la i) a nd s outh o f t he P ene ios r iver, t here i s a n a rea o f l ow r o ll ing h i l ls, whi le t here was i n a nt iqu ity a l ake ( Vo ive, o r Kar la; now d ra ined) t o t he e ast a long t he f oot o f M t. P e l ion; t hese f eatures t hus c reated a f a ir ly narrow c orr idor o f l eve l p la in b etween Vo los a nd L ar isa. The northern p art o f t he p la in i s b roken by a number o f mounta in s purs,

b etween

wh ich t he p la in e xtends i n a s er ies o f s em iiso lated

" bays." The

l arger

western

p la in

- o r

P la in

o f Tr ika la

( c.

1 700

s q.

km.) - a L so h as a number o f s im i lar but sma l ler " bays" a long i ts n orthern e dge, but i s o therw ise a n e nt ire ly o pen a nd f i at e xpanse, broken o n ly by a f ew i so lated l imestone o utcrops ( such a s K tour i a nd Pyrgos) i n t he s outh. Together a nd s eparate ly, t he t wo p la ins

3 4

F igure 6 .

T hessa ly a nd N eighbor ing R eg ions.

3 5

a re i n t erms o f t he ir s ize more s im i lar t o t hose o f t he n orthern Ba lkans t han t o t hose o f c entra l a nd s outhern Greece. H owever, un l ike t he upland bas ins o f , f or e xample, western M acedon ia , t hey a re n ot d eep ly c ut by t he P ene ios r iver , a nd a re t hus o ften s ub ject t o p er iod ic f lood ing i n s ome a reas ( Ph il ippson 1 959: 2 0-22). The e nt ire i nter ior o f Thessa ly i s d ra ined by a s ing le r iver s ystem. The P ene ios, wh ich i s t he s econdlargest r iver i n Greece, o r ig inates i n t he Zygos Pass o f t he P indos mounta ins, e nter ing t he western p la in n ear Ka lambaka. I t t hen f lows i n a s outheaster ly d irect ion, t urns e astward a l i tt le s outh o f Tr ika la a nd c ont inues i n t hat d irect ion unt i l i t breaks t hrough t he c entra l f ooth i l ls. F rom t h is p o int t he r iver f lows f i rst n orth a nd t hen e ast a ga in unt i l i t r eaches L ar isa, where i t a ga in t urns n orth a nd t hen n orthe astward, f ina l ly e x it ing t hrough t he Va le o f Tempe t o t he s ea. The P ene ios t hus c omplete ly t raverses n orthern Thessa ly, f o l low ing f or much o f i ts c ourse t he e dge o f t he mounta ins. I n t he w estern p la in, t he e nt ire e astern s lope o f t he P indos r ange a nd t he n orth s lope o f M t. O thrys d ra in i nto t he P ene ios o r i ts ma jor t r ibutary, t he En ipeus r iver, wh ich f lows n orthwest f rom M t. O thrys a long t he c entra l f ooth i l ls unt i l i t meets t he P ene ios. The e astern p la in i s l ess a bundant ly watered, t he ma in t r ibutary b e ing t he T itaresos, wh ich d escends f rom t he western s lope o f M t. O lympos t hrough t he T itaresos b as in, j o in ing t he P ene ios j ust west o f t he d ef ile o f Mousa lar ( ibid.: 2 0-21). Ph il ippson n otes t hat The c onf igurat ion o f Thessa ly a s a wa l ledin b as in a lso a ccounts f or i ts c l imat ic p ecu l iar ity. Th is c onf igurat ion c auses t he c ontrast b etween t he mar it ime Med iterranean e xter ior ( the e astern c oast a nd t he env irons o f t he Gu lf o f Vo los) a nd t he c ont inenta l Med iterranean cl imate t ype o f t he i nter ior.... ( ibid.: 2 2; o r igina l i n German). Because o f t he ir prox im ity t o t he s ea , t he e astern c oast a nd t he c oasta l p la ins r ing ing t he Gulf o f Vo los e n joy a mod if ied Med iterranean c l imate, w ith s omewhat c oo ler a nd s l ight ly wetter w inters t han A thens, a nd much l ess r a infa l l t han t he western c oast o f Ep iros a t a s im i lar l at itude. The a verage month ly t emperature r anges f rom 7 .6° t o 2 6.6°C., w ith a n a verage y ear ly r a infa l l o f 5 1.5 ( Vo los) t o 5 7 cm. (A lmyros), 8 7.9 d ays o f r a in, a nd a n a verage y ear ly hum id ity o f 7 1.5%. The v egetat ion i s t yp ica l ly Med iterranean , i nc lud ing d omest icates s uch a s t he v ine a nd o l ive. The i nter ior, o n t he o ther h and, c ut o ff f rom t he i nf luence o f t he s ea by mounta ins, h as a mod if ied c ont inenta l c l imate, w ith g reater e xtremes i n t emperature, e .g., a n a verage month ly t emperature r ange o f 5 .4° t o 2 7.3° C . i n L ar isa ; t h is d ifferent ia l o f 2 2° c ompares w ith 1 9° i n Vo los a nd 1 7.3° i n A thens. The c l imate b ecomes more c ont inenta l a s o ne a pproaches t he s urround ing mounta ins, w ith g reater e xtremes i n t e mperature a nd g reater precipitat ion; t hus t here i s a y ear ly a verage o f 3 1 d ays o f f reez ing weather i n Tr ika la, 2 3 i n Lar isa a nd o n ly 7 i n Vo los. S im i lar ly, average y ear ly r a infa l l v ar ies f rom 5 1.8 cm. a nd 9 7.8 d ays i n Lar isa t o 7 3.8 cm. a nd 1 16.5 d ays i n Tr ika la. The amount o f

3 6

r a infa l l , h owever, v ar ies c ons iderably f rom y ear t o y ear i n t he i nter ior, a nd t he r esu lt ing l ack o r a bundance i n a g iven y ear t ends t o r educe c rop y ie lds. l t i s, t hough, t he h arshness o f t he w inters ( compared t o t hose o f s outhern Greece), a nd p articu lar ly t he h eavy f rosts wh ich l ast i nto March a nd e ven Apr i l , wh ich a re r espons ib le f or t he a bsence o f most f orms o f e vergreen M ed iterranean v egetat ion, i nc lud ing t he o l ive. A lthough o aks a nd b eeches f lour ish i n t he mounta ins a nd s tands o f pop lars, w i l lows a nd p lane-trees l ine t he r iver b anks, n atura l v egetat ion i s o therw ise v irtua l ly a bsent f rom t he p la ins e xcept i n t he s pr ing. 1 Thus Thessa ly i s un ique i n Greece t hrough i ts l eve l expanse, i ts c ont inenta l i so lat ion a nd t he s teppel ike nature o f i ts i nter ior, a nd i t a ppears a s a k ind o f prelude t o t he l arge i n land p la ins o f Bu lgar ia, Roman ia and Hungary ( Ph il ippson 1 959: 2 8; o r igina l i n German). I t r ema ins t o d escr ibe b r ief ly t hose a reas s urround ing Thessa ly. To t he north o f Thessa ly l i es Macedon ia. The l ower Vardar r egion, c onnected t o Thessa ly by t he n arrow e astern c oasta l p la in, i s a l arge p la in, wh i le t he upper Vardar c ompr ises a s er ies o f f ert i le upland bas ins. W estern M acedon ia c ons ists o f t hree i nterconnected bas ins r unn ing n orth a nd s outh. 2 Here a ga in, t he c l imate a nd vegetat ion . become i ncreas ingly c ont inenta l a s o ne moves n orth. Geograph ica l ly s peak ing, Macedon ia i s not part o f Greece.... The g reater part o f M acedon ia i s r emote f rom t he s ea. I ts a ff in it ies a re i nev itably w ith t he c ont inenta l l and mass o f t he Ba lkans a nd n ot t he mar it ime p en insulas o f Greece a nd I ta ly.... The c losest a ff in it ies between Macedon ia a nd Thessa ly a re t o b e f ound i n n ortheast Thessa ly a nd e specia l ly i n Perhaebia, where t he up land basin o f E lassona r esembles t he upland bas ins o f Macedon ia (Hammond 1 972: 4 -5). To t he west o f r egion d om inated by

Thessa ly l i es f our para l le l

Ep iros, a h igh ly mounta inous r anges c ompr is ing t he P indos

s ystem. The e asternmost a nd h ighest r ange ( over 2 000 meters i n s evera l p laces) i s r e lat ively un iform i n h e ight, but t he o ther r anges a re c haracter ized by c entra l s ubs idences o r b as ins, t he l argest a nd most prom inent be ing t hat o f I oann ina (Hammond 1 967: 8 -11). Beyond t he mounta ins t o t he west i s a f a ir ly n arrow s tr ip o f c oasta l p la in; t h is p la in a nd t he f i rst mounta in r ange t o t he e ast a re o pen t o t he i nf luence o f t he Adr iat ic S ea a nd t hus h ave a mod if ied M ed iterranean cl imate; f urther i n land, t he c l imate i s c ont inenta l. Thus Ep iros, t oo, i s a c l imat ic a nd v egetat iona l t ransit ion z one; " w ith in Greece t he c losest para llel i s f ound i n t he v ar iat ion o f c l imate b etween t he n orth-west a nd t he c entra l a reas o f Thessa ly a nd b etween t he upper a nd l ower c antons o f Macedon ia" ( ibid.: 1 6-17). The ma jor d ifference i n t h is r espect b etween Thessa ly a nd Ep iros i s t hat Ep iros r ece ives a lmost t wice a s much r a infa l l.

3 7

To t he s outh o f Thessa ly l i es c entra l Greece, most i mmed iate ly t he Sperche ios v a l ley a nd t he l arge i s land o f Eubo ia, wh ich i s s eparated f rom Thessa ly by a n arrow s tra it. F urther s outh o n t he ma in land a re t he d istr icts o f Phok is, L okr is a nd Bo iot ia. H ere t he t erra in c ons ists o f mounta ins - f or t he most p art l ess f orb idd ing t han t hose s urround ing Thessa ly - i nterspersed w ith sma l ler c oasta l p la ins. The c l imate a nd v egetat ion a re t hose c haracter ist ic o f t he M ed iterranean b as in. L et u s n ow t urn f rom t he phys ica l s ett ing o f Thessa ly t o s ome a spects o f i ts h ab itat ion d ur ing t he L ate Bronze Age. I n o rder t o a ssess t he n ature o f Mycenaean p o l it ica l a nd e conom ic o rgan iza tion, h owever , s ome r eference must f irst b e made t o t he Mycenaean s ystem a s a who le. There i s, h owever, n o r eason t o a ssume c omplete un iform ity i n t hese r espects t hroughout t he Mycenaean c u l tura l r ea lm - i n f act, o ne m ight e xpect a c erta in amount o f r eg iona l v ar iat ion, e specia l ly i n v iew o f Thessa ly 's p os it ion a t t he p er iphery o f t hat r ea lm - a nd i t s hou ld b e understood t hat s uch a p erspect ive i s employed p r imar i ly t o s uggest s ome s tructura l out l ine by means o f a na logy. Th is d iscuss ion w i l l f ocus upon L I I 11A-B ( c. 1 400-1200 B .C.), t he p er iod i n wh ich s uch o rgan iza t ion was most f u l ly e laborated. l t i s g enera l ly a ccepted t hat

" Mycenaean Greece was o rgan ised

not i nto i so lated a nd s e lf-govern ing c it ies, but i nto sma l l s tates c over ing a w ider a rea, c orrespond ing, more o r l ess, t o n a tura l g eograph ica l r eg ions, e ach g overned i n most c ases by o ne r uler" ( lakov ides 1 974: 2 72), a nd t hat " the c ountry was d iv ided i nto f our o r f ive l arge, a nd a bout a s many sma l ler, ' f edera l ' s tates, c orrespond ing t o t he l arger pa laces" ( ib id.: 2 74; c f . S arkady 1 973: 2 4). Such a utonomous o r s em i-autonomous s tates a ccord ing t o Renfrew, r epresent a n e vo lut ionary s tage i n t he d eve lopment o f c ar ly c iv i l izat ions, wh ich h e t erms " ear ly s tate modu les"; he n o tes t ha t " many e ar ly c iv i l izat ions c ompr ise, before s ubsequent un if icat ion, a bout 1 0 o f s uch e ar ly s tate modu les, a l though t he number may v ary by a f actor o f a t l east 2 ", a nd t hat f requent ly t he modu lar a rea i s a pprox imate ly 1 500 s q. km. w ith a mean d istance o f a bout 4 0 km. between t he c entra l p laces o f n e ighbour ing modu les. Spec ia l env ironmenta l o r s oc ia l f actors may r educe t h is d istance t o a bout 2 0 km., wh i le i nterven ing p arce ls o f c u lt ivable l and may i ncrease i t t o a t l east 1 00 km. ( 1975: 1 4). He h as a pp l ied t h is mode l t o Mycenaean Greece ( among o ther a reas) by a ssum ing t hat t he known p a laces a nd ma jor f ortresses c orrespond t o c entra l p laces o f s uch modu les, r ough ly i nd icat ing t he ir t err itor ies by means o f unwe ighted Th iessen p o lygons. As a hypothet ica l e xerc ise a nd a s a r ough a pprox imat ion, t his r econstruct ion may s erve a t l east a s a p re l im inary mode l f or l ocat ing t he ma jor Mycenaean p o l it ica l un its. When r eference i s made t o s ett lement p atterns a nd t o ma jor t opograph ica l f eatures s uch a s t hose c ited by Chadw ick ( 1977: 3 8) f or t he s outhwestern P e loponnese, where t he d ata a re f u l lest - t hese t err itor ia l boundar ies c an b e i nd icated w ith s omewhat more p recis ion. And i f t hese

