Euboea and its Aegean koine
p. 45-58
Texte intégral
1The idea that Euboeans formed a koine within the Aegean, from the 11th to the middle of the 9th century BC, is not new. Desborough suggested the existence of such a koine in a paper presented as early as 19772 This was a prophetic study as many of the gaps in the picture that Desborough, in his uniquely cautious way identified, have today been filled by new discoveries. Indeed, he even suggested that there could have been an earlier koine, which might have started at the middle of the 12th century-in the LH IIIC period: the last stage of the Late Bronze Age. And again he was right3. We can now see more clearly than he could have with the material available at the time that there was indeed a LH IIIC middle Aegean koine formed by several communities, not necessarily associated with the previous palace system and which had to learn fast how to survive in difficult times. These communities briefly flourished with pottery, luxurious imports and ideas travelling within and outside the Aegean-from the coast of Thessaly and east Locris to Euboea, Attica and through the islands to the eastern Mediterranean (fig. 1). However, many of them suffered another wave of destruction and their settlements were again abandoned after a brief recovery4.
2Looking more closely at the regions that are of a particular interest, we see that in Euboea, the settlement on Xeropolis at Lefkandi was destroyed at the end of this period, Lefkandi stage 2b. The site continued to be occupied in the next stage, but the lifestyle on Xeropolis deteriorated further5. Nea Ionia in Thessaly may have suffered further destruction at the end of LH IIIC middle, although since the excavations have never been fully published, it not that clear whether the destruction affected the whole settlement or only part of it6. In Thebes, after the destruction of the Palace, evidence from burials shows that the site was occupied until the middle of LH IIIC, but then there is a gap, until the SM period7. In the Cyclades, Naxos and Paros were both active members of this earlier Aegean koine. The settlement at Koukounaries on Paros was destroyed, while on Naxos the situation is not clear, as most of the material is still unpublished. But we do know that the island has produced evidence of occupation as early as EPG, and possibly SM8.
3So, although many sites, which were occupied during the last stage of LH IIIC, remain unpublished, it appears from the available material that the final stage of LH UIC is a period of unrest and movement marked by further destruction and abandonment of settlements. This situation may have improved slightly for some of them during the following SM period, but certainly not for all.
4The picture we have from the SM period today is more complete than when Desborough described the period in 1964 in The Last Mycenaeans and Their Successors. At that time he thought of SM culture as a regional phenomenon that affected only western Attica and which overlapped chronologically with the last Mycenaeans buried in chamber tombs in the Argolid. Desborough, of course, modified his view in 1972 in his The Greek Dark Ages so that his SM culture covered a larger area and a longer period. But I do not think that he would have anticipated our current view of its scope. Today, we have SM finds not only from many more sites within the geographical limits of the Mycenaean world, but also stretching as far North as Torone in Chalcidice. The fact that we have SM vases in Chalcidice which are associated with the rite of cremation, is in my opinion much more important than arguing whether one or two of these pots are of Attic or Euboean origin, or in fact neither, but locally made-as has recently been claimed9. What is more important is to try to understand why there are SM vases in Chalcidice in the first place (fig. 2).
5Prof. Hammond has recently tried to bring together the various parts of the literary evidence and combined them with recent archaeological finds from Chalcidice. According to the literary tradition concerning the migration to the western coast of Asia Minor, the Aeolians migrated before the Ionians and passed via the “Thracian” coast before settling in northwestern Asia Minor. So he suggested that the early finds from Chalcidice accord well with this tradition10.
6The situation, however, was much more complex and thus more difficult to understand. Assuming that the various literary traditions have preserved some historical reliability, then what they tell of is of first a massive migration, followed by smaller movements of people. I have argued elsewhere that any massive migration must have taken place only as an immediate consequence of the disasters of 1200 BC11. This still allows the situation of unrest, which is evinced in the last stage of LH UIC, and partly at the beginning of the SM period to be associated with further, smaller scale, movements of people within the Aegean. This means that at the end of the LH UIC and in the early stages of the SM period, people were on the move again-and I prefer to see them as refugees rather than settlers. But they did eventually settle, and often in mixed communities. This, I believe, accords well with the picture emerging from the available archaeological evidence: small, mixed settlements which were located in the northern Aegean-like Torone and Koukos-or along the western coast of Asia Minor-like Asarlik in Caria12.
7The SM period is indeed a crucial stage in a constantly changing world which developed in the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age. There is no doubt that Attica-and especially Athens-was one of the important centres during this stage.
8For example, it is during the SM period in Attica that there is an important change in burial customs with single burials in cist tombs being universally adopted. Mountjoy has proposed that the cist cemeteries at Kerameikos and Salamis started to be used in LH IIIC, but this argument is based mostly on a small number of burials with LH IIIC vases13. But since there is certainly no widespread adoption of this burial practice in Athens until SM, it is reasonable to suppose that these vases were made before the cemeteries came into use. So, I believe the cemeteries are from the SM period and that for the SM population of Athens there was no going back to multiple burials in chamber tombs, a custom associated with the Mycenaean past.
9Whatever the dating of the adoption of single burials, some of these people also adopted cremation. This custom was sporadically practised in the previous period, and becomes the main burial custom in the next PG period. This, I believe, is an important change whatever the reason for it was: it might have been symbolic, socio-economic, or cultural.
10Moving to the neighbouring Euboea, SM burials in cist tombs produced pottery which is different in both fabric and quality from the pottery found in the final Late Bronze Age settlement on Xeropolis-Lefkandi stage 314. This may suggest that the site was abandoned at the end of LH IIIC and resettled during the SM period. The number of excavated tombs at Lefkandi is not as great as in Athens, but this might be only accidental since only one of the SM cemeteries has been excavated, and that only partly. So we do not know whether there were more SM burials in one of the other unexcavated cemeteries15. Thus it is not fair to conclude that during the SM period Lefkandi was a backwater in comparison to Athens16.
11If we compare the material from both sites we find some interesting differences, but also important similarities. Amongst the important differences, one that was noted by Desborough is that there appear to be less stirrup jars and more lekythoi at Lefkandi than in other sites, and especially in Athens. Of course, this also might be accidental, since we may not yet have excavated the earlier SM tombs17. But since the lekythos is the shape which, by the beginning of the PG, replaces the stirrup jar in most sites, this pattern suggested to Desborough the possibility that the SM material from Lefkandi might represent only the late stage of the SM period18. Similar explanations might be given for other differences in the finds.