e ar ly

s tate

modules

a re

3 8

c ompared

w ith

t he

k ingdoms

d escr ibed i n Homer 's Cata logue o f Sh ips - a s r econstructed by P age ( 1959) a nd Hope S impson a nd L azenby ( 1970) - t here i s , w ith a f ew e xcept ions, c ons iderable a greement. Unfortunate ly, o ne o f t hese e xcept ions i s Thessa ly. Whereas R enfrew p ostulates o ne o r t wo Mycenaean s tates, t he C ata logue o f Sh ips l i sts s even o r e ight k ingdoms i n o r a round Thecsa ly; t h is i s a c ons iderable d iscrepancy, a nd s uggests t hat t he d ata o r p rem ises u pon wh ich t he t wo r econstruct ions a re, b ased may, a t l east i n t he c ase o f Thessa ly, b e i ncompat ib le .3 These r econstruct ions r a ise t wo quest ions: ( 1) was t here i n Thessa ly a l eve l o f s tate o rgan izat ion s im ilar t o t hat i n s outhern Greece, most p laus ibly s een i n t he s outhwestern P e loponnese?; a nd ( 2) i f s o , d id i t e ncompass a l l o f Thessa ly, o r was t here more t han o ne o f t hese a utonomous p o l it ica l un its? I n o rder t o a nswer t he f i rst quest ion, we must c ons ider whether t here i s e v idence f or t he e x istence o f t he k ind o f p o l it ica l o rgan izat ion postu lated e lsewhere i n Greece. On t h is b as is, we m ight e xpect t o f ind t he f o l low ing: ( 1) a t err itory e ncompass ing r ough ly 1 500 s q. km. a nd a p opu lat ion l eve l a nd d ens ity g reater t han t hat o f a t r iba l s oc iety; ( 2) a c entra l p lace s erv ing a s a n a dm in istrat ive c enter, i .e., a p a lace o ccup ied by a r u l ing e l ite; ( 3) a s ite h ierarchy i nd icat ing a n a dm in istrat ive n etwork a nd r eg iona l c entra l izat ion o f f unct ions; ( 4) e conom ic d ivers if icat ion a nd s pec ial izat ion, a nd p oss ibly a s ystem o f r ed istr ibut ion. I f we e xam ine t he d istr ibut ion o f LH IIA-B s ites i n Thessa ly ( F igure 7 ), i t i s a pparent t hat t here i s n o d iff icu lty i n s at isfy ing t he f i rst c r iter ion. I n r espect t o t he s econd c r iter ion, i t h as o ften b een a ssumed t hat t he s ite o f I o lkos, o n t he western o utsk irts o f modern Vo los, " probab ly s upported a p a lace c omparable w ith t hose f urther s outh i f n o t a s s oph ist icated" (Hope S impson a nd D ick inson 1 979: 2 72). The i dent if icat ion o f a " pa lace" h ere i s b ased o n t he d iscovery o f a bu i ld ing w ith s evera l l arge r ooms ( one 1 2.5 meters i n l ength ( or w idth) w ith wa l ls c . 1 meter t h ick a nd a t imber f ramework, wh ite s tucco f l oors a nd f resco f ragments, i n a dd it ion t o t he s ize o f t he s ite ( a h igh mound 4 00 x 2 70 meters) a nd t he a bundance o f f ine Mycenaean c eram ics ( Theochares 1 956). A lthough o n ly p art ia l ly e xcavated, t h is bu i ld ing s uggests t he p resence o f a n e l ite r u l ing c lass a nd t he c entral izat ion o f a dm in istrat ive a nd e conom ic f unct ions c haracter ist ic o f t he more f u l ly-excavated pa laces a t Mycenae, T iryns a nd Py los. Another i nd icat ion wou ld b e t he p resence o f t ho los t ombs, r ich ly f urn ished a nd i nvo lv ing c ons iderable l abor a nd a rch itectura l s ki l l i n t he ir c onstruct ion, wh ich p resumably f unct ion, i nter a l ia , a s man ifestat ions o f p r ince ly power a nd a uthor ity ( B int l iff 1 977a: 8 8-90; Vermeu le 1 964: 1 26). One s uch t omb i s l ocated a l i tt le t o t he n orth o f I o lkos a t Kapakl i , a nd i s t he l argest t ho los t omb i n Thessa ly, w ith a d iameter o f c . 1 0 meters ( Kouroun iot is 1 906). Two o ther s l ight ly s ma l ler t ho lo i l ess t han 3 k i lometers t o t he west a t D im in i ( Lo ll ing a nd Wo lters 1 884, 1 886, 1 887; S t t l is 1 901; T sountas 1 980: 1 50-156) may a lso b e r easonably a ssoc iated w ith I o lkos ( Hope S impson 1 981: 1 63). On t he bas is o f t he e v idence, t herefore, t he a ssumpt ion t hat I o lkos was a c entra l p lace s im i lar t o - a l though n ot n ecessar i ly o n t he o rdez o f -t hose i n c entra l a nd s outhern Greece s eems warranted. As t o t he t h ird c r iter ion, i t h as b een p ostu la ted, a s n oted e ar l ier ( Chapter 1 ), t hat t nere a re c erta in r e lat ionsh ips b etween

3 9

D istr ibut ion

4 . _ 0

c omplex ity o f po l it ica l o rgan izat ion a nd h ow s i tes a re d istr ibuted i n t erms o f s ize a nd f requency. S ome e ftorts n ave b een m ade t o t est t hese t heoret ica l r elat ionsh ips a ga inst s ett lement d ata f rom Mycenaean Greece. 4 B int l iff h as s uggested t hat a f ourleve l merarchy o f Mycenaean s ites c an b e d iscerned, w ith t he h ighest l eve l r epresent ing a sma l l number o f " supercenters", i .e., t nose p a laces a na ma jor f ortresses a ssumed by R enfrew t o b e t err itor ia l c enters ( 1977b: F ig. 4A , 1 977c: 1 36-138). A more r ecent a na lys is o f s ite s ize urequency i n t ne s outnwestern P e loponnese, h owever, c onc luded t hat o n ly t wo l eve ls c ou ld b e i dent if ied, w ith t he upper l eve l c ompr is ing Py los, t wo r eg iona l c enters a na i t , s uoreg iona l c enters; t hese 1 9 s ett lements i dent if ied i n t he Py los L inear B t ablets were a ssumed t o b e among t he 2 2 l argest a rchaeo log ica l s ites i n M essean ia ( Carothers a nd M cDona ld 1 979: 4 36-440). 5 Two o ther p o ints o f i nterest emerged f rom t h is s tudy: t he c ut-off p o int b etween t he t wo l eve ls o f t he s i te s ize h ierarchy was c . 2 .2 h ectares, a nd t here was g reater v ar iabil i ty i n s ite s ize i n s ubregions wh ich were more h eav i ly p opu lated a nd wh ich s howed g reater e v idence o f e conom ic d ivers ity. W ith t hese f ind ings i n m ind, we may n ow c ons ider t he s ituat ion i n Thessa ly. H a lstead ( 1977), u t il izing s urvey d ata f rom t he e astern p la in o f Thessa ly, h as a lso a na lyzed s ite s ize a nd f requency, f ind ing a r ather d ifferent p attern t han t hat i n M essen ia ( F igure 8 ). Whereas o n ly 1 6% o f a l l M essen ian s i tes a re l arger t han 2 .2 h ectares, a lmost 5 0% o f t he Thessa l ian s ites a re; c onverse ly, t he p ercentage o f sma l l a nd med ium s ites i s c ons iderably l arger f or M essen ia t han Thessa ly. B efore d raw ing a ny c onc lus ions f rom t h is c ompar ison, h owever, we s hou ld t ake i nto a ccount t he p oss ib i l ity o f s ampl ing e rror o r b ias i n b oth s urveys, d ifferences i n t he way d ata were g athered, o r t ha t s i te s ize was c a lcu lated d ifferent ly f or t he t wo r egions. Even g iven t hese qua l if icat ions, t he d ifference b etween t he t wo d istr ibut ions s uggests t hat t he s i te h ierarchy i n Thessa ly was l ess s trat if ied t han t hat o f M essen ia. Moreover , i f we e xam ine t he s patia l d istr ibut ion o f s ites i n t erms o f s ize, i t a ppears t hat t hey a re more o r l ess r andom ly d istr ibuted i n t h is r espect ( F igure 9 ). Ha lstead s tates t hat " in E . Thessa ly g eograph ica l v ar iat ion i s l ess l i ke ly t o d istort a n i dea l h ierarchy, n or i s t he p aucity o f sma l l s ites t he r esu lt o f a n i nadequate s ample" ( 1977: 2 4); o n t h is b as is, we m ight c onc lude t ha t s ite s ize v ar iabil i ty, a lthough d emonstrably p resent i n Thessa ly, may b e d ue t o f actors o ther t han p o l it ica l o r a dm in istrat ive f unct ion, a nd t hat t here was a r elat ive ly l ower l eve l o f o rgan izat ion t han i n t he p o l it ica l un its g overned f rom Mycenae o r Pylos. Tak ing t he f i rst t hree c r iter ia t ogether, t hen, we c an s ay t hat t here i s r easonably g ood e v idence f or t he e x istence o f a p o l it ica l e nt ity i n Thessa ly s im i lar t o, but l ess d eve loped t han, t hose f urther s outh. I w i l l d ea l w ith t he f ourth c r iter ion s hort ly, but wou ld n o te h ere t hat a c erta in amount o f e conom ic o rgan iza tion a nd s pec ia l izat ion would b e n ecessary f or a s tateleve l p ol i t ica l o rgan izat ion t o e x ist. I f i t i s a t l east p rov isiona l ly a ccepted t hat t here was a Mycenaean p r incipa l ity r uled f rom I o lkos, we may t hen a sk whether t here were o ther s uch e nt it ies i n Thessa ly a s w e l l. I t wou ld s eem

4 1

20

1 5

Z

I I I I M I

1 0

M M E 1 1 1 1

M,

§ c r

C D ‘ 0

C l ) 7 . : C D C O

5

MESSEN I A

1 0 5

THESSALY

5

. 25 S ize i n Hectares

F igure 8 . S ite S ize/Frequency i n M essenia a nd T hessa ly ( After H alstead 1 977).

4 2

1 0

9 e -

0

• •

PE NE io s

a

• •• •• • •• • LAR ISA .

•

•

• 0. •

•

• •

41) 5 - 1 2 h a

VOLOS

•

I I)

3 - 4 .5 h a.

•

1 .5 - 2 .9 h a.

•

0 .8 - 1 .4 h a .

•

0 .3 - 0 .75 h a. i p

e km

F igure 9 . S ize D istr ibut ion o f L ate B ronze A ge S ites i n E ast T hessaly ( After H a lstead 1 97 7).

4 3

f rom t he n umber o f s ites a nd t he t ota l i nhab ited a rea t hat m ore t han o ne c ou ld b e a ccommodated; t he c entra l f ooth i l ls, f or e xample, n eat ly d iv ide t he e astern a nd w estern p la ins, a nd a l though t hey d o n ot r epresent a b arr ier o f a ny g reat m agn itude, m ight w e l l s erve a s a c onven ient t err itor ia l b oundary. W e must t herefore i nquire whether a ny s i te i n Thessa ly o ther t han I o lkos m ight qua l ify a s a s u itable c entra l p lace. I n t erms o f s ize, t here a re a number o f s i tes wh ich m ight b e c ons idered i n t h is r espect, i nc lud ing P etra , Ve lest ino , P te leon, Bounarbas i, Rhod ia a nd K tour i, a l l o f wh ich a lso p roduced a n a bundance o f Mycenaean p ottery. None o f t hese s i tes h as b een e xcavated e xtens ive ly, a l though a l l but Rhod ia h ave b een t ested; t o d ate, n o o ther l arge s tructures - o f a p a lat ia l n ature o r o therw ise - h ave b een e xcavated i n Thessa ly, w ith t he p oss ib le e xcept ion o f o ne bu i ld ing a t P evkakia , o ne wa l l o f wh ich w as a t l east 8 .2 meters l ong ( Theochares 1 957: 6 1-64, F ig. 4 ). S ince P evkakia i s l ocated o n ly 2 k i lometers s outh o f I o lkos, h owever, t he s ett lement t here i s much more l i ke ly t o h ave b een c onnected w ith I o lkos t han t o h ave b een a nother c entra l p lace. As f or t ho los t ombs, t he o n ly o ne o f a s im i lar s ize t o t hose i n t he v icin ity o f I o lkos i s t hat n ear G eorg ikon, 5 k i lometers s outhwest o f Kard itsa, wh ich h as a d iameter o f 8 .7-8.85 meters a nd was d ated by i t s e xcavator, o n t he b as is o f s canty c eram ic r ema ins, t o LH I ( Theochares 1 960a: 1 71). The n earest known Mycenaean h abitat ion s ite i s more t han 1 5 k i lometers away, a nd g iven i t s l ocat ion a t t he f oot o f t he P indos mounta ins a nd a t t he v ery e dge o f known Mycenaean o ccupat ion, i t s eems a h igh ly un l ike ly s i te f or a c entra l p lace. There a re i n a dd it ion a n umber o f sma l ler t ho lo i, part icu lar ly a g roup o f f ive n ear P te leon ( Verde l is 1 951: 1 41-154, 1 952: 1 71-184, 1 953: 1 20-126), but t hese i n t hemse lves d o n ot c onst itute e v idence o f a n a dm in istrat ive c enter c omparab le t o t hose a ssoc iated w ith a s tateleve l o rgan izat ion. One

f ina l f eature worthy o f c ons iderat ion i s t he mass ive wal l s ome 4 k i lometers i n c ircumference wh ich s urrounds t he s i te o f P etra , c . 2 5 k i lometers n orth o f I o lkos (M i lo jc ic 1 960: 1 58-164). L ocated o n a p romontory a t t he marg in o f L ake Kar la, t he s i te b ears s ome s im i lar ity t o t hat o f G la i n Bo iot ia; i t i s n ot c erta in, h owever , whether t he wa l ls d ate t o t he L ate Bronze Age ( Bint l iff e t a l. 1 977: 6 2), a nd t he f unct ion o f t h is l arge s i te - whether a p a lace o r f ortress, o r b oth - h as n ot y et b een d eterm ined. I f t he wa l ls d o i n f act b e long t o t he Mycenaean p er iod, t hey wou ld c erta in ly t est ify t o t he mobil izat ion o f a c ons iderable amount o f manpower f or t he ir c onstruct ion, a nd wou ld c onf irm P etra a s a n i mportant s i te i ndeed. "c yc lopean"

Thus, a lthough a number o f s i tes p ossess o ne c haracter ist ic o f a c entra l p lace, t here a ppears t o b e n o o ther s i te i n Thessa ly b es ide I o lkos - w ith t he p oss ible e xcept ion o f P etra - wh ich c an b e d ef in ite ly i dent if ied a s t he c enter o f a LH I IA-B p r incipal i ty. Th is b e ing t he c ase, we a re f aced t hen w ith s evera l a l ternat ive m ode ls f or p o l it ica l o rgan izat ion o f Mycenaean Thessa ly: ( 1) a s ing le po l it ica l e nt ity, r uled f rom I o lkos, wh ich e ncompassed t he e nt ire r eg ion; a ccord ing t o t h is mode l , t he c enters d iscussed i n t he p reced ing p aragraphs may h ave s erved a s l ower-order c entra l

4 4

p laces; ( 2) a s ingle p o l it ica l e nt ity, a s i n t he f i rst mode l , but o ne whose e ffect ive c ontro l was l im ited t o a sma l ler a rea , p erhaps n ot much b eyond t he c oasta l r eg ion; t he s ett lements wh ich l ay b eyond t h is c ontro l may h ave b een r e lat ive ly a utonomous, w ith a l esser d egree o f p o l it ica l o rgan izat ion; ( 3) more t han o ne p o l it ica l un it , a s s uggested by t he C ata logue o f Sh ips, t he most i mportant a nd p owerfu l b e ing t hat r uled f rom I o lkos; o ther s uch u n its may h ave b een sma l ler a nd l ess h igh ly o rgan ized, w ith l ess i mpos ing c entra l p laces ( cf. B int l iff 1 977b: 1 0-12). Unfortunate ly, we d o n ot p ossess d ata f or Thessa ly, s uch a s L inear B t ablets, t hat wou ld e nable u s t o make a n i nformed c ho ice among t hese mode ls. A t p resent, o ne c an o n ly make s ome g enera l o bservat ions. I f , f or e xample, we r econs ider R enfrew 's d escr ipt ion o f e ar ly s tate modu les, p art icu lar ly t hose h e h as s uggested f or Mycenaean Greece, i t a ppears t ha t Thessa ly, t aken a s a g eograph ic un it , wou ld b e among t he l argest o f t hese un its; e ven s o , i t wou ld n ot be e xcess ive ly l arger, e specia l ly i f t he a pparent ly un inhabited n orthwest quadrant i s e xc luded. F urthermore, a l arger s ize m ight b e j ust if ied o n t he bas is o f t he g eography o f Thessa ly, s ince c ommun icat ion, e specia l ly by h orse o r h orse-drawn v eh ic le, wou ld h ave b een f aci l itated by t he e xtreme ly f la t p la ins o f t he i nter ior. On t he o ther h and, t he a pparent ly r andom d istr ibut ion o f s ites i n t erms o f s ize wou ld s uggest a f a ir ly l ow l eve l o f o rgan iza tion, a nd t he c lose p rox im ity o f a number o f l arge s ites wou ld t end t o c onf irm t h is hypo thes is, s ince t hey would b e n eed less ly d upl icat ing e ach o ther 's f unct ion i n a h igh ly-organ ized s tate ( Ha lstead 1 977: 2 6-27). Beyond t hese o bservat ions, l i tt le c an b e a dded t hat wou ld f avor o ne mode l o ver t he o ther, a l though t he s econd mode l s eems s l ight ly more p laus ible t han t he o thers. Thessa ly was o ne o f t he e ar l iest r egions i n Europe t o d eve lop a d ivers if ied Neo l ith ic a gr icu ltura l e conomy, w ith t he c u lt ivat ion o f emmer a nd e inkorn wheat, 2 - a nd 6 -row b ar ley a nd v ar ious pu lses, t he r a is ing o f s heep, g oats, p igs, a nd c att le, a nd t he g ather ing o f f igs, a lmonds, a corns, a nd p istach ios (Ha lstead 1 977: 2 4-25; R enfrew 1 966). Explo itat ion o f t hese r esources p resumably c ont inued i nto t he L ate Bronze Age, a l though t he ir r e lat ive p roport ions c hanged, w ith a n a pparent l ater emphas is o n 6 -row bar ley a nd b eans ( Renfrew 1 966: 3 4-36). G iven t he b road p la ins a nd f ert i le, we l l-watered s o i l , t h is Neo l ithic e conomy was c apable o f s upport ing a l arge p opu lation, w ithout , f or t he most p art, i ntens if icat ion p rov ided by c u lt ivat ion o f t he v ine a nd o l ive, a s i n s outhern Greece d ur ing t he Late Bronze Age ( Ha lstead 1 977: 2 7; B int liff e t a l. 1 977: 6 2-67). O l ives c ou ld, i t w i l l b e r eca l led, b e g rown a long t he s outheastern c oasta l s tr ip, h owever, a nd t hey, i n a dd it ion t o a quat ic r esources, p rov ided t h is s ubregion w ith a s omewhat b roader e conom ic base t han e lsewhere i n Thessa ly. A lthough t he p la ins w ere s ub ject t o f lood ing, r ender ing l owly ing a reas unf it f or a gr icu lture, t he marsh lands t hus c reated wou ld h ave p rov ided w i ldfow l i n a dd it ion t o g razing f or l i vestock. S easona l g razing would a lso h ave b een o bta inable i n t he s urround ing mounta ins, where, a t l ower l eve ls, v ines c ou ld b e c u ltivated, a nd t hose s i tes s ituated a t t he e dges o f t he p la ins c ou ld t hus e xplo it s evera l e co log ica l z ones.

4 5

Overal l ,

t he

s pac ing

o f

Mycenaean

s i tes

i s

f a ir ly

r egu lar

t hroughout t he e astern p la in a nd t he s outhern h a lf o f t he w estern p la in. A lmost w ithout e xcept ion, s ett lements w ere l ocated w ith in t he p la ins o r a t t he ir e dges. B int l iff h as a sserted t hat t he m a jor Mycenaean c enters were l ocated a bout 5 k i lometers f rom e ach o ther, w ith sma l ler s ett lements r inging t he ir t err itory a t a d istance o f c . 2 k i lometers ( 1977b: 1 0-11) a nd A . Chadw ick h as s ubstant iated t h is c la im t o s ome e xtent by o bserv ing t hat t he a verage n earest n e ighbor d istance b etween s i tes i n M essen ia i s 2 .21 k i lometers ( 1977: 8 9). As we h ave s een, t he d istr ibut ion o f s ites i n Thessa ly d oes n ot s eem t o b e a s h ierarch ica l ly o rgan ized a s e lsewhere i n Greece, s o t he s pac ing o f l arge s i tes c annot b e c ompared d irect ly t o t hose f urther s outh i n t h is r espect. A r ough c a lcu lat ion, h owever, s hows t hat f or a l l known Mycenaean s ett lements i n Thessa ly, t he a verage n earest n e ighbor d istance i s c . 5 .07 k i lometers. I f t h is s tat ist ic i s n ot undu ly d istorted by l acunae due t o d ifferent methods o f s urvey ing - r esu l t ing, perhaps, i n t he under-representat ion o f sma l ler s ate ll i te c ommun it ies - i t wou ld s eem t o i nd icate t ha t t he t err itor ies o f s ett lements h ere were o n a verage l arger t han t hose i n, f or e xample, t he Argo l id o r M essen ia. Two p oss ible e xp lanat ions c ou ld a ccount f or t h is d ifference: ( 1) t he r e la tive l ack o f e conom ic d ivers ity r equired a l arger a rea under c u lt ivat ion p er s ett lement i n o rder t o s upport a p opu la tion o f a s im i lar s ize; ( 2) t he e xpanse o f l eve l g round i n t he p la ins made i t p oss ible t o e xpand t he c atchment a reas o f i nd iv idua l s ett lements, t hus mak ing l ess n ecessary t he s pl itt ing-off o f g roups a bove a c erta in p opu lat ion l eve l a nd e nabl ing a l arger p opu la t ion a gglomerat ion, w ithout p erhaps t he n ecess ity o f a gr icu l tura l i ntens if icat ion a nd/or t rade a s e lsewhere ( e.g., B int l iff e t a l. 1 977: 6 6) . G iven t he g reater p roport ion o f l arger s ites i n Thessa ly, I am i ncl ined t o b e l ieve t hat t he s econd J xplanat ion i s t he more p laus ible. I t h as a lso b een s uggested t hat t he s ett lement patterns i n Greece a l ternated b etween d ispers ion a nd nuc leat ion over t ime ( B int l iff 1 977b: 7 ); i f t h is i s s o , t hen i t i s p oss ible t hat t he nuc leated p attern c haracter ist ic o f t he M idd le Bronze Age was r eta ined i n Thessa ly, f or t he r easons ment ioned a bove, i n preference t o t he L ate Bronze Age ( part icu lar ly LH I I) d ispersed pattern a dopted i n s outhern Greece. We h ave s omewhat l ess e v idence c oncern ing t he n ona gr icu ltura l e conomy. I t i s, h owever, c erta in t hat Mycenaean pottery was manufactured l oca l ly, a nd i t i s h igh ly p robable t hat t here was more t han o ne c enter o f c eram ic p roduct ion i n Thessa ly. Hunter ( 1953) s uggested t hat c opper may h ave b een m ined o n M t. O thrys dur ing t he L ate Bronze Age, a nd a l though e v idence f or t he m in ing i tse lf d ur ing t h is p er iod s eems s l ight , a n o ven o r c ruc ible w ith f ragments o f bronze a nd s lag was f ound a t I o lkos ( Theochares 1 961: 4 8-49), i nd icat ing a c erta in amount o f l oca l manufacture. I n add it ion, a h earth was d iscovered a t P evkak ia i n a ssociat ion w ith a mass o f smashed murex s he l ls, l ead ing t o t he s pecu la t ion t hat s ome f orm o f p rocess ing t ook p lace t here ( Theochares 1 957: 6 4) : p erhaps t he manufacture o f t ext i le d ye? There i s o f c ourse, c ons iderab le i nd irect e v idence - ma in ly f rom bur ia ls - f or c raft s pec ia l izat ion i n t he f orm o f b ronze w eapons a nd t oo ls a nd v ar ious

4 6

o rnaments, but i t would b e d iff icu l t t o d eterm ine wh ich o r h ow many o f t hese i t ems w ere p roduced i n l oca l workshops. There i s l i tt le d oubt t hat a s uff ic ient a gr icu ltura l s urplus c ou ld h ave b een p roduced t o s upport s uch a rt isans, but t here i s s omewhat l ess r eason t o b e l ieve t hat t here was a s uff ic ient d emand f or t he ir s erv ices i n Thessa ly t o j ust ify f u l l time s pecia l ists. The g reatest p otent ia l f or a ny h igh ly-organ ized e conom ic o rgan izat ion c lear ly i s t o b e f ound i n t he s outheast, a round t he Gu lf o f Vo los. W ith a more v ar ied a nd p otent ia l ly more i ntens ive a gr icu ltura l b ase t han i n land Thessa ly, t he c oasta l z one c ou ld more e as i ly s upport f u l l t ime c raft s pecial ists. The bu i ld ings a t I o lkos i nd icate t he c apac ity f or s torage o n a f a ir ly l arge s ca le a nd t he p oss ib le h ous ing o f workshops, s uggest ing t hat I o lkos ( or I o lkos a nd P evkakia t ogether) may h ave f unct ioned a s a r ed istr ibut ion c enter. Add it iona l ly, b oth I o lkos a nd P evkak ia ( and p erhaps P te leon) were we l l s i tuated t o e ngage i n s ea-borne c ommun icat ion a nd t rade, a nd wou ld l ogica l ly h ave b een a f ocus f or t hese a ct iv it ies. I t i s, h owever, d iff icu lt t o e st imate h ow e xtens ive s uch t rade m ight h ave b een, a nd unt i l more p os it ive e v idence o f t h is i s f orthcom ing, i t m ight b e f a ir t o c onc lude t hat, l i ke p o l it ica l o rgan izat ion, t he d egree o f e conom ic o rgan izat ion, e ven i n t he c oasta l r egion, was l ess t han t hat i n s outhern Greece. Hav ing d escr ibed t he p o l it ica l a nd e conom ic o rgan iza tion o f Thessa ly i n LH IIA-B, I w i l l n ow c ons ider t he s ame r egion f rom a d iachron ic p erspect ive. S ince much o f t he o vera l l p icture, p art icu lar ly c oncern ing s ett lement p atterns, i s based upon s ett lement d ata, i t s hou ld b e k ept i n m ind t hat v ar iable s urface c ond it ions a nd methods o f c o l lect ion may a ffect t he r epresentat iveness o f s amples a nd t hat, b ecause o f i ts a bundance o r r ecogn izabil ity, t he p ottery o f c erta in p er iods - a nd h ence e v idence o f o ccupa t ion - i s more e as i ly e stabl ished ( D ick inson 1 977a: 2 2; E . F rench i n p ress). I n a dd it ion, s ince Thessa ly i s a t t he p er iphery o f t he Mycenaean wor ld, i t c annot b e a ssumed t hat t empora l ly d iagnost ic c eram ic a ttr ibutes a re p rec ise ly c ontemporary w ith t hose a t t he c enter; t hus, a l though t he r e lat ive c hrono logy i n Thessa ly a nd s outhern Greece may b e t he s ame, i n t erms o f a bso lute c hrono logy s ome c eram ic phases may b egin l ater o r l ast l onger i n Thessa ly. F or t hese r easons, t h is d iscuss ion w i l l f ocus f or t he most p art upon broad phases o f o ccupat ion r ather t han s ome o f t he n arrower s ub-phases t hat c an b e more a ccurate ly d iscerned i n s outhern Greece. Human o ccupat ion b egan i n Thessa ly a s e ar ly a s t he m idd le Pa leo l ith ic; t he most a bundant r ema ins o f t h is p er iod a re f ound a long t he P ene ios r iver i n t he v ic in ity o f L ar isa ( Theochares 1 974a: 4 3). I n t he Neo l ith ic p er iod Thessa ly s hows e v idence o f e ar ly s ett lement. J udging f rom t he d ens ity o f s ites, i t a ppears t hat t he f ert i le p la ins p rov ided a f avorable e nv ironment, a nd t he i mpress ive s ites o f S esk lo a nd D im in i i nd icate s ome d egree o f p rosper ity a nd p erhaps p o l it ica l o rgan iza tion; " indeed, Thessa ly was n ever a s i mportant a r egion i n t he Aegean wor ld l ater a s i n t he Neo l ith ic p er iod" (D ick inson 1 977b: 9 9). The ma jor ity o f Neo l ith ic s i tes were l ocated o n f l at t erra in o r l ow r ises ( D im in i a nd S esk lo b e ing n otab le e xcept ions); o ver t ime, t he a ccumu lat ion o f