12Some of the similarities are striking: apart from the same types of vases found in both sites. They also shared common types of fibulae; the most popular is the simple arched bow type. Similar types of rings and pins also occurred in both sites. Gold appeared in the form of tiny gold spirals in both Lefkandi and Athens19.
13In the transitional period from SM to PG some unusual shapes appeared at both sites. These are the flask, the ring vase and the bird vase. The fact that these shapes are common in Cyprus has led Desbor- ough to suggest that they come from there, but if so then both sites had contact with the island at the beginning of the PG period20.
14In some ways these similarities are close enough to suggest – something that even such an atticocentric as Desborough never did – that part of the population which resettled Lefkandi in the S M period may have actually come from Attica, while others may have arrived from Thessaly, Boeotia and East Locris: regions which had close connections with Euboea during the LH UIC period.
15Examining other areas in Central Greece, in Boeotia, SM cist tombs are found in Thebes dug into the debris of the Mycenaean settlement21. At Paralimni, some of the burials might be SM22. In Phocis, there are certainly SM burials at Delphi, some perhaps buried in the late Mycenaean chamber tombs23. At Kalapodi, there are clearly SM followed by PG levels. Kalapodi is a very important site being a sanctuary with continuity in cult use from the LH IIIC through the SM, PG and SPG24.
16At Elateia, the excavators reported that the most flourishing period of the cemeteries is during the end of the LH IIIC and the beginning of the S M period. Their finds are rich in bronze and this during a period which was thought to have had a shortage of bronze25. The publication of the finds from these sites will provide further important evidence for the rich collection of metal types. The dead at Elateia was buried in a local type of chamber tomb, as were the dead at Amphikleia where again the offerings are rich in bronze26.
17SM evidence has been found at Kynos in East Locris, a settlement that had a parallel history to that of Xeropolis at Lefkandi during the course of LH IIIC27.
18In Thessaly (fig. 3), SM cist tombs have been reported apart from Nea Ionia (Volos), at Theotokou, Velestino (ancient Pherai) and even inland at Retziouni on the southern foothills of Olympus28. While SM cist tombs have been reported in Pieria they have not yet been published. Last but not least are the important finds from Chalcidice at Torone, Koukos, Mende and the even more exciting discoveries at Poseidi.
19Information for most of these sites depends on preliminary reports and so it is difficult to reach more than broad conclusions. A further obstacle in understanding the period is the fact that SM wheel-made pottery is a debased form of its Mycenaean predecessor and most comes from tombs. So we are confined to a small range of funerary vases which are decorated very much in the same way. One hopes that when material is properly published differences and similarities will be easier to identify as has been the case of the SM material in the Argolid in comparison to that from Attica29.
20There are also certain common types of metal object such as arched fibulae, long pins and rings with a shield bezel usually decorated with tremolo decoration. These have been found in most of the sites where SM finds have been located.
21The most indistinct aspect of this period is the burial customs: the variety of practices suggests perhaps the great diversity of the different groups which composed the population in the transition from the Bronze to the Early Iron Age. This picture continued into the PG and SPG period.
22To sum up, although during the SM period there might be some regional preferences, I think that there was also a lot of uniformity. How extended and how solid this uniformity was we may only understand when important material from several sites is fully published. Furthermore, it is also clear that by the end of the SM period conditions in Greece are more settled, at least for those sites which have managed to survive. These are the sites which are going to play an important role in the developments marking the history of the Aegean for the next 250 years.
23From the very early stages of the PG period, the archaeological record reveals a diversity of regional characteristics, which broadly divide Greece into various regions. Attica and the Argolid are two of them as are Western Greece and Crete. Interconnections among these areas are certain. Euboea for example maintains close links with Attica, which is understandable because of their geographical proximity. However, it is with sites in Central Greece, Thessaly and perhaps Pieria and Chalcidice that Euboea developed a more special relationship suggesting they formed a koine.
24Euboea with Lefkandi has been chosen to stand for this koine because, at the moment, it provides the best and most extensive sequence from SM through to SPG. Other sites involved are Chalcis, Amarynthos and now Kyme in Euboea. Thebes, Paralimni, Or-chomenos, Vranesi in Boeotia; Kalapodi and Delphi in Phocis. Some links certainly occurred with Elateia, while Atalanti in east Locris Bikiorema, Stylis and Lamia in Phthiothis can also be included in the koine. In coastal Thessaly, Nea Ionia, Kapakli, Velestino, Theotokou and Halos are members as well as Marma-riani and Homolion to the north. Some of the finds from Vergina, the more recently discoveries from the Early Iron Age cemeteries at Dion and the important discoveries in Chalcidice, discussed above, extended at least the links of the koine to the northern Aegean. Of the islands, Skyros has very close links. Andros, Tenos and — in part — Naxos and possibly Amorgos also show signs of links. Even with the little material we have, it can be seen that the Cyclades were dependent on the two main PG regions of Attica and Euboea; with only Naxos succeeding in having links with both. Keos and Sifnos with Athens; Andros and Tenos with Euboea. It has been remarked on that the spheres of influence over the islands are split west and east respectively. But the available material from the islands is very limited30.
25There is some variation in the closeness of the links, as well as some fluctuation with time. The evidence of course depends on the state of the current archaeological research. So according to the available evidence Boeotia is closest in EPG and MPG, though in LPG it adopts a few Athenian features -probably as a result of imports. Phocis joins as early as EPG, while it is only in SPG that it receives influences from other areas, especially those located around the Corinthian Gulf. Thessaly always combines a definite degree of local independence and a close bond with the koine. In addition, Thessaly contributes to the region with vase types and metal objects either of the local workshops or from northern areas such as Pieria. The evidence for Andros and Tenos belongs at the moment to LPG and SPG, whilst Skyros provides evidence from MPG onwards. Naxos, as stated above, holds a middle position in all phases it is a natural meeting place for the two strands of influence present in the Cyclades.
26Unsurprisingly the main evidence for the formation of our koine is pottery, since ceramics form the largest volume of the archaeological material. There are three aspects to the evidence from the pottery that should be considered. First, there are those vase types common to the koine, and which effectively do much to define it. Then, there are more localised developments: some originating from Eu-boea, but with contributions too from Thessaly. Thessaly also played an important role in passing ideas from Pieria and Chalcidice to the south. Finally, there is the shadow cast from outside the koine by Athenian influence31.
27To begin with the first: in EPG, vase types held in common are the monochrome cups and skyphoi, their lower bodies and feet reserved, and the jugs and amphoriskoi with wavy lines on the shoulder. These appear at most sites and continue into MPG. In addition, a sub-type of the monochrome skyphos and the cup with reserved bands below are developed and become distinctive types of this phase and region: Lefkandi, Amarynthos, Nea Ionia (Volos), Theotokou, Kalapodi and Skyros all produce examples. Some even reach Cos32.
28During the PG period the most common vases in Athens were the so-called zigzag cup and the circle skyphos. Both types were copied by the Euboeans as early as the MPG, but never slavishly. The Euboeans made their own distinctive types. But even more important, it is these adaptations that are to be found on Skyros, in Thessaly, and Pieria and not the more attractive Attic versions33. The same is true of the circle skyphos34. By LPG, a sub-type of the zigzag cup with a flat base and one or more zigzags on the lip is purely Lefkandian, occurring in LPG and SPG alike: examples are known from Skyros, Vergina and one from Cos35.
29The kalathos is a type of vase used mostly as an offering in graves from the LPG period onwards. This type was introduced to Lefkandi-most probably from Athens and as in the case of the zigzag cup and the circle skyphos, the local potters at once produced their own versions, distinct from the Athenian models. The most popular is that with rows of small impressed triangles: similar ones occur at Iolkos and Skyros but not outside the koine36.
30Looking more carefully at localised developments, Lefkandi is clearly one of the innovative sites. According to the present evidence the site appears to be responsible for the production of new types which were either imported or locally copied only by mem- bers of the koine. The origin and the distribution of the pendent semicircle skyphos illustrate this point well. The LPG period in the Euboean koine is marked by the wide popularity of the pendent semicircles skyphos-having gone through an experimental stage in MPG. The distinction between the koine and other areas, such as Athens and the Argolid, is clear from the fact that only three such pieces are known from there37.
31Another interesting version of the type is a larger skyphos also decorated with pendent semicircles. The type was in use in the MPG because it has been found in the building deposit at Toumba and has parallels in Pieria: one from Vergina and one in the Early Iron Age cemetery at Dion38.
32The amphoriskos is also a vase used as a grave offering and it is popular during the whole period. Amphoriskoi in Athens disappeared at the beginning of the PG period39. Another vase-type associated with the koine is the tall jug with flat base also found on Skyros, at Atalanti and Thessaly. It first appeared during the LPG and it also continued into the early stages of SPG40. One might add a common decorative motive used within the koine during the SPG period: the so-called hour-glass motive, which decorates the neck of oinochoai and amphorae41.
33Finally the Black and Red Slip Wares, introduced in MPG at Lefkandi form another feature in the local repertoire of pottery with vases also found on Skyros, at Atalanti in east Locris, Tenos and in Thessaly42.
34As stated above, Thessaly too contributed — perhaps, again, with some of the original impulses coming from the Pieria and Chalcidice. This is seen in the jug with cutaway neck: examples in both wheel and handmade wares are known at Lefkandi and Skyros43. Peculiar to Thessaly, best represented at Marmariani, are a series of jugs and kantharoi decorated with rectilinear motifs: they also occur in both hand and wheelmade wares. Kantharoi of this type rarely appear in southern areas. Only a few handmade fragments are known from Lefkandi44.
35Before examining another class of objects, it is perhaps interesting to emphasise that most of vase types described above were made locally in each of these sites. Very few are imports and this is important: it reflects a tendency to make pots in the same way throughout the koine, and yet to differentiate them from those produced at the same time in Attica, the Argolid or Western Greece.
36When we turn to the metal finds, a robust sense of access to objects of value is made manifest, though it is only Euboea, Skyros and partially east Locris and Thessaly that are involved in the last. Most of the evidence comes from graves and only few offerings in the sanctuaries.
37The available evidence suggests that in the region under consideration, from the beginning of the PG period there is a preference in the use of bronze fibulae instead of iron and bronze pins, where as in the SM period pins and fibulae are found in more or less equal numbers. Yet, one has to stress that pins did occur45. The main differences with other areas, such as Athens and the Argolid, are that pins appear to be less popular and that they are often found in graves together with fibulae, where in Athens very rarely occur in such combination and in the Argolid never46 This might be of some significance for dress fashion or at least for the dress fasteners that were given to the dead, suggesting perhaps a different system of fastening which combined both fibulae and pins, and was perhaps in use in the SM period47. In addition some of the fibula types were locally produced and developed and used within the limits of the koine48.
38In brief, in the early stages of the PG period, Euboea and Thessaly continue to use the SM types of fibulae: the simple arched version with a symmetrical bow and the violin type are the commonest49. During MPG, Lefkandi produces a local type with an asymmetrical bow and a central swelling, very popular also on Skyros with examples in Thessaly50. In Thessaly, however, a northern type is more common, the so-called “spectacle” fibula. This is particularly popular in the Early Iron Age cemeteries at Dion and Vergina, but interestingly I do think that there are any examples-at least published ones-from Chalcidice51 The earliest southern examples might be the LPG/SPG fibulae at Atalanti. At Lefkandi and Skyros this type of fibula has not been found yet, but interestingly, the “spectacle” motive has been used in the locally produced jewellery52.
39Fibulae are one of the most common offerings at the sanctuary of Artemis Enodia at Pherai, in Thessaly53. It would have been useful to know whether fibulae were also common amongst the earlier offerings. Imma Kilian-Dirlmeier, however, has noticed that the majority of the offerings at the sanctuary dated to the 8th and 7th centuries BC come from local workshops. She also pointed out that among the offerings from the Aegean islands, fibulae are also very common, while pins, dress ornaments associated with the Argolid, are rare. However, one should be cautious in drawing further conclusions since the offerings cover both a wide chronological and geographical range54.
40During the early history of the sanctuary at Kal-apodi, both pins and fibulae have been found. The fibulae are of the same types as in Euboea and the koine, while the presence of PG and Geometric pins can be perhaps seen as offerings from the Peloponese an area which had a few links with the sanctuary in the PG and SPG periods, but these became closer in the Late Geometric and the Archaic period55.
41If there was a preference of fibulae over pins in the region, a striking exception is the women buried at Toumba cemetery. The exceptional first burial next to the warrior in the MPG building at Toumba was given no less than ten pins, while fine pairs of iron pins plated with gold have also been found with some of the richest burials at this cemetery. In these cases pins have often been associated with a number of fibulae. This combination, however, does not occur in the modest burials of the site56.