4 7

human d ebr is l ed t o t he f ormat ion o f t he c haracter ist ic m agou las, o r m oundl ike t e l ls. The p attern o f s teady g rowth a nd d eve lopment wh ich c haracter ized t he N eo l ith ic p er iod s eems t o h ave b een i nterrupted i n t he E ar ly Bronze Age, f or t here a re f ewer s i tes a nd a s h ift i n s ome a reas away f rom t he c enter o f t he p la ins t oward t he ir e dges (Ha lstead 1 977: 2 4-25) ; whether t h is d eve lopment b etokens c l imat ic c hange o r p erhaps a d ifferent mode o f e conom ic e xp lo itat ion i s n o t c lear. N or i s i t c erta in whether a ny c ons iderable c u ltura l b reak o ccurred b etween t he e nd o f t he Neo l ith ic a nd t he b eg inn ing o f t he E ar ly Bronze Age. The E ar ly a nd M idd le B ronze Ages i n Thessa ly a re a s y et n ot we l l known, a l though t he r ecent publ icat ion o f mater ia l f rom Arg issa (Hanschmann a nd M i lo jc ic 1 976) h as c lar if ied c erta in a spects. I t n everthe less r ema ins d iff icu lt t o g enera l ize a bout t hese p er iods, p art icu lar ly r egard ing a ny c u ltura l d iscont inu ity, s uch a s t he p ostu lated a rr iva l o f a Greek-speak ing p opu lat ion. I t h as b een hypothes ized t hat t h is c hange t ook p lace i n s outhern a nd c entra l Greece between t he e nd o f EH I a nd t he b eginn ing o f t he M idd le H e l lad ic p er iod ( c. 2 300-2000 B .C.). The r oute t aken by t hese I ndo-European i mm igrants h as n ot b een f i rm ly e stabl ished , s ince t hey l eft v ery l i tt le t race o f t he ir p assage, s ave f or bur ia ls o f h igh-rank ing i nd iv idua ls i n g raves w ith in t umul i ; most o f t hese t umu l i a re f ound i n n orthwestern Greece, a nd i t h as t herefore been s uggested t hat t h is was o ne o f t he r outes t aken, a s w e ll a s by s ea, o r f rom Macedon ia i nto Thessa ly ( Gimbutas 1 980; Hammond 1 976: 1 13-122; Theochares 1 974b: 1 70-171). There i s s ome e v idence f rom Thessa ly t o s upport t h is hypothes is, a l though t he d egree o f c hange d oes n ot s eem t o b e a s r ad ica l h ere a s f urther s outh, o ne r eason b e ing t hat Thessa ly d oes n ot s eem t o h ave a ch ieved t he mater ia l p rosper ity ( except p erhaps a t P evkak ia) o f , f or e xamp le, EH I L erna i n t he Argo l id. However, d estruct ion l eve ls w ere o bserved a t both P evkak ia a nd Arg issa a t t he e nd o f t he E ar ly Bronze Age ( 1 V I i lo jc ic 1 060: 2 6-31; Theochares 1 957: 6 6), a nd t here was s ome d islocat ion o f s ett lement p atterns, w ith c ont inu ity r e-establ ished a t t he e nd o f t he EBA and a c ons iderable i ncrease i n t he number o f s ett lements i n t he MBA (Ha lstead 1 977: 2 5; H ope S impson a nd D ick inson 1 979: 2 72). M oreover , t he l oca l EBA I I pottery s hows a g reater a ff in ity w ith M acedon ia t han c entra l Greece (F rench 1 974: F ig.7.1) - a l though t h is d oes n ot n ecessar i ly i mply a nyth ing more t han c ommun icat ion b etween t he t wo r egions. On t he o ther h and , o ther e xcavated E ar ly Bronze Age s i tes i n Thessa ly d o n ot a ppear t o h ave b een d estroyed a t t he e nd o f t he per iod , a nd t he s h if t i n s ett lement l ocat ion may r ef lect n oth ing more t han a n a ttempt t o e xplo it a w ider r ange o f r esources ( cf . Ha lstead 1 977: 2 5). As ide f rom t he a ppearance a t t h is t ime o f c is t g rave bur ia ls, s ome w ith meta l o b jects ( Tsountas 1 908: 1 26-149, 3 54, P late 4 ), l i tt le c hange c an b e d etected i n t he c u l tura l i nventory, a nd I am t herefore i nc l ined t o a gree w ith D ick inson ( 1977: 9 9) t hat " the o r igins o f t he M .B . c u l ture t hus s eems t o b e l oca l , a nd i t b ears a f am i ly-resemblance t o M . H . wh ich i s part icu lar ly p ronounced o n a nd n ear t he c oast o f t he Gu lf o f P agasae . " I f t here was a n i nf lux o f Greek-speakers s ometime dur ing t he c ourse o f t he EBA , t he ir i mpact u pon t he l oca l popu lation was e v ident ly n ot p rofound , a nd t hey s eem t o h ave

4 8

b een a ssim i lated r ather qu ickly. Th is i s n ot t oo s urpr is ing, s ince a s p astora l ists ( wh ich t hey a lmost c erta in ly w ere) t hey w ou ld h ave l i tt le t o c ontr ibute a nd much more t o a bsorb i n t erms o f m ater ia l c u lture; t he ir p resence m ight a lso a ccount i n p art t or t he s h if t o f s ett lement l ocat ion i n t he n ortheast t oward t he e dges o f t he p la in, i n o rder t o t ake f u l ler a dvantage o f t he a va i lab il ity o f s ummer p asturage. More t han f i f ty M idd le B ronze Age s i tes a re known i n Thessa ly, a nd f rom t he t he t h ickness o f t he d epos its f rom t h is p er iod , i t s eems c lear t hat s ome s i tes were d eve loping i nto s izeable s ett lements. I n t he c oasta l a rea , c ontact w ith s outhern Greece i s a ttested by t he p resence o f Gray I V I inyan a nd matt-pa inted p ottery i n c ons iderable quant ity. F urther i n land, h owever, t hese wares, part icu lar ly matt-pa inted, a re r e lat ive ly r are. H ere, t he predom inant c eram ic ware i s h and-made w ith a monochrome s l ip, u sua l ly burn ished , i n a v ar iety o f s hapes wh ich b ear s ome r esemblance t o M inyan, but more t o t he Bronze Age wares o f Macedon ia ( Caskey 1 973: 1 21; Wace a nd Thompson 1 912: 1 9-20). S ince t he c oasta l r egion, by v irtue o f i t s a ccess ibil i ty by s ea, was i n c ontact w ith s outhern Greece f rom t he EBA onward, i t i s n ot s urpr is ing t hat t he e ar l iest a ppearance o f Mycenaean p ottery s hou ld b e i n t h is a rea. To t h is p o int, r ecogn izable LH I po ttery h as b een f ound a t o n ly a h andfu l o f s i tes i n t h is a rea ( F igure 1 0), a nd w ith t he e xcept ion o f I o lkos a nd P evkak ia , i n v ery l im ited quant it ies. Even a t t hese t wo s ites, h owever, t he amount o f LH I i s sma l l c ompared t o t he s t i l l-predom inant MH po ttery ( Theochares 1 956: 1 25, 1 957: 6 6); t h is i s t o b e e xpected i n v iew o f t he f act t hat e ven i n t he P e loponnese where i t o r ig inated, " LH I was p robably a s hort phase t hat may h ave l asted o n ly a g enerat ion," a nd f or much o f t hat t ime p robably r epresented m ere ly a nother f ine ware i n c ompet it ion w ith v ar ious MH f ine wares ( D ick inson 1 977b: 2 4, 2 6; c f. Rutter a nd Rutter 1 9(6). D esp ite t he c la im t hat s ome s herds were o f l oca l manufacture ( Theochares 1 957: 6 6), i t wou ld n ot b e unreasonable t o a ssume t hat most, i f n ot a l l , o f t he LH I pottery was i mported. There a re a f ew more s i tes a t wh ich pottery o f t he s ucceed ing LH IA phase i s f ound, but a ga in Mycenaean i nf luence i s l arge ly c onf ined t o t he c oasta l a rea. More s ubstant ia l e v idence f or l oca l d eve lopment o f Mycenaean c u lture i n Thessa ly c omes i n t he LH IB phase. G iven t hat both I o lkos a nd P evkakia h ave f a ir ly t h ick MH o ccupat ion l eve ls - 2 .5 a nd 3 .5 meters, r espect ive ly ( Theochares 1 956: 1 2, 1 957: 6 0) a nd h ad a cted a s a n exus f or s eaborne c ommun icat ion, i t i s l i ke ly t hat t hese s ites were a lready s ubstantia l c ommun it ies by t h is t ime. The g row ing i mportance o f I o lkos i s a ttested by t he Kapakl i t ho los t omb, f rom wh ich t he e ar l iest p ottery i s LH IB. A lthough p ottery i n t he MH t rad it ion was s t i l l b e ing p roduced, LH I pottery was a lso a bundant a t b oth I o lkos a nd P evkakia. A s ign if icant proport ion o f t h is LH I pottery a ppears t o h ave b een m ade l oca l ly ( Theochares 1 956: 1 25, 1 957: 6 6), i mp ly ing t hat a workshop a t o ne o r b oth o f t hese s i tes was i n o peration w el l b efore t he e nd o f LH

t o

The d eve lopment o f a s tate o r p roto-state o rgan izat ion s eems h ave b een w e l l under way by LH I IA1, f or t he f i rst o f t wo

4 9

5 0

D istr ibution

i n T hessaly .

s uccess ive " pa laces" a t I o lkos d ates t o t h is p er iod ( Theochares 1 956: 1 29). O ther c enters, t oo, b egin t o emerge, f or t he e ar l iest i n t he s er ies o f sma l ler t ho lo i a t P te leon a nd s evera l c hamber t ombs a t M ega M onast ir ion a re f rom t h is p er iod ( Theochares 1 964: 2 552 58; V erde l is 1 951: 1 41-149). Whether t hese c enters w ere under t he p o l it ica l c ontro l o f I o lkos o r i n c ompet it ion w ith i t a t t h is s tage c annot b e d eterm ined. We a lso n ow f or t he f i rst t ime f ind Mycenaean p o ttery o utside o f t he c oasta l r egion, i n b oth t he e astern a nd western p la ins ( F igure 1 1). The d istr ibut ion o f Mycenaean p ottery i n Thessa ly r eaches i t s g reatest e xtent i n LH I IA2-B ( See F igure 7 ). A lthough i t i s n ot poss ib le i n many c ases t o e stabl ish t he p rec ise LH s ub-per iod f rom s urface d epos its, i t wou ld a ppear t hat t he number o f s i tes w ith Mycenaean p ottery a t l east d oubled a nd p erhaps t rebled f rom LH IIA1 t o LH IIB; t he g reatest i ncrease o ccurs i n t he e astern p la in, but t he l ower h a lf o f t he western p la in s hows a c ons iderable i ncrease a s we l l. I n a dd it ion t o p ottery, c hamber a nd sma l l t ho los t ombs w ith c haracter ist ic Mycenaean g rave g oods a re a lso f ound i n t hese a reas, i nd icat ing t hat more t han mere t rade i n p ottery b etween t he c oast a nd i nter ior was i nvo lved. The t wo l arge t ho lo i a t D im in i, d at ing p robably t o LH IIA2 (Hope S impson a nd D ickinson 1 979: 2 75) a nd t he s econd phase o f t he p a lace a t I o lkos t est ify t o c ont inuing p rosper ity t here. I n c onnect ion w ith t he e nd o f t he L ate B ronze Age i n Thessa ly - i .e., LH I IC ( c. 1 200-1100 B .C.) - w e must c ons ider a p er iod wh ich i s a ssoc iated i n t he s outh w ith t he d estruct ion o f most o f t he ma jor s ett lements, t he a pparent a bandonment o f many o thers, a nd t he c o l lapse a nd d is integrat ion o f Mycenaean c iv il izat ion. Outs ide o f I o lkos, f i rm e v idence f or t his p er iod i n Thessa ly i s e xtreme ly s l ight. There a re t wo p oss ible r easons f or t h is: ( 1) t he r e lat ionsh ip b etween t he LH I IC p o ttery o f s outhern Greece a nd c ontemporary p o ttery i n Thessa ly i s by n o means c lear, a nd h ence i t i s d iff icu lt t o r ecogn ize t h is p er iod i n Thessa ly o r t o s ynchron ize e vents i n t he t wo a reas; ( 2) c ontact w ith t he s outh was i n a l l l i ke l ihood t erm inated d ur ing o r by t he e nd o f LH IIC1 due t o t he w idespread d isrupt ions o ccur ing n ot o n ly i n s outhern Greece, but i n t he e nt ire e astern M ed iterranean. 6 S ince a t a lmost a l l o ther s ites i n Thessa ly, LH I IB po ttery i s s ucceeded n ot by LH I IC but by P rotogeometr ic p ottery, t he o n ly s ite wh ich c an s hed much l i ght upon t h is p er iod i s I o lkos i t se lf. H ere i t i s c la imed t hat t he p a lace was d estroyed by f ire d ur ing LH IIC1 ( Theochares 1 956: 1 28); t here was, h owever, n o s ign o f a s im i lar d estruct ion l eve l i n a n earby s trat igraph ic t rench ( ibid.) o r i n more r ecent e xcavat ions o n t he t op o f t he mound (Hourmouziad is; p ersona l c ommun icat ion). Th is s eem ingly l ocal ized d estruct ion s uggests e ither t he s ort o f l im ited d estruct ion f ound a t Mycenae o r T iryns c . 1 200 B .C. o r p erhaps a n a cc identa l c onf lagrat ion unconnected w ith t he d em ise o f o ther c enters e lsewhere. I f t he d ate o f t h is d estruct ion l ayer i s c orrect - a nd t he p resence h ere o f a v esse l s im i lar t o t he LH I IC1 Warr ior Vase o f Mycenae ( Theochares 1 960b: 5 8) would s eem t o g ive c redence t o t hat e st imate - i t would b e t e mpt ing t o a ssociate i t w ith s im i lar d isasters f urther s outh. Unt i l t he r esu lts o f t he l a test e xcavat ions