42The relative frequency of gold jewellery, abundant at Lefkandi, is a remarkable feature of the region. Gold spiral are found in most of the sites within the koine. Foils or bands with incised decoration in the form of “attachments”, and discs are characteristic of Lefkandi and Skyros. These pieces together with most of the jewellery that is found at Lefkandi are likely to be products of a local workshop57.
43Exotic imports make clear the strong ties to the Near East and Egypt: they are numerous at Lefkandi and particularly at the Toumba cemetery from MPG onwards. From here are recorded faience and glass beads, faience vases, rings and amulets and bronze vessels58. Similar material, though in smaller quantities, has been found in tombs on Skyros. Faience beads also come from east Locris and Thessaly59.
44Weapons are more difficult to use for such a study since most of the evidence comes from Lefkandi. Yet, it is known that during the Early Iron Age the same types of weapons are used in most areas, with the exception perhaps of Crete60.
45One should perhaps include in the discussion evi- dence from burial customs. But from the beginning of PG period to the end of the SPG period, there is such a variety of practices that any attempt to employ them in order to compare the different burial customs within the koine might produce distorted results. This becomes more difficult because of the scarcity and variability of the archaeological evidence.
46For example at Lefkandi we are fortunate to have some 191 tombs and 104 pyres which cover the period from c. 1050 to around 825 BC. We also have a rich cemetery at Toumba where it is likely that members of the same lineage as the two exceptional MPG burials in the building, continued to be buried for some 100 years. At Lefkandi, cremation was practised in situ and occasionally-as in Athens-the cremation took place somewhere else and then the ashes were deposited in an urn, usually an amphora61. Inhumation is also attested at Lefkandi, but until recently we thought it was not very common and that a curious mixed type of burial was the main custom at the site: the dead were first cremated and then the grave goods together with a token number of bones were placed in cist or shaft tombs. However, new evidence from the tombs excavated during the last ten years has suggested that the corrosive effect of the soil might have been underestimated in the past and that some, if not most, of the above cases might be considered as inhumations62. If this is true, then inhumation in cists and shafts is common at Lefkandi as it is in Boeotia, east Locris and parts of Thessaly. This accords well with the evidence from Skyros where inhumation in cists and shafts is the norm, though the practice of cremation has also been reported63. In Thessaly along with inhumation in cists or shafts, we also have a surprising continuation of a Mycenaean practice: the use of tholos tombs. These have been found at Volos, Pherai, Sesklo, Anchialos, Halos, Pteleos, Marmariani, Ho-molion just to mention some64. Interestingly, it is the archaeological material found with these burials, lapodi Bericht über die Grabungen im Heilgtum der Artemis Elaphebolos und des Apollon von Hyampolis 1978-1982’, in AA 42, 1987, p. 10 fig. 13. Some links with the Argolid might been suggested in the presence of a PG circle skyphos which is typical for this region: Nitsche 1987, pp. 39-40.
47which perhaps associated themselves with the Mycenaean past, that has produced much evidence of a variety of contacts with the north and south in the form of a mixture of features in pottery, ornament and weapons65.
48Examining the burial customs practised in Chal-cidice one cannot fail to notice that there are important similarities with practices in the south. At Tor-one both cremation and inhumation are practised in the Early Iron Age cemetery which was in use from the SM to the EG or SPG I period, although cremation is much more common66. Perhaps the more interesting case is Koukos, where all burials are cremations, but it is practised in a variety of ways67. In one cist tomb the offerings were found together with only a token of the bones as at Lefkandi. This important observation has been made by the excavators and Anthony Snodgrass68. Yet, Papadopoulos has fairly argued that one has to be careful in drawing hasty conclusions from this, since these cases are so few and that there are also local variations without parallels outside the region69.
49So, I believe that evidence from burial customs is of limited value. In the period I examined here there are a great variety of types and practices. This variety can be seen not only within the borders of one region but quite often even within a single site. This, combined with the scarcity and variability of our evidence suggests our picture may be unusually incom- plete. For these reasons, any conclusions as to the similarity of customs between regions must be treated with great caution. But equally, just because we lack evidence of similarity in certain aspects, we cannot confidently draw the conclusion that there were no links.
50Finally, because of important recent discoveries, we can add to our discussion some evidence from architectural remains. I begin with the MPG building at Lefkandi. We all know that the function of the building remains a hot debate among scholars70. The main argument lies in whether it was first used as a house, which later became the burial ground of its occupants or was built after their funeral. Mervyn Popham cautiously pointed out in the publication of the building, that both interpretations of the sequence of events face problems and improbabilities. His reconstruction, however, appears at the moment to be more plausible at least for those of us who excavated this remarkable building71. But even if the interpretation of the function of the building remains a matter of debate, there is no doubt that its planning and construction have dramatically changed our view of the history of Greek architecture. Jim Coulton has argued that although the tripartite plan of the building reflects the scheme of domestic architecture common in other more modest apsidal houses, the Toumba building is unparalleled in its exceptional size; the high degree of craftsmanship and the construction of the surrounding veranda (or pteron). This last is one of the most striking features of the Toumba building which links it with the origin and the development of the later peripteral temples. According to Coulton, the Toumba building suggests that the veranda was a feature associated with “princely houses” and only later was copied by religious architecture. Yet, we need the missing, more modest houses from the early Greek settlements to elucidate the transfer of the pteron from the domestic to religious architecture72.
51However at this point a more recent discovery ought to be included in the discussion: the apsidal choviti,’Θoλωτὸς Πρωτογεωμετριϰὸς Τάφος στην περιοχή των Φερών’, in La Thessalie, 1994, pp. 134-7.
52building excavated at Poseidi near Mendi. The area belongs to the sanctuary of Poseidon and was in use until the end of the Roman period. The earlier use of the site is an apsidal building found partly under the one, which replaced it in the 7th century BC. From the preliminary reports is clear that inside the building several pits were found containing remains of burnt sacrifices. The dating of these finds suggests that a cult started in the last stages of the LH UIC period. However, the pottery associated with the building has been provisionally dated to the SM/ EPG period, so it may be slightly later. In any case Poseidi has offered us the earliest known post-palatial edifice in the Aegean which certainly had a religious function. The sanctuary is situated near Mendi, where excavations of deep soundings have revealed SM and PG material. Ioulia Vokotopoulou was initially convinced that the pottery found in this early buildings is similar to that from Thessaly and Euboea and in this volume Sofia Moschonissioti confirms the earlier reports73.
53Further important excavations on the Toumba situated in the middle of the town of Thessaloniki have so far revealed apsidal buildings constructed during the Late Bronze Age. One of them is located in a central position and is an impressive complex made up by an apsidal central edifice flanked by rectangular rooms. Its estimated length is around 17m and the width around 5m. The same area remained in use at the beginning of the Early Iron Age, but at that time, the buildings were shorter than their predecessors. The excavation of the site is still in progress and so more information about the architecture and the character of the Early Iron Age settlement and its links with sites in southern Greece might become available74.
54Many scholars have associated the PG period with the reintroduction of the apsidal building. Mazar-akis-Ainian in his study on the Early Iron Age architecture suggested that when the PG inhabitants were not reusing Late Bronze Age buildings and erected a new house, they chose an apsidal rather than a rectangular plan. This idea is also supported by the buildings at Asine and also at Nichoria in Messenia. He has also noted a shift from a rectangular plan at Assiros in central Macedonia-in the transition from Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. Further apsidal buildings dated to the Late Bronze Age also occur at Kastanas and, as it has already been mentioned on the Toumba in Thessaloniki75. So in other words apsidal buildings were already in use in central Macedonia in the Late Bronze Age. This earlier use of the apsidal plan becomes indeed interesting, especially after the discovery of the apsidal building at Poseidi in Chalcidice dated to the SM/EPG period or earlier.
55However, during this period rectangular buildings were also in use-especially at Nea Ionia (Volos)-where good quality houses constructed with stones have been excavated. So we can be sure that the rectangular plan was not completely replaced by the apsidal. A few oval houses have also been located: one possible one is at Asine and the mudbrick house at Old Smyrna76.
56But if apsidal buildings were indeed reintroduced as copies of northern buildings then there is a possibility that the plan was transferred to southern areas first via those sites that have other links with the region. These could have been those sites that formed our koine. Beyond this, however, and even with the discovery of the building at Lefkandi, the evidence is too thin to allow us to draw more precise conclusions at present.
57In this paper I have tried to examine some of the most striking features that define a material koine which was formed by Euboea and the regions in Central Greece together with some of the islands. Although the origin of this koine might have been during the middle stage of the LH UIC period, its clearest manifestation is during the PG and the SPG period in other words from 1000 to 825 BC.
58The main question now is whether this material koine indicates also a cultural koine. In other words can pots, fibulae and building plans reflect cultural links77. There is, of course, anthropological and theoretical literature on the subject, which supports view that style is one of the several means through which people communicate their identity78. I also believe that there were such cultural links among the member of the Euboean koine, which we can trace them expressed through a similar style of pottery, the use of similar ornaments and the spread of common ideas. It is also clear that some members shared access to imported goods. These goods were used to reinforce the status of the elite groups whose members can be distinguished among the burials in the cemeteries at Lefkandi, Skyros and Atalanti and perhaps at Marmariani and Homolion in Thessaly.
59Further ties between some, or perhaps all, of the members can perhaps been seen in the operation of the sanctuary at Kalapodi. This was probably one of the sites where cultural links were reinforced through common cult practices. The sanctuary was a meeting place for visitors from Boeotia and Phokis and perhaps from Euboea and Thessaly from the middle of the LH IIIC period until the end of the SPG period.
60So, it is clear that the core group of the koine consisted of Euboea, Skyros, Boeotia, Phocis and East Locris with Thessaly and perhaps some of the Cycla-des. The next question might be whether we should include in this koine, sites in Pieria and Chalchidice. There is no doubt that both regions maintained links with Thessaly because of their geographical proximity and if some Mycenaean descendants were living in the mixed settlements at Torone, Koukos and Mende then it would have been even easy to do business with them. That would be enough to explain the similarities and perhaps the imports found in Ghalcidice.
61However, one can go further, as the discovery of the sanctuary at Poseidi suggests much stronger links. This sanctuary was located in the most obvious place for seamen who approach the area from the south and was already visited in the SM period. If this sanctuary is proved to be one of the earliest extra-urban sanctuaries, can we then assume that it was founded to strengthen the territorial claims of the nearby settlement of Mende79. Whether either of these models can be applied to the sanctuary of Poseidon in Chalcidice it is not yet clear. But there is no doubt that this discovery forces us to reconsidered and remodel our assumptions on many aspects such as colonisation, early cult practices and their impact for the formation of the early polis.
62So lastly, if it is now agreed that, as Desborough suspected, there was clearly an Euboean koine, we can perhaps reflect on the consequence for our understanding of the role of the Euboean and their koine in the Aegean. This was a vigorous, and probably enterprising group of peoples most of whom had access to sea routes. In my view this makes it difficult to assume that they would sit back and wait for outsiders to come and deliver goods to them80. I would suggest that probably the opposite happened and that they were eager to initiate enterprises which could take them first to the east and then to the west. If we really want to answer the question why Euboea was involved in early maritime enterprises, then we must fully understand the important role that the Euboeans and their koine took within the Aegean from the 11 th to the mid 9th century BC. It was the security of such a koine that provided the means to explore to the east and the west.
Annexe
Additional abbreviations
Ancient Macedonia = Catalogue of the exhibition Ancient Macedonia, Athens 1988.
Andreou-Kotsakis 1991 =S. Andreou-K. Kotsakis,’’Ανασκαφὴ Τούμπας Θεσσαλονίκης το 1991’, in ΑΕΜθ 5, 1991, pp. 209-219.
Andreou-Kotsakis 1992 =5, Andreou-Κ. Kotsakis,’Ανασϰαφὴ Τούμπας θεσσαλονίκης 1992’, in ΑΕΜΘ 6, 1992, pp. 259-271.
Andreou-Kotsakis 1993 =S. Andreou-Κ. Kotsakis,’Ανασϰαφὴ Τούμπας Θεσσαλονίκης 1993’, in ΑΕΜΘ 7, 1993, pp. 280-286.
Andronikos 1969 Αρχαία Θεσσαλία =M. Andronikos, Βεργίνα I,’Αθῆναι, 1969. Διεθνες Συνέδριο για τήν’Αρχαια Θεσ-σὰλιη στή μνήμη του Δ. Ρ. Θεοχὰρη,’Αθῆναι 1992.