5 1

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5 2

a re publ ished, f urther.

h owever,

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t o

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D irect ly a bove t he d estruct ion l ayer i n t he a rea o f t he p a lace, a nd n earby a bove l evels a ssoc iated w ith LH I IC p o ttery was a t h ick P rotogeometr ic d epos it w ith c ist g raves a nd bui ld ings w ith s tone f oundat ions ( ibid.: 5 4-57); n o i nterven ing LH I 1C2 p ottery was f ound, l ead ing Theochares t o c onc lude t hat a g ap o f a g enerat ion o r more e x isted b etween t he d estruct ion o f t he p a lace a nd s ubsequent r e-occupat ion ( ib id.: 5 8). I t i s more l i ke ly, h owever, t hat n o g reat h iatus, i f a ny, o ccurred, s ince t he LH I1C2 - o r s ub-Mycenaean - s tyle h as b een c haracter ized a s " a c eram ic phenomenon r ecogn isable o n ly i n c erta in a reas, d ur ing t he c ourse o f wh ich t he l a tter s tages o f LH I IC may... h ave p ers isted e lsewhere" (Desborough 1 972: 3 2-33). I t may b e i nferred f rom t he a bsence o f p a lat ia l a rch itecture i n t he s ucceed ing P rotogeometr ic l eve ls t hat a c u ltura l r ecess ion s im i lar t o t hat e lsewhere i n Greece a lso t ook p lace a t I o lkos. The prec ise c ause o f t h is r ecess ion c annot b e e stabl ished , but a s I h ave a rgued e lsewhere ( Feuer 1 977), t he c o l lapse o f Mycenaean c iv i l izat ion i s b est v iewed a s a c omplex s et o f phenomena w ith v arying l oca l o r r egiona l r esu lts due t o a number o f f actors, i nc lud ing w idespread p opu lat ion movement, a g enera l a tmosphere o f i nsecur ity, d isrupt ion o f t rade a nd c ommun icat ion, a nd d estruct ion c aused by unknown a gents. Any o ne o r more o f t hese f actors m ight h ave l ed t o t he a bandonment o f I o lkos by t he undoubted ly sma l l e l ite s oc iety wh ich a dm in istered, s upported a nd ma inta ined t he c ul tura l s uperstructure o f Mycenaean c iv il izat ion. But t he a rch itectura l a nd c eram ic e v idence f rom P rotogeometr ic I o lkos ( see b e low) a lso s uggests a s trong m easure o f c ont inu ity a nd f ew, i f a ny, i ntrus ive c u ltura l f eatures. O ccupat ion e lsewhere i n Thessa ly - i n bo th t he c oasta l r egion a nd t he i nter ior - d ur ing t he P rotogeometr ic p er iod i s a lso i nd icated by bur ia ls a nd ( l ess f requent ly) s urface f inds, a nd a l though t he n umber o f i nhab ited s ites was n ot n ear ly a s l arge a s t hat d ur ing t he p eak o f L ate B ronze Age e xpans ion, t here d oes n ot a ppear t o b e t he d egree o f d epopu lat ion wh ich h as b een a dduced f or c erta in o ther a reas o f Greece (Hope S impson a nd D ick inson 1 979: 3 80-382). I n c onclud ing t h is c hapter , i t i s i mportant t o emphas ize t he d ist inct ion b etween t he c oasta l r eg ion a nd t he i nter ior p la ins. Th is d ifference i s due both t o c l imat ic a nd g eograph ica l f actors wh ich f avored e conom ic d ivers if ication a nd i ntens if icat ion i n t he c oasta l r eg ion a nd t o i t s c ommun icat ion w ith t he w ider Aegean a rea. I n t he f o l low ing s ummary, t herefore, t he t wo a reas w i l l b e t reated s eparate ly. F rom a t l east t he E ar ly Bronze Age o nward - a nd p erhaps e ven e ar l ier, i f t he p resence o f o bs id ian i n Neo l ithic t imes i s t aken i nto a ccount - t he c oasta l r egion was i n c ontact w ith a nd s ub ject t o t he i nf luence o f o ther a nd ( in s ome c ases) p resumably m ore a dvanced c u ltures o f t he Aegean a nd e astern M ed iterranean; t h is c ontact i s most c lear ly d emonstrated a t t he s i te o f P evkak ia, wh ich s eems a lways t o h ave b een t he ma jor p ort o n t he Gu lf o f Vo los (M i lo jc ic 1 973: 3 39-340, P lates 3 02-305). J udging by t he quant ity

5 3

o f i mported po ttery, t he s trongest a nd most p ers istent c ontacts were w ith c entra l a nd s outhern Greece. Because o f i t s l ocat ion, t he c oasta l z one t hus was t he r ecip ient o f c u ltura l i nf luence f rom t he s outh e ar l ier t han t he i nter ior, a nd b ecause i t s c l imate a nd mar it ime o r ientation w ere s im i lar t o t hose o f t he s outhern Greek p en insula, t hose i nf luences w ere a lso more p ervas ive a nd e ndur ing. F or t hese r easons, c u ltura l d eve lopments i n t he c oasta l a rea l arge ly p aral leled t hose f urther s outh; but s ince Thessa ly was l ocated a t t he p er iphery o f t he Mycenaean wor ld, a t s ome d istance f rom t he c enter o r c enters a t wh ich t hese c u ltura l i nnovat ions o r iginated , i t n ever s eems t o h ave a tta ined t he h e ight o f a rt ist ic a ch ievement o r t he l eve l o f o rgan ized c omplex ity c haracter ist ic o f t he Argo l id o r M essen ia. I n c ontrast, e xterna l c u ltura l i nf luence was s lower t o r each t he i nter ior o f Thessa ly a nd i t s e ffect was more t rans ient. The l oca l c u lture s eems - p erhaps b ecause o f i t s r e lat ive i so lat ion - t o h ave been more c onservat ive, ma inta in ing, a t a l ower l evel o f d eve lopment a nd c omplex ity, a g reater c ont inu ity f rom i t s Neo l ith ic t rad it ions. And a l though e v idence o f e ar ly Mycenaean c u ltura l f eatures i s l ack ing i n t he i nter ior, t here i s l i tt le d oubt t hat t he numerous MBA s ites h ere c ont inued t o b e i nhab ited i n t he e ar ly phases o f t he LBA. There a re a t l east 2 0 s ites, wh ich o n t he bas is o f s urface f inds, h ave l oca l M idd le Bronze Age a nd o ccasiona l 1 V l inyan, n o LH I -II, a nd LH I IA-B s herds ( cf . Hope S impson a nd D ickinson 1 979: 2 73-298). Rather t han i nd icat ing a g ap i n o ccupat ion, h owever, I wou ld s uggest t hat b ecause o f t he c onservat ism o f t he l oca l c eram ic t rad it ion - wh ich makes t he l oca l MBA ware l ess e asy t o d ate t han t he more r ead i ly i dent if iable phases o f Mycenaean p o ttery - pottery o f t he l oca l MBA t rad it ion c ont inued t o b e made w e ll i nto t he L ate Bronze Age. I t i s n ot c lear whether t h is l oca l h andmade p ottery c oex isted w ith Mycenaean pottery i n LH IIA-B o r whether i t was who l ly s uperseded by i t , a l though t here i s s ome s l ight e v idence t o s upport t he f ormer s uppos it ion ( e.g., Theochares 1 962; Wace a nd Thompson 1 912: 3 5-36, F ig. 1 6). The e x istence h ere o f bur ia ls i n t he Mycenaean manner w ith c haracter ist ic g rave g oods, i n a dd it ion t o l oca l ly-manufactured ( i .e., i n t he i nter ior i t se lf , r ather t han f rom t he c oasta l a rea) Mycenaean p ottery, i nd icates t hat more t han t rade was p robab ly i nvo lved. But t he Mycenaean p resence d oes n ot a ppear t o h ave b een a s d eeply-rooted, a nd w ith o ne o r t wo e xcept ions d id n ot l inger a s l ong i nto t he E ar ly I ron Age a s i t d id i n t he c oasta l r eg ion. I f , a s i s p robable, Greek-speak ing p eoples e ntered Thessa ly f rom t he n orth d ur ing t he E ar ly Bronze Age, t hey d o n ot s eem t o have made a ny t ang ible i mpress ion upon t he l oca l c u lture, wh ich c ont inued t o e vo lve, w ithout d iscernable e xterna l i nf luence, f rom t he Neo l ith ic t rad it ion. A lthough t hese i ntruders may h ave i ntroduced t he c ustom o f c ist bur ia l , t hey c annot b e a ssoc iated w ith 1 V inyan o r matt-pa inted p ottery, wh ich p robab ly o r ig inated i n t he s outh, a nd wh ich i s most a bundant n ot i n t he n orth where t hey wou ld h ave e ntered, but i n t he c oastal r egion. S im i lar ly, a l though t here i s e v idence o f s ome movement i nto n orthern Thessa ly a t t he e nd o f t he LBA o r t he b eginn ing o f t he E ar ly I ron

5 4

Age ( see b e low), t here i s n o r eason t o b e l ieve t hat t here w as a ny mass ive c u l tura l d islocat ion o r p opu lation i nf lux a t t h is t ime e ither. D esborough i dent if ies f our p opu lat ion e lements i n Thessa ly d ur ing t he 1 2th a nd 1 1th c entur ies B .C.: ( 1) Mycenaeans, i n t he c oasta l a rea; ( 2) a l oca l i nd igenous p opu lat ion c h ief ly c onf ined t o t he i nter ior; ( 3) a n i ntrus ive g roup f rom n orthwest Greece; ( 4) a n i ntrus ive e lement o f M acedon ian o r igin ( 1972: 1 03-104). I s ha l l h ave more t o s ay a bout t hese v ar ious e lements l a ter , but I wou ld l ike t o s tress h ere t hat t he p resence i n Thessa ly o f a pparent ly i ntrus ive c u ltura l f eatures d oes n ot n ecessar i ly i mp ly a c orrespond ing i ntrus ive p opu lat ion, a nd t ha t a l though t he " loca l i nd igenous p opu lat ion" - wh ich may, a ccord ing t o s ome w r iters b e t ermed " Pe lasgian" ( Garcia-Ramon 1 976: 2 27-228; S ake l lar iou 1 974: 3 68-370) - i s n ot a s e asi ly r ecogn ized o r c haracter ized i n t erms o f i ts mater ia l c u lture, i t was p robably t he p redom inant c u l tura l e nt ity i n t he i nter ior t hroughout t he Bronze Age a nd p erhaps l ater a s we l l. Th is c ont inu ity, both c u ltura l a nd e conom ic, c an b e s een i n Halstead 's o bservat ion t hat 7 5% o f t he s ites i n t he e astern p la in i nhabited d ur ing t he MBA were a lso i nhabited i n t he LBA a re t hose wh ich d emonstrate t hat c ont inu ity o f o ccupat ion ( 1977: 2 5). A l though t h is p attern m ight o n ly r ef lect t he t ruism t hat c erta in s ites t end t o b e o ccup ied a nd r e-occup ied o ver t ime b ecause o f t he ir f avorable l ocat ion, i t m ight a lso mean t hat n e ither t he popu lat ion n or t he mode o f e conom ic e xplo itat ion c hanged a ppreciab ly dur ing t he c ourse o f t he Bronze Age. Th is i s n ot t o s ay t hat t he p r inciples o f s ite l ocation w ere i mmutable, f or t he d istr ibut ions o f , f or e xample, N eo l ith ic, Mycenaean a nd C lass ica l s ites were r a ther d ifferent. The l ocation o f s ites d ur ing t he M idd le a nd L ate B ronze Ages was, h owever, qu ite s im i lar, a l though i t h as b een o bserved i n many c ases t hat t he g reatest c oncentration o f Mycenaean s herd d epos it ion i s a round o r a t t he f oot o f magou las r ather t han a ctua l ly o n t hem (Hunter 1 953: 6 0; M i lo jcic 1 968: 1 096). Wh i le t h is phenomenon may i n p art b e a ttr ibutable t o t he e ffect o f e ros ion a nd r edepos it ion, t wo o ther e xplanat ions m ight a lso a ccount f or t h is s l ight s h if t: ( 1) a s t he magou las g rew h igher, t he i nhabitab le a rea a t t he t op g rew sma l ler; ( 2) a s t he p opu lat ion i ncreased , t he e nt ire s ett lement c ou ld n o l onger b e who l ly a ccomodated o n t he magou la i t se lf.

5 5

NOTES 1

2

3

4

5

6

TO CHAPTER 3

I t i s l i ke ly t hat i n e ar l ier t imes wooded a reas e xtended f rom t he mounta ins i nto t he p la ins ( cf . Ph il ippson 1 959: 2 4-25; Wace a nd Thompson 1 912: 6 -7), but d eterm inat ion o f t he d egree o f e nforestat ion d ur ing t he L ate Bronze Age a wa its more c omplete p a lyno log ica l d ata. The f ourth a nd s outhernmost b as in, t hat o f t he T itaresos, i s a lso p art o f t h is s er ies, a l though i n m any r espects i t more proper ly b e longs t o Thessa ly (Mock 1 972: 4 -8). One p oss ibi l ity i s t hat Homer 's d ep ict ion r ef lects t he d ec l ine o r d isso lut ion o f Mycenaean c iv i l izat ion, when s ome o f t he l arger s tates h ad b roken u p i nto s ma l ler p o l it ica l un its ( cf . Hope S impson a nd L azenby 1 970: 1 64). I nterpretat ion o f t hese d ata must b e qual if ied, h owever, g iven t he o bservat ions t hat " there s eems t o b e n o c lear e v idence o f a r e lat ionsh ip b etween t he p o l it ica l a nd a dm in istrat ive i mportance o f s ites a nd t he s ize o f s i tes" (Hodder 1 977b: 3 0), and t hat s urveys i n s ome a reas o f Greece were d es igned t o l ocate " the l arger c enters, t he s trategic a cropo l is s i te, a t t he expense o f t he l ower l eve ls o f t he h ierarchy, b oth l ower i n popu lat ion, s tatus a nd f unct ion a s g enera l ly i n t opography" ( B int l iff 1 977b: 6 ; c f. H ope S impson 1 981: 1 , 1 43). These qua l if icat ions, i f v al id, s hou ld i nv ite c aut ion, a nd s uggest t hat we s hou ld b e c oncerned a t t h is po int w ith g enera l patterns r ather t han d eta i led mode ls. A lthough t h is upper l eve l c ou ld n ot b e f urther s ubd iv ided o n t he bas is o f s ite s ize a lone, Py los a nd t he t wo r egiona l c enters c ou ld b e s a id t o c ompr ise a t h ird a nd f ourth l eve l , g iven t he a dm in istrat ive a nd f unct iona l i mportance a scr ibed t o t hem i n t he t ablets. Th is s econd f actor may, i n f act, b e r espons ible i n p art f or t he f i rst.

5 6

CHAPTER 4 EXTERNAL RELATIONS The p rev ious c hapter f ocused u pon Mycenaean Thessa ly a s a r egion, w ith o ccas iona l r eference t o i t s s urround ing phys ica l a nd c u ltura l e nv ironment; i n t h is c hapter I w i l l b roaden t hat f ocus i n o rder t o d iscuss i ts p lace w ith in t he w ider c ontext o f t he Mycenaean c u ltura l r ea lm, a s we l l a s i t s r e lat ionsh ip w ith t he n e ighbor ing r eg ions o f M acedon ia a nd E p iros. I n t he f i rst i nstance, Iw i l l c ompare i n s ome d eta i l v ar ious a spects o f Mycenaean mater ia l c u lture i n o rder t o e lucidate t he ma jor s im i lar it ies a nd d ifferences b etween Thessa ly a nd t he c ore a rea. I n e ffect t h is w i l l c onsist o f a n i nventory o f Mycenaean c u lture i n Thessa ly w ith r eference t o a nd c ompar ison w ith t he more f am il iar o ut l ines o f Mycenaean c u lture i n t he c ore a rea. Before p roceed ing f urther, h owever, i t i s n ecessary t o d iscuss what i s meant by "Mycenaean c ul ture", a nd t o d o s o we must r eturn t o t he c oncept o f t he a rchaeo log ica l c u lture d iscussed e ar l ier. A lthough m t heory a rchaeo log ica l c u ltures a re d ef ined i n t erms o f v ar ious a rt ifact t ypes o r c u l tura l t ra its, i n p ract ice t hese f eatures a re r are ly s et o ut e xpl ic it ly. F or t he c ore a rea o f a c u lture, a g iven s et o f f eatures i s t hus more o r l ess i mpl ic it ly a ccepted, a nd c an b e f ound i n g enera l s yntheses s uch a s t hose o f Mylonas ( 1966) a nd Vermeule ( 1964), wh i le t reatments o f s pec if ic a rt ifact t ypes ( e. g . Furumark 1 941; P e lon 1 976; S andars 1 963) s et f orth t he ir c haracter ist ic f orms. The c ore a rea o f Mycenaean c u lture w i l l , i n t h is s tudy, b e c ons idered t o b e t he P e loponnese, a nd more s pec if ica l ly, t he Argo l id. F or a lthough t he d eve lopment o f Mycenaean c iv il izat ion a s a f us ion o f M inoan a nd l oca l M idd le He l lad ic e lements c an b e t raced e lsewhere - i n p art icu lar, M essen ia (Hope S impson a nd D ick inson 1 979: 3 75-376) - t he e ar ly wea l th o f t he Shaft Graves a nd t he l ater magn if icence o f Mycenae a nd T iryns p o int t o t h is a rea a s t he s ing le most i mportant p lace where Mycenaean c iv i l izat ion o r iginated a nd d eveloped .1 S o i t i s l arge ly b etween Thessa ly a nd t he Argo l id t hat c ompar ison w i l l b e made, a l though I w il l a lso e xam ine t he r e lat ionsh ip b etween Thessa ly a nd c entra l Greece ( i .e., Bo iot ia, A tt ika , a nd Eubo ia), s ince g eograph ica l p rox im ity s uggests t he p oss ibi l ity o f c ontact. Because s tat ist ica l t reatment o f d ata i s l ack ing i n m ost c ases, t hese r egiona l c ompar isons must o f n ecess ity b e l arge ly qual itat ive i n n ature, i .e ., c oncerned w ith t he p resence o r a bsence o f f eatures o r a rt ifact t ypes. I w i l l b egin w ith c eram ics, s ince t h is a rt ifact t ype c ompr ises by f ar t he l argest s ource o f d ata. A s F urumark h as n oted, " the t echn ique o f Mycenaean p ottery i s a s tudy t hat h as b een r ather n eglected. There d oes n ot y et e x ist a ny t reat ise o n t he matter wr itten f rom a s tr ict ly t echn ica l p o int o f v iew" ( 1941: 1 1, a uthor 's i ta l ics) . I n t he e nsu ing f orty y ears, f urther work i n t h is a rea h as b een d one ( e. g ., C at l ing e t a l. 1 963; Matson 1 972), t hough a g enera l t reatment o f t he s ub ject i s s t i l l want ing. Neverthe less, Furumark 's s ummary c haracter ize Mycenaean p ottery o f t he c ore a rea :

5 7

w i l l

s erve

t o

The f iner ware i s made o f a g enera l ly we l l pur if ied c lay; t he b iscu it i s r e lat ive ly t h in a nd h ard a nd u sua l ly o f a buff c o lour. The v ases a re whee l-turned, u sua l ly s l ipped, a nd, i f d ecorated, pa inted w ith l ustrous p a int o f o ne c o lour , v ary ing b etween b lack a nd r ed; o ccas iona l ly t here a re a dded d eta i ls i n wh ite... I t s hou ld a lso b e n oted t ha t v ases w ith l ustre less, o r a lmost l ustre less, d ecorat ion a re o ccas iona l ly f ound i n pract ica l ly a l l p er iods... Monochrome v ases a re n ot v ery c ommon, a nd o pen v ases w ith e nt ire ly c oated i nter ior b e longing a lmost e xclus ive ly t o t he l ast [ i .e., LH IIC] per iod , o n ly a f ew e xamples b e ing o f e ar l ier d ate ( 1941: 1 2). The b as ic r eperto ire o f Mycenaean v esse l s hapes a nd d ecorat ive mot ifs f orms t he body o f Furumark 's work, wh ich s t i l l i s c ons idered d ef in it ive i n t hese r espects, a lthough more r ecent work has r ef ined h is c hrono logy ( D ick inson 1 977b: 2 4-28; F rench 1 964, 1 965, 1 969a , b ; I akov ides 1 979). S ince t he qua l ity a nd c ompos it ion o f c lays wou ld b e e xpected t o v ary s pat ia l ly more t han f orma l o r d ecorat ive a spects, t he c lay body f rom wh ich v esse ls a re made i s p robably t he most r e l iable i nd ica tor o f t he ir o r igin. Moreover, o nce a c lay s ource i s d iscovered, i t t ends t o b e u t i l ized t hereaf ter a s l ong a s o ccupat ion i n i ts v ic in ity c ont inues w ithout i nterrupt ion; t hus t he b as ic propert ies o f t he c lay body c hange i n most c ases l ess qu ick ly a nd a re l ess t empora l ly var iable t han f orm a nd d ecorat ion, o r e ven manufactur ing t echn ique. S evera l character ist ics o f Mycenaean pottery i n Thessa ly make i t poss ible t o d ist ingu ish w ith s ome c erta inty l oca l f rom i mported c eram ics. One s uch f eature i s t he presence o f m ica g ra ins i n t he c lay f abr ic. Hunter o bserved t hat The s o i l o f Thessa ly i s t yp ica l ly f u l l o f un iform ly l arge g ra ins o f s ilver m ica... A lthough s im i lar s o i l i s, o f c ourse, f ound i n s ome o ther p arts o f Greece,... I have worked o n t he a ssumpt ion t hat t he p resence o f s uch m ica-gra ins i n t he c lay i s o ne g ood c r iter ion f or s tat ing a v ase i s l oca l ly-made i n Thessa ly, e spec ia l ly s ince vases w ith m icac ious c lay o f t h is k ind a re i n o ther r espects a s we l l - e .g. c lay, pa int a nd s l ip - l ike ly t o be l oca l ly made... ( 1953: 3 1). Another i nd icator i s t he c o lor o f t he c lay, wh ich when f ired i s predom inant ly i n t he o range t o r ed r ange. S ince n o s tudy o f c lay s ources i n Thessa ly h as b een made, i t i s n ot p oss ible t o c omment a bout t he n ature a nd var iab i l ity o f t he r aw c lay i tse lf. However, c lay f abr ic c o lor r esu lts f rom a number o f f actors, i nc lud ing chem ica l c ompos it ion o f t he c lay, f i r ing t emperature, c ompleteness o f f ir ing, a nd t he d egree o f o x idation o r r educt ion ( Shepard 1 956: 1 ( 12-107). One m ight a ssume t hat Thessa l ian p otters wou ld h ave u sed buff-tir ing c lay h ad i t b een a va i lable, a nd s uch c lays may i ndeed h ave b een a va i lab le i n sma l l quant it ies. That t hey a ttempted t o dupl icate t he a ppearance o f Mycenaean p ottery o f t he c ore a rea a s c losely a s p oss ible i s s uggested b y Theochares ' o bservat ion t hat t he l oca l ly-made pa inted p ottery o f I o lkos c ou ld e as ily b e

5 8

d ist ingu ished by t he p resence o f a wh it ish o ver a n o range c lay b ody ( 1956: 1 26).