Cambitoglou-Papadopoulos 1988 =Α. Cambitoglou-J. Κ. Papadopoulos,’Excavations at Torone, 1986: A Preliminary Report’, in MedArch 1, 1988, pp. 180-217.
Cambitoglou-Papadopoulos 1991 =A. Cambitoglou-J. K. Papadopoulos,’Excavations at Torone, 1989’, in MedArch 4, 1991, pp. 147-171.
Cambitoglou 1981 =A. Cambitoglou, Archaeological Museum of Andros, Athens 1981.
Cambitoglou 1982 = A. Cambitoglou,’Ανασϰαφές Τορὼνης’, in Prakt 1982, pp. 69-78.
Cambitoglou 1984 =A. Cambitoglou,’Ανασϰαφές Τορώνης’, in Prakt 1984, pp. 40-51.
Carington-Smith-Vokotopoulou 1988 =J. Carington-Smith-I. Vokotopoulou,’Ανασκαφή στον Κούκο Συϰίας, Ν. Χαλκιδικής’, in ΑΕΜΘ, 2, 1988, pp. 357-70.
Carington-Smith-Vokotopoulou 1989 =J. Carington-Smith-I. Vokotopoulou,’Ανασϰαφη στον Κούκο Συϰίας’, in ΑΕΜΘ 3, 1989, pp. 69-78.
Carington-Smith-Vokotopoulou 1990 =J. Carington-Smith-I. Vokotopoulou,’Ανασκαφή στον Κούκο Συκίας 1990’, in ΑΕΜΘ 4, 1990, pp. 439-447.
Catling-Lemos 1990 = R. W. V. Catling-I. S. Lemos, in M. R. Popham-P. G. Calligas-L. H. Sackett (edd.), Lefkandi II,1, The Protogeome-tric Building at Toumba, The Pottery, Oxford 1990.
Catling 1980 =H. W. -E. Catling,’Objects of Bronze, Iron and Lead’, in Lefkandi I, pp. 231-264.
Coldstream 1983 =J. N. Coldstream,’The meaning of the regional styles in the eight century BC’, in Renaissance, pp. 17-25.
Coulton 1993 =J. Coulton,’The Toumba Building: Description and Analysis of the Architecture’, in Lefkandi II, 2, London 1993, pp. 33-70.
Dakoronia 1985 =F. Dakoronia,’Αταλάντη, Ελάτεια, Κύ-νος’, in ArchDelt 40, 1985, Β, pp. 165-174.
Dakoronia 1986 F. Dakoronia,’Αταλάντη, Ελάτεια, Κύ-νος’, in ArchDelt 41, 1986, Β, pp. 62-69.
Dakoronia 1987 =F. Dakoronia,’Αταλάντη, Ελάτεια’, in ArchDelt 42, 1987, Β, pp. 226-234.
Dawkins 1904/5 = R. M. Dawkins, Ά visit to Skyros’, in BSA 11, 1904/5, pp. 72-80.
Deger-Jalkotzy 1991 = S. Deger-Jalkotzy,’Elateia und friihe Geschichte der Griechen: ein österr-eichisch-griechisches Grabungs-projekt’, in Anz Wien 127, 1990, pp. 77-86.
Desborough 1952 = V. R. D’A. Desborough, Protogeometric Pottery, Oxford 1952.
Desborough 1964 = V. R. D’A. Desborough, The Last Myce-naeans and their Successors, Oxford 1964.
Desborough 1972 = V. R. D’A. Desborough, The Greek Dark Ages, London 1972.
Desborough 1977 = V. R. D’A. Desborough,’The Background to Euboea Participation in Early Greek Maritime Enterprise’, in Tribute to an Antiquary, Essays presented to Mark Fitch, London 1977, pp. 25-40.
Desborough 1980 = V. R. D’A. Desborough,’The Dark Age Pottery (SM-SPG III) from settlement and cemeteries’, in Lefkandi I, 1980, pp. 281-354.
Desborough 1980a = V. R. D’A. Desborough,‘A group of vases from Skyros’, in Stele in memory of N. Kontoleon, Athens 1980, pp. 55-8.
Felsch 1980 = R. C. S. Felsch, ‘Apollo und Artemis oder Artemis und Apollon?’, in AA, 35, 1980, pp. 38-118.
Heurtley-Skeat 1930-31 = W. A. Heurtley-T. C. Skeat, ‘The tho-los tombs of Marmariane’, in BSA 31, 1930-31, pp. 1-55.
Higgins 1980 = R. Higgins, ‘Jewellery, Seals and other Finds’, in Lefkandi I, pp. 209-230.
Keramopoulos 1917 = A. Keramopoulos, ‘Τάφοι παρά τας Ηλὲκτρα Πὐλας’, ArchDel 3, 1917, pp. 25-33.
Kilian 1975 = Κ. Kilian, Fibeln in Thessalien von der mykenischen bis zur archaischen Zeit, Munich 1975.
Kilian-Dirlmeier 1985 = I. Kilian-Dirlmeier,’Fremde Weihun-gen in griechischen Heiligtiimern vom 8. bis zum beginn des 7. Jahrhunderts v. Chr’, in RGZM, 1985, pp. 215-254.
La Thessalie = La Thessalie, Quinze années de recherches archéologiques 1975-1990,’Actes du colloque international, Lyon 17-22 Avril 1990’, Athens 1994.
Lefkandi I = M. R. Popham-L. H. Sackett-P. G. Themelis, Lefkandi I, The Iron Age-The Settlement, The cemeteries (BSA Suppl. 11), London 1980.
Lemos-Hatcher 1986 = I. S. Lemos-H. Hatcher, ‘Protogeome-tric Skyros and Euboea’, in OJA 5, 1986, pp. 323-337.
Lemos forthcoming = I. S. Lemos, The Protogeometric Aegean: the archaeology of the 11th and the 10th centuries B. C., Oxford.
Marangou 1985 = L. Marangou, Ancient Greek Art, The N. P. Goulandris Collection, Athens 1985.
Mazarakis-Ainian 1997 = A. Mazarakis-Ainian, From Rulers’Dwellings to Temples, Architecture, Religion and Society in Early Iron Age Greece (1100-700 B. C.), Jonsered 1997.
Morricone 1978 = L. Morricone, ‘Sepolture della prima Età del ferro a Coo’, in ASAtene 56, 1978, pp. 9-248.
Nichoria I = G. R. Jr. Rapp-S. E. Ashenbrenner (edd.), Excavations at Nichoria in Southwest Greece I: Site, Environs, and Techniques, Minneapolis 1978.
Nitsche 1987 = A. Nitsche, ‘Protogeometrische und Sub-protogeometrische Keramik aus dem Heiligtum bei Kalapodi’, in AM 42, 1987, pp. 35-49.
Papadopoulos 1996 = J. K. Papadopoulos,’Euboians in Macedonia? A closer look’, in OJA 15, 1996, pp. 151-181.
Popham-Lemos 1992 = M. R. Popham-I. S. Lemos, ‘Review of Kearsley 1989’, in Gnomon 64, 1992, pp. 152-5.
Popham-Lemos 1996 = M. R. Popham-I. S. Lemos, Lefkandi III, The Early Iron Age Cemetery at Toumba, The excavations of 1981-1994, Plates, Oxford 1996.
Popham-Sackett 1980 = M. R. Popham-L. H. Sackett, ‘Historical Conclusion’, in Lefkandi I, pp. 355-369.
Popham 1993 = M. R. Popham, ‘The Sequence of Events, Interpretation and Date’, in Lefkandi II, 2, London 1993, pp. 97-101.
Popham 1994 = M. R. Popham, ‘Precolonisation: early Greek contact with the East’, in G. R. Tsetskhladze - F. De Angelis (edd.), The Archaeology of Greek Colonisation. Essays dedicated to Sir John Boardman, Oxford 1994, pp. 11-34.
Renaissance = R. Hägg (ed.), The Greek Renaissance of the Eighth Century B. C. : Tradition and Innovation, Stockholm 1983.
Sapouna-Sakellarakis 1978 = E. Sapouna-Sakellarakis, Die Fibeln der griechischen Inseln, Munich 1978.
Sapouna- Sakellarakis 1984 = E. Sapouna-Sakellarakis,’Σπύρος’, in ArchDelt 39, 1984, B, p. 126.
Sapouna- Sakellarakis 1986 = E. Sapouna-Sakellarakis, ‘Άπό την Εὐβοια ϰαι τη Σϰύρο’, in AAA 1986, pp. 19, 27-44.
Sapouna-Sakellarakis 1990 = E. Sapouna-Sakellarakis, ‘Σπύρος’, in ArchDelt 45, 1990, B, pp. 161-2.
S apouna- Sakellarakis 1991 = E. Sapouna-Sakellarakis,’Σπύρος’, in ArchDelt 46, 1991, B, p. 187.
Sipsie-Eschbach 1991 = M. Sipsie-Eschbach, Protogeometrische Keramik aus Iolkos in Thessalien, Berlin 1991.
Snodgrass 1971 = A. M. Snodgrass, The Dark Age of Greece, Edinburgh 1971.
Snodgrass 1994 = A. M. Snodgrass, ‘The Euboeans in Macedonia: a new precedent for westward expansion’, in B. d’Agostino-D. Ridgway (a cura di), Apoikia, Scritti in onore di Giorgio Buchner, AION Arch-StAnt 1 (N. S.), 1994, pp. 87-93.
Spyropoulos 1972 = T. G. Spyropoulos, ‘Παραλίμνη’, in ArchDelt 27, 1972, B. 2, p. 316.
Spyropoulos 1973 = T. G. Spyropoulos,’Παραλίμνη’, in ArchDelt 28, 1973, B. 2, pp. 265-266.
Symeonoglou 1985 = S. Symeonoglou, The Topography of Thebes from the Bronze Age to Modem Times, Princeton 1985.
Themelis 1980 = P. G. Themelis, ‘Burial Customs’, in Lefkandi I, pp. 209-216.
Theocharis 1961 = D. Theocharis, ‘Άνασϰαφαί Ιωλκοῦ’, in Prakt, 1961, pp. 47-54.
Verdelis 1958 = N. Verdelis, ‘Ό Πρωτογεωμετρι ϰός Ρυθμός της Θεσσαλίας’, ’Αθῆναι, 1958.
Vokotopolou 1987 = Ι. Vokotopolou, ‘Μένδη’, in ArchDelt 42, 1987, Β, pp. 368-9.
Vokotopolou 1987a = Ι. Vokotopolou, ‘Ανασϰαφικές έρευνες στή Χαλκιδική’, in ΑΕΜΘ 1, 1987, pp. 279-293.
Vokotopolou 1988 = Ι. Vokotopolou, 1988’, in ΑΕΜΘ 2, ‘Ανασϰαφή Μένδης 1988’, pp. 331-339.
Vokotopolou 1989 = Ι. Vokotopolou, 1989’, in ΑΕΜΘ 3, ‘Ανασϰαφὴ Μένδης 1989’, pp. 409-423.
Vokotopolou 1990 = Ι. Vokotopolou, ‘Μένδη-Ποσεὶδι 1990’, in ΑΕΜΘ 4, 1990, pp. 309-409.
Vokotopolou 1991 = I. Vokotopolou, ‘Ποσείδι’, in ArchDelt 46, 1991, Β, pp. 284-288.
Vokotopolou 1992 = Ι. Vokotopolou, ‘Ποσείδι 1992’, in ΑΕΜΘ 6, 1992, pp. 443-450 Vokotopolou 1993 = I. Vokotopolou, ‘Ποσείδι 1993’, in ΑΕΜΘ 7, 1993, pp. 401-412.
Wace-Thompson 1912 = A. J. B. Wace-M. S. Thompson, Prehistoric Thessaly, Cambridge 1912.
Wardle 1988 = K. A. Wardle, ‘Excavations at Assiros Toumba 1987, A preliminary report’, in BSA 83, 1988, pp. 375-387.
Wardle 1989 = K. A. Wardle, ‘Excavations at Assiros Toumba 1988, A preliminary report’, in BSA 84, 1989, pp. 448-463.
Notes de bas de page
2 Desborough further explored the idea of a koine in 1980.
3 Desborough 1964, pp. 20, 228.
4 S. Deger-Jalkotzy,’The post-palatial period of Greece: an Aegean prelude to the 11th century B. C. in Cyprus’, in V. Karageorghis (ed.), Cyprus in the 11th century B. C., Nicosia 1994, pp. 14, 19-21.
5 M. R. Popham-E. Milburn, ‘The Late Helladic IIIC Pottery of Xeropolis (Lefkandi), A summary’, in BSA 66, 1971, pp. 340-346.