o r

buff

s l ip

a ppl ied

Further e v idence o f t he d ist inct iveness o f Thessa l ian c lays i s g iven by a s pectograph ic a na lys is o f Mycenaean s herds f rom 2 5 s ites i n Greece a nd t he Aegean. Sherds f rom t hree s ites i n Thessa ly - I o lkos, M armar ian i a nd Argyropou l i - w ere t ested a nd f ound t o b e long t o t wo g roups (D a nd E ), b oth o f wh ich w ere c hem ica l ly d ist inct f rom t he o ther g roups i dent if ied, i nc lud ing t hose c haracter ist ic o f t he P e loponnese, Crete, a nd t he e astern M ed iterranean ( Cat ling e t a l. 1 963). Wh i le f uture work o f t h is s ort may c lar ify o r mod ify t hese r esu lts, i t wou ld b e r easonable t o c onc lude o n t he b as is o f t he e v idence j ust p resented t hat most o f t he Mycenaean p ottery i n Thessa ly was o f l oca l manufacture. I t h as b een e st imated i n f act t hat a t l east 8 5% o f t he LH I I p a inted p ottery, a nd a n e ven g reater p ercentage o f unpa inted p ottery, a t I o lkos was l oca l ly made ( Theochares 1 961: 5 6). These g enera l o bservations a re l arge ly c onf irmed by my a na lys is o f more t han 9 00 Mycenaean s herds, most o f wh ich w ere o bta ined i n t he p rogram o f s urface c o l lect ion d escr ibed i n Chapter 2 ( see a lso Append ix 2 ). O f t hese s herds, 1 5.9% h ave a buffc o lored f abr ic, wh ich a lmost c o incides w ith t he f igure c ited a bove, a nd s uggests t hat most i f n ot a l l o f t he buff-f ir ing p ottery i n Thessa ly s hou ld p robably b e c ons idered i mports; o f t he r ema in ing s herds, 6 b.1% were o range, 1 1% r ed a nd 7 .9% b rown. I n c ontrast t o t he g enera l ly w el l-pur if ied f abr ic o f t he c ore z one, 8 0.9% o f t he Thessa l ian s herds c onta ined v is ible n onp last ic i nc lus ions; 5 8.7% c onta ined m ica, 4 3.4% m inera l i nc lus ions, a nd 1 2.2% c a lcareous i nc lus ions .2 The h igh m ica c ontent - wh ich was p robably n ot a dded a s a t e mper ing a gent, but was p resent a s a n i mpur ity i n t he c lay - a ga in s uggests a l oca l o r ig in f or most o f t he p ottery. O f t he 1 9.9% w ithout d iscern ible n onplast ie i nc lus ions, most a ga in may b e i mports, a l though s ome may r epresent p art icu lar ly pure s ources o r l oca l f ine ware i n wh ich s pec ia l c are was t aken t o r emove v is ible i mpur it ies. No s herds made o f e spec ial ly c oarse c lay were s e lected f or t h is a na lys is, but 6 5% h ad a f ine-textured f abr ic , wh i le 3 5% were o f med ium t exture ( i .e., were v is ibly g ranu lar). M ost o f t he s herds ( 80%) were we l l-f ired , w ith n o c ore o r d etectable c o lor v ar iat ion t hrough a s ect ion o f t he v esse l wa l l. Add it iona l ly, 6 7.4% o f t he s herds were s l ipped o n t he e xter ior s urface; i n c o lor, 3 1.6% were o range, 3 0.4% buff , 3 .8% b rown a nd 1 .8% o ther c o lors; 2 2.4% were unsl ipped, a nd i n 1 0.2% t he p resence o f a s l ip c ou ld n ot b e d eterm ined b ecause t he e xter ior was e nt ire ly c overed by p a int. I n most c ases t he s l ip was t he s ame c o lor a s t he under ly ing c lay, but t he h igher p roport ion o f buff-s l ipped s herds t o t hose w ith a buff c lay f abr ic ( 30.4% t o 1 5.9%) s eems t o v er ify t he a ssert ion t hat e fforts w ere made t o i m itate t he c haracter ist ic a ppearance o f pottery f rom t he c ore a rea by c ompensating f or t he c o lor o f t he c lay i t se lf , a nd t hat buff-f ir ing c lay was a va i lable, but o n ly i n sma l l quant it ies. Vesse l wa l l t h ickness i s o ne i ndex o f t he s ize a nd qua l ity o f i nd iv idua l p ots. Aga in, l arger a nd c oarser v essels a re under-represented i n t he s ample a na lyzed b ecause many o f t hem were undoubted ly undecorated p itho i o r o ther l arge c onta iners l ess r ecogn izably Mycenaean. O f . t hose a na lyzed,

5 9

h owever , 3 6.2% were r e lat ively t h in-wa l led ( 2-4cm), 5 6.2% were o f med ium t h ickness ( 5-7cm), a nd 7 .5% h ad r e lat ive ly t h ick wa l ls ( 8-15cm). I n t erms o f manufactur ing t echn ique, t hen, t he l oca l Mycenaean p ottery o f Thessa ly i s f or t he most p art d ist ingu ishable f rom t hat o f t he c ore a rea. Speak ing s ub ject ive ly, t he qual i ty o f t he bu lk o f t he l oca l p ottery i s n ot a s h igh a s t hat f rom t he c ore a rea, w ith g reater v ar iat ion i n t echn ica l e xpense, a l though Thessa l ian p otters were c lear ly c apable o f p roduc ing e xce l lent work i f t he o ccas ion d emanded. I n h is c ata logue o f Mycenaean v esse l s hapes, F urumark l i sts 1 03 f orms a nd 3 36 s pecif ic v esse l t ypes ( 1941: 5 83-643). An e xam inat ion o f t he c ata logue r evea ls, n ot s urpr is ingly, t hat s ome f orms a re r arer t han o thers a nd t hat c erta in t ypes r epresent m inor v ar iants o f o thers. W ith t he e xcept ion o f a f ew r egiona l v ar iants ( cf . Furumark 1 941: 6 6), a l l o f t hese f orms a nd t ypes a re f ound i n t he c ore a rea. G iven t he r e lat ive p auc ity o f publ ished c eram ic mater ia l f rom Thessa ly, i t wou ld b e m is lead ing t o o ffer a ny quant itat ive c ompar ison b etween Thessa ly a nd t he c ore a rea i n t h is r espect. Therefore, my d iscuss ion h ere w i l l b e l im ited t o a l i st o f t hose f orms a nd t ypes p resent ly known f rom Thessa ly a nd s ome i nd icat ion o f t he ir r e lat ive f requency. O f t hose l i sted by F urumark, 3 0 f orms a nd 6 7 t ypes c an a t present b e d ef in ite ly a ttested i n Thessa ly ( Table 1 ). These a re a ssured ly m in ima l f igures f or t he f o l low ing r easons: ( 1) t he g reat ma jor ity o f who le p ots o r i dent if iable f ragments a va i lable f or s tudy a re f rom bur ia ls, i n wh ich c losed s hapes p redom inate; ( 2) t he v ast quant ity o f c eram ic mater ia l f rom I o lkos a nd Pevkakia, wh ich because o f t he ir s ize, i mportance, a nd c ontact w ith t he s outh wou ld b e e xpected t o e ncompass a g reater v ar iety o f f orms a nd t ypes t han t hose n ow publ ished , h ave n ot b een f u l ly a na lyzed i n t h is r espect. S o I d o n ot t h ink i t wou ld b e unreasonable t o postulate t hat a t l east 5 0% o f t he t ota l number o f f orms a nd p erhaps 4 0% o f t he t ypes a re r epresented i n Thessa ly. G iven t he s ample a va i lable f rom Thessa ly, i t wou ld p erhaps b e unw ise t o a ttr ibute undue s ign if icance t o n egat ive e v idence, i .e., t o t hose f orms a nd t ypes wh ich may n ot y et h ave b een f ound. Neverthe less, s ome c omment m ight b e i n o rder , s ince t hose n ot f ound s eem t o f a l l i nto s evera l c ategor ies: ( 1) e ar ly ( LH I II) f orms a nd t ypes ( e.g. F orms 2 0, 2 2, 2 7 a nd 4 4); ( 2) t hose Furumark d es ignates a s L evanto-He l lad ic v ar iants ( Forms 1 1, 1 8, 2 6, 3 9, 6 1, a nd 7 4); ( 3) t hose wh ich F urumark t erms s pecial ized v esse ls ( Forms 5 2, 5 3, 5 6, 9 1, 9 3-96, a nd 9 9-103); ( 4) v ar ious o pen f orms, s uch a s c ups, g oblets a nd b ow ls ( Forms 3 , 6 0, 6 3-65, 6 8-72, 7 5-78, 8 1-84 a nd 8 6-90). Regard ing t he f i rst c ategory, i t i s d iff icu lt t o s ay whether t he l im ited quant ity o f e ar ly Mycenaean p ottery f rom Thessa ly s hou ld b e c ons idered a r epresentat ive s ample; i f s o , t hen i t wou ld a ppear t hat o n ly a f ew o f t hese e ar ly s hapes m ade t he ir w ay t o Thessa ly; i f n ot, t hen a ny f urther a na lys is wou ld b e m is lead ing. The a bsence o f t he s econd c ategory wou ld b e understandable i f t hese f orms h ad a l im ited d istr ibut ion, a nd f urthermore s uggests

6 0

T ABLE 1 M YCENAEAN V ESSEL F ORMS A ND T YPES I N T HESSALY F urumark F orm N o . 1

B ath L arnax

D escr ipt ion

F urumark T ype N o . 1

6

P ithos

1 3A

7

P itho id J ar

1 5-20,35,45

9

L ate ( LH IIC) S torage J ar

5 8,59,63

1 0

O ne-handled D omest ic J ar

6 5

1 3

J ar w / V ert . H and les o n B ody

7 4

1 5

S ma ll H andle less J ar

7

1 6

R ounded A labastron

8 0,82,84-86

1 7

O ne-handled A labastron

8 7

1 9

S traight-sided A labastron

8 9,92-96,98

2 3

T a ll D omest ic J ug

1 05

2 5

S mall G lobular J ug

15

3 1

H and-made M in iature J ug

1 26

3 4

T all J ug w / C ut-away N eck

1 33

3 5

S mall P ir iform J ug w / C ut-away N eck

1 34

3 7

G lobu lar J ug w / C ut-away N eck

1 36

4 1

L ow B eaked J ug

1 43,149

4 2

A mphoro id ( Beaked) J ug

1 50

4 5

S ide-spouted N ecked J ar w / B asket H and le

1 61

4 6

S t irrup-jar

1 71,174,177,178

4 9

G lobu lar F lask, H or iz. T ype

1 90,191

5 0

B aseless A skos

1 94

5 1

B ased A skos

1 95

5 5

O str ich E gg R hyton

2 02

5 8

S em iglobu lar C up

2 19

6 2

C y lindr ical C up

2 24,226

6 7

S em ig lobu lar C up w / R a ised H andle

2 36

7 9

S temmed C up

2 54,256-258,262, 2 64,267,270,274, 2 76

8 0

D eep R ounded B ow l w / H or iz .

8 5

S hallow B ow l w / F lat H or iz. H andles

6 1

H andles

2 81,282,284 2 94,295

t hat t here was l i tt le o r n o c ontact w ith t he Dodecannese a nd t he e astern M ed iterranean. The f orms a nd t ypes o f t he t h ird c ategory wou ld p resumably b e r e lat ively r are i n a ny c ase d ue t o t he ir s pec ia l ized f unct ions, a nd m ight a lso b e r estr icted t o l im ited a reas w ith in s ites o r o n ly t o l arger s i tes where s uch f unct ions wou ld b e more l i ke ly t o o ccur. The f ourth c ategory, wh ich r epresents f orms a nd t ypes more c ommon i n h ab itat ion s i tes t han i n bur ia ls, i s a t present under-represented i n t erms o f v ar iety; a ga in, • a d eta i led a na lys is o f t he mater ia l f rom I o lkos a nd P evkak ia wou ld undoubted ly r evea l t he e x istence o f many more t han c an n ow b e i dent if ied, a nd t he p redom inance o f o pen s hapes i n t he s amp le o f s herds I c o l lected a nd a na lyzed ( they c ompr ised a pprox imate ly 2 /3) s uggests a v ar iety e qu iva lent t o t hat o f c losed s hapes. A lthough quant itat ive c ompar isons c annot b e a ss igned a ny s tat ist ica l s ign if icance, i t m ight n onethe less b e u sefu l t o c ompare t he t wo a reas i n t erms o f t he r e lat ive f requency o r p opu lar ity o f var ious v esse l t ypes. I w i l l c onf ine t h is c ompar ison t o t he LH IIA-B p er iod, s ince t he amount o f publ ished mater ia l f rom Thessa ly f or LH I -II a nd LH IIC i s t oo sma l l t o d eterm ine e ven r e lat ive f requency. F or t he c ore a rea i n LH IIA-B t here a re d ata f rom a d eta i led a na lys is o f c losed s trat igraph ic d epos its a t Mycenae, f rom wh ich a l i st o f t he most f requent ly-occurr ing s hapes c an b e o bta ined .3 These a re a s f o l lows: p ir iform j ars ( FS 3 1, 4 4), r ounded a labastra ( FS 8 2-84), sma l l h and le less j ars ( FS 7 7), s tra ight-s ided a labastra ( FS 9 3), l ow b eaked j ugs ( FS 1 44), kraters ( FS 6 , 7 ), s ha l low c ups ( FS 2 19), mugs ( FS 2 25), g oblets ( FS 2 55, 2 57-259), s temmed bow ls ( FS 3 04, 3 05), d eep b ow ls ( FS 2 84), a nd s t irrup j ars ( E. F rench 1 964, 1 965, 1 966, 1 969a). F rom Thessa ly, a p re l im inary l i st o f v esse l t ypes f rom I o lkos i nc ludes p itho id j ars, s t irrup j ars, r hyta , g oblets, j ugs, d eep b ow ls, kraters, c ups, s ha l low b ow ls a nd v ar ious d omest ic v esse ls (Theochares 1 961: 5 0); w ith t he e xcept ion o f r hyta, i t may b e a ssumed t hat t hese v esse l t ypes a re t he most c ommon ly f ound , a lthough n o i nd icat ion o f t he ir f requency i s g iven ( i l lustra ted e xamples i nc lude F S 6 5, 7 4, 9 3, 1 91, 2 67, 2 74, 2 82, 2 84, a nd 2 94, a lthough i t i s n ot s tated whether t hese a re i l lustrated a s t ypica l o r except iona l). I nsofar a s c ompar isons c an b e made, i t a ppears t hat t he b as ic r epertory o f t hese t wo p a lat ia l s i tes i s r ough ly s im i lar. A s omewhat d ifferent p icture emerges, h owever , i f we c ons ider t he t ypes r epresented i n bur ia ls i n Thessa ly f or LH IIA-B. The most c ommon t ypes r epresented i n t hese bur ia ls a re t he r ounded a labastron ( FS 8 5), t he s tra ight-s ided a labastron ( FS 9 4), t he p itho id j ar, a nd t he j ug, most o f ten w ith a c ut-away n eck; a lso f ound, t hough n e ither a s w ide ly n or a s c ommon ly, a re t he s t irrup j ar, g oblet, c up, a skos a nd r hyton ( Table 2 ). An overa l l c ompar ison b etween t hese bur ia ls a nd t hose i n Bo io t ia s uch a s t he l arge g roup o f c hamber t ombs a t Tanagra ( Spyropou los 1 969) a nd o thers a t Ka ll i thea ( Spyropou los 1 970; Tou loupa 1 964) a nd P ara l imn i ( Spyropou los 1 971) - r evea ls t hat i n Thessa ly r ounded a nd s tra ight-s ided a labastra a ppear t o b e more c ommon, wh i le s t irrup j ars, g lobu lar j ugs a nd c on ica l b ow ls a re l ess c ommon, o r a s w ith t he l ast-named t ype, a bsent a l together. S ince t he bur ia l g roups c ited f rom Bo iot ia a re g enera l ly r icher t han t hose i n Thessa ly, h owever, i t may b e t hat f actors r e lat ing t o

6 2

T ABLE 2 F REQUENCY O F M YCENAEAN V ESSEL T YPES I N B URIALS I N T HESSALY ( NUMBER O F I NDIVIDUAL B URIALS S HOWN I N P ARENTHESES)

( f )

5

A gr ilia ( 10) A y ios A nton ios ( 1 ) A y ios T heodoros ( 1) B ounarbas i

( 1)

C hasamba li

( ?)

D im in i

S t irrup J ar

P ir iform J ar

U ) C

2

1

4

4

2 2 2

1

1 3

2

3

1

E xalophos ( 2 )

1

G onno i

1

( ?)

G r itsa ( 4)

6

K apak li

1

2

L ar isa A irport ( ? )

1

1

L ivad i

1 1 5

2

3

1

2

N ea I on ia ( 15)

9

P evkak ia ( ? )

3

6

1

P harsala ( 2 )

1

2

3

R achman i

1

S ouph li

( 2)

S p ilia ( 1 )

1

2

1

3 1

2 7

1 4

1

1

1

1

9

3

1 1

1

1

1 0

1

3 1

2

5

1

1

V ouvala ( 1 )

2

1

1 3

Z ere lia ( ?) T ota l

CD

1

1

E lasson ( ? )

( 1 )

CC

5 a ) _ c 4 )

9

2

2

M ega M onast ir ion ( 5 )

cZ

c o 4 ) > , _ c

4

D omen ikon ( 1)

( 1)

CD

( i ) o _ b c c m

2

( 4)

( 1)

o = ( _ )

4 ) U ) 1 o 0

4 4

3 9

2 7

6 3

1 7

1 4

1

9

4

2

3

T ABLE 3 F REQUENCY O F M YCENAEAN D ECORATIVE M OTIFS A T M YCENAE ( LH IIA-B ) A ND T HESSALY ( * i nd icates p resence, # i nd icates c ommon m ot ifs) M ot if

M ycenae

T hessa ly

M ot if

M ycenae

T hessa ly

3

*

4 5

*

*

8

*

4 6

#

#

9

*

4 8

#

#

1

#

4 9

#

*

1 2

*

*

5 0

*

*

1 3

*

*

5 1

#

*

1 4

*

*

5 2

*

*

1 5

*

*

5 3

#

#

*

5 4

*

1 6 1 7

*

*

5

*

1 8

#

*

5 7

#

#

1 9

#

*

5 8

#

#

2 0

*

*

5 9

*

2 1

#

6 0

*

#

2

*

*

6 1

*

*

2 3

#

#

6 2

#

#

2 4

*

#

6 3

*

*

2 5

*

*

6 4

*

#

2 7

*

*

6 5

*

2 9

*

*

6 7

*

#

3 2

#

#

7 0

#

#

*

7 2

3 5 3 7

*

4 1

*

4 2

*

7 3

*

*

7 4

*

*

#

7 5

#

4 3

#

#

7 6

*

4 4

*

#

7 7

#

6 4

*

#

wea l th a nd s oc ia l s tatus may o f -r egiona l d ifferences.

b e i nvo lved,

a s

w e l l

a s

- o r i nstead

I n r egard t o d ecorat ion, Furumark d iscusses a nd i l lustrates 7 8 mot ifs a nd t he ir v ar iants ( 1941: 2 36-424). H ere c ompar ison i s f ac il itated s omewhat by t he f act t hat mot ifs o ften c an b e i dent if ied more e as i ly f rom s herds t han c an v esse l s hape - a l though t h is i s l ess t rue f or t he o vera l l d es ign, o r what F urumark t erms decorative s yntax ( ib id.: 1 12-116). O f t hese c haracter ist ic Mycenaean mot ifs, a t l east 4 4 c an b e i dent if ied i n Thessa ly. Aga in, i t may b e d ecept ive t o a ttach undue mean ing t o t he a bsence o f c erta in mot ifs, but i t i s worth n ot ing t hat t he ma jor ity o f t hose n ot f ound a re e ither c omplex i n d es ign o r p ictor ia l i n n ature ( e.g., FM 2 -11, 2 1, 2 8, 3 4, 3 9, 4 0, 6 6, a nd 6 8). There wou ld s eem t o b e a t l east t hree p oss ible e xplanat ions f or t he a bsence o f t hese mot ifs: ( 1) t hey c an b e l ess e asy t o i dent ify t han s impler mot ifs where t he d es ign i s o n ly p art ia l ly p reserved, a s o n p otsherds; ( 2) s ince t hey a re, f or t he most p art, more d if f icu lt t o e xecute t han s imp ler mot ifs, t hey a re l ike ly t o h ave b een l ess c ommon; ( 3) f or t he s ame r eason, p otters i n Thessa ly may n o t h ave h ad t he d es ire o r t he n ecessary s k i l l t o r eproduce t hem. Concern ing t he f requency o f s uch mot ifs, we a ga in h ave d ata f rom Mycenae wh ich c an b e c ompared t o t hose o f Thessa ly. The mater ia l f rom Thessa ly i s n ot a s a bundant a nd c omes f rom a v ar iety o f c ontexts ( bur ia ls, s urface c o l lect ions) r ather t han f rom a s ingle e xcavated h ab itat ion s ite; s t i l l , a c ompar ison o f t he r ange a nd r elat ive f requency o f mot ifs f rom t he t wo a reas ( Table 3 ) may s uggest s im i lar it ies a nd d ifferences i n t he r espect ive d ecorat ive r eperto ires. I n f act , i t c an b e s een f rom t h is c ompar ison t hat a number o f mot ifs were popu lar i n both a reas ( FM 2 3, 3 2, 4 3, 4 6, 4 8, 5 3, 5 8, 6 2, 7 0 a nd 7 5). On t he o ther h and , c erta in mot ifs s eem t o b e more c ommon a t Mycenae ( FM 1 1, 1 9, 2 1, 4 9, 5 1 a nd 7 7), wh i le o thers a re more c ommon i n Thessa ly ( FM 2 4, 4 2, 4 4, 6 0, 6 4 a nd 6 7). O f t he mot ifs c ommon t o both a reas, most a re f i l l o rnaments o r z ona l d ecorat ions wh ich a re s imple a nd f a ir ly s ty l ized ( FM 3 2, 4 8, 5 3, 6 2 a nd 7 5), r ather t han p r imary o r c entra l e lements, a nd a re p robably t herefore f a ir ly bas ic Mycenaean d es ign e lements wh ich h ad a w ide d istr ibut ion. O f g reater s ign if icance p erhaps i s t he popu lar ity o f t he whor l s he l l ( FM 2 3), r unn ing s p ira l ( FM 4 6) and c urved s tr ipes ( FM 6 7) i n both a reas. I t i s s omewhat more d if f icu lt t o i nterpret t he g reater p opu lar ity o f c erta in mot ifs a t Mycenae, s ince t hey s eem, a s a g roup, t o b e r a ther h eterogeneous. Those mot ifs p opu lar i n Thessa ly a re, a ga in, r ather s imple a nd s tyl ized p atterns wh ich s eem t o h ave b een u sed ma in ly a s f i l l a nd a ccessor ia l e lements. One may a lso n o te h ere s ome p o ints c oncern ing d ecorat ion o f t he s ample o f s herds o bta ined f rom s urface c o l lect ion d iscussed e ar l ier. I n r espect t o p a int c o lor, 3 1% o f t he p a inted s herds w ere brown, 3 0% r ed, 1 1.4% r ed-brown, 8 .4% maroon, 5 .1% b lack a nd 2 .4% o range; t he r ema inder ( 11.7%) were s omewhat l ess e ven ly f ired a nd d isplayed t wo s hades o f c o lor ( ma in ly b rown a nd r edbrown o r r ed a nd maroon). The qua l ity o f t he p a int was a lso s omewhat v ar iable; i n 6 0.1% o f t he c ases t he p a int was s em il ustrous,

wh i le

3 9.9%

h ad

a matte

o r

6 5

n onlustrous

a ppearance;

i n

o n ly a v ery f ew c ases was t he p a int o f a h igh ly l ustrous qual i ty. Th is h eterogene ity o f p a int c o lor a nd qua l ity i s r a ther d ifferent t han t hat o f t he c ore a rea , a nd may b e a ttr ibutable i n p art t o l ess e xact ing a nd more v ar iable s tandards o f f i r ing a nd/or d ifferences i n t he m inera l c ompos it ion o f t he p a ints u sed i n Thessa ly. As f or t he o rgan izat ion o f t he d ecorat ion, 8 1.3% o f t he pa inted s herds h ad a p atterned d es ign o f s ome s ort, wh i le 1 8.7% h ad a monochrome e xter ior; d ecorat ion o f t he v essel i nter ior ( o ther t han monochrome, wh ich w i l l b e d iscussed s hort ly) was r e lat ive ly uncommon ( 10%), u sua l ly c ons ist ing o f a b and o r s tr ipe o n o r be low t he r im. By f ar, t he most c ommon f orm o f d ecorat ion w as l inear ( F igure 1 2), i .e., s ing le o r p ara l le l l i nes, bands a nd s tr ipes o f 1 t o 3 1mm ( 1-3nun, 2 4.9%; 4 -8nun, 2 5.6%; 9 -16mm, 3 8.9%; 1 7-31mm , 1 0.7%). I n most c ases i t was n ot p oss ible t o d eterm ine whether t he d ecorat ion c ons isted s o le ly o f b ands o r s tr ipes; i n s ome c ases, h owever, i t c an b e d emonstrated - a nd i n many o ther i nstances i t c an b e a ssumed - t hat t hey s erved t o d emarcate o r f rame d ecorat ive z ones ( cf. Furumark 1 941: 4 72-474). O ther patterned d ecorative mot ifs w ere much l ess c ommon; i n d ecreas ing o rder o f f requency, t hey a re s p ira ls, c oncentr ic s em ic irc les, s ha l low wavy l ines, d eep wavy l ines, p ara l lel c hevrons, t r icurved a rches a nd whor l s he l ls ( F igure 1 3). The p redom inance o f l i near a nd monochrome e xter ior d ecorat ion a ga in s uggests t he r e la t ive s impl ic ity o f d es ign o n t he ma jor ity o f v esse ls i n Thessa ly. The c orpus o f mater ia l f rom wh ich o bservat ions c an b e d rawn c oncern ing d es ign s yntax a nd d ecorat ive o rganizat ion, o r t he a ssoc iat ion o f s pecif ic mot ifs w ith s pecif ic v esse l s hapes i s unfortunate ly t oo smal l t o b e d ea lt w ith i n a quant itat ive f ash ion. F or LH IIA-B, h owever, a f ew c haracter ist ic a ssoc iat ions o f s hape a nd d es ign c an b e n oted. One i s t he r ounded a labastron w ith a s imple r ock p attern a s t he c entra l mot if ( FS 8 5, FM 3 2:5; F igure 1 4). Another i s t he s tra ight-s ided a labastron w ith e ither a n et pattern, a s er ies o f v ert ica l b ars o r a n N-pattern i n t he p r imary d ecorat ive z one o n t he s hou lder ( FS 9 4, FM 5 7:2, 5 9:1, 2 o r 6 4:20; F igure 1 5). A lmost i nvar iably, t hese v esse ls h ave a s er ies o f c oncentr ic c irc les o n t he b ottom ( cf . F rench 1 964: 2 47). S ince t hese s hapes a nd mot ifs a re qu ite c ommon a nd w idespread i n t he ir d istr ibut ion f or LH I IA-B, i t may b e c on jectured t hat t hey a re one a spect o f t he Mycenaean " ko ine" t ha t was e spec ia l ly p opu lar i n Thessa ly. One o ther k ind o f c eram ic a rt ifact - t he f igur ine - d eserves t o b e t reated s eparate ly b ecause o f i t s f unct iona l d ifference f rom pottery a nd i t s a ssoc iat ion w ith t he Mycenaean r e l ig ious s ubsystem ( French 1 971: 1 07-108). Mycenaean f igur ines h ave b een f ound a t 1 2 s i tes i n c lustered i n t he e astern wh ich h ave r epresented (Table 4 ) -

Thessa ly ( ibid.: 1 85-187); h a lf o f t hese s i tes a re o r n ear t he c oasta l z one, but s ome a re a lso f ound i n a nd western p la ins ( F igure 1 6). M ost o f t hose t ypes t he w idest d istr ibut ion t hroughout t he Aegean a re i n Thessa ly - i nclud ing ph i, p s i, t au a nd a n ima l t ypes a s we l l a s s evera l r arer o r more unusua l t ypes ( F igure

1 7), i nc lud ing a c har iot a nd h orses f rom M ega Monast ir ion (Theochares 1 964: 2 56, P late 2 92). Types r epresent ing a lmost a l l phases i n t he c hrono logica l d eve lopment o f M ycenaean f igur ines c an

6 6

F igure 1 2 ,

F igure 1 3.

R hodia: S herds W ith L inear D esign.

B ounarbas i: S herds W ith P atterned D esign .

F igure 1 4 , S ouph li: R ounded A labastron W ith R ock P attern M otif ( Lar isa M useum , S M 1 8 ).

F igure 1 5 . D omenikon : S traight-sided A labastron W ith V ert ical B ar M ot if ( Lar isa M useum ).

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