6 D. Theocharis,’Άνασχαφαί εν Ιώλϰω’, in Prakt 1956, pp. 127-9; B. Feuer, The Northern Mycenaean Border in Thessaly, Oxford 1983, p. 51.
7 Keramopoulos 1917, pp. 25-32; Symeonoglou 1985, pp. 62, 89-91.
8 For the Cyclades in the last stages of the Late Bronze Age: R. L. N. Barber,’The Late Cycladic period: a Review’, in BSA 76, 1981, pp. 12-4; Idem, The Cyclades in the Bronze Age, Duckworth 1987, pp. 226-228; J. Vaschoonwinkel, L’Égée et la Méditerranée Orientale à la fin du IIe Millénaire, Louvain-la- Louvain-la-Neuve and Providence (Rhode Island) 1991, pp. 150-154. For Koukounaries on Paros: D. Schilardi,’The LH IIIC period at the Koukounaries Acropolis on Paros’, in J. A. MacGillivray-R. L. N. Barber (edd.), The Prehistoric Cyclades, Edinburgh 1984, pp. 184-206. For Naxos: Desborough 1964, pp. 149-51.
9 Papadopoulos 1996.
10 N. G. L. Hammond,’The Chalcidians and Apollonia of the Thracewards Ionians’, in BSA 90, 1995, pp. 307-315.
11 The paper (’The Migrations to western Asia Minor: the archaeological evidence’), has been presented in the East-West series of seminars organised by G. Tsetskhladze in the Institute of Classical Studies in London, 1995.
12 For Torone and Koukos see below, for Asarlik: W. Paton,’Excavations in Caria’, in JHS 8, 1887, pp. 64-82.
13 P. A. Mountjoy,’LH IIIC Late versus Submycenaean: The Kerameikos Pompeion cemetery reviewed’, in JdI 103, 1988, pp. 1-37; P. A. Mountjoy, Mycenaean Athens, Jonsered 1995, pp. 58-61.
14 Popham-Sackett 1980, pp. 355-6; Desborough 1980, p. 284.
15 The only cemetery with SM burials is the Skoubris cemetery. This cemetery and the one at Palia Perivolia have not been fully investigated, Lefkandi I, pp. 103-5.
16 Papadopoulos 1996, p. 157.
17 Some of the vases found in the Skoubris cemetery suggest that they might have been burials dated to the early part of the SM period: Desborough 1980, pp. 312-3 for the stirrup jars and 313-6 for the lekythoi.
18 Desborough 1980, pp. 284-5.
19 Compare for example the personal ornaments from the SM tombs in the Kerameikos: H. Müller-Karpe,’Die Metallbeigaben der Früheisenzeitlichen Kerameikos-Gräber’, in JdI 77, 1962, pp. 84, fig. 2, (from tomb 46), 85, fig. 3, (from tomb 27 and 42), 87, fig. 5, (from tomb 108), to those from the Skoubris cemetery at Lefkandi: Lefkandi I, pl. 98, tomb 19 and pl. 104, tomb 40 and 43.
20 Desborough 1972, pp. 48-55; 1980, p. 285. For a further discussion on the origin of the bird vases: I. S. Lemos,’Birds revisited’, in V. Karageorghis (ed.), Cyprus in the 11th century B. C., Nicosia 1994, pp. 229-37.
21 Several SM tombs have been reported from the area of the Mycenaean Kadmeia: Symeonoglou 1985, pp. 89-91.
22 Spyropoulos 1972, p. 316; 1973, pp. 265-66.
23 SM pots in the Museum at Delphi strongly suggest that they were burials dated to this period. For example an amphora and an amphoriskos illustrated in Guide de Delphes, Le Musée, p. 19, fig. 15 and 17. See also S. Millier, ‘Delphes et sa région à l’Époque Mycénienne’, in BCH 116, 1992, p. 493, n. 30, where she discussed the reuse of the Mycenaean chamber tombs during the SM period. One EPG tomb has been published in BCH 61, 1937, pp. 44-52 and Desborough 1972, pp. 203-5.
24 Felsch 1980, pp. 38-68, 81-89; 1987, pp. 1-26.
25 Snodgrass hypothesis of a shortage of bronze (1971, pp. 237-9) has been questioned mostly because new archaeological data and scientific analyses of bronze objects indicated that there was no such a shortage in the period in question. For a discussion on the tin and copper sources during the period: C. Zaccagnini,’The transition from Bronze to Iron in the Near East in the Levant: marginal notes’, in JAOS 110, 1990, pp. 497-499. For the results of scientific analyses of bronze objects from sites in Eastern Mediterranean including Cyprus and discussion: J. C. Waldbaum,’Copper, Iron, Tin, Wood: the start of the Iron Age in the Eastern Mediterranean’, in Archaeomaterials 3, 1989, pp. 111-118. For analysis of bronze objects from Lefkandi and Nichoria in Messenia: R. Jones, in Lefkandi I, pp. 447-459; Nichoria I, pp. 167-175. However, in the case of Elateia one should await results of scientific analysis which might indicate the source/s of copper and tin and their percentages.
26 Dakoronia 1985, pp. 171-73; 1986, pp. 58-65; Dakoronia 1987, pp. 231-4; F. Dakoronia-S. Deger-Jalkotzy,’Elateia’, in ArchDelt 43, B, 1988, pp. 229-232; F. Dakoronia-S. Deger-Jalkotzy,’Elateia’, in ArchDelt 44, B, 1989, pp. 175-177; F. Dakoronia-S. Deger-Jalkotzy,’Elateia’, in ArchDelt 46, B, 1991, pp. 196-8; Deger-Jalkotzy 1991; T. G. Spyropoulos,’Αμφίκλεια Λοϰριδος’, in ArchDelt 25, B. 2, 1970, pp. 237-40; T. G. Spyropoulos,’Αμφίκλεια Λοϰριδος’, in ArchDelt 26, B. 2, 1971, p. 231.
27 Dakoronia 1985, pp. 173-4; 1986, pp. 68-9; F. Dakoronia,’Κύνος’, in ArchDelt 43, B, 1988, 223-4; idem,’Κύνος’in Arch- DelDelt 45, B, 1990, pp. 177-8; idem,’Κύνος’, in ArchDelt 46, B, 1991, pp. 194-5.
28 Nea Ionia: A. Batziou-Efstathiou,’Μυϰηναιϰά από τη Νέα Ιωνία Βόλου’, in Arch Delt 40, A, 1985, p. 40; Theotokou: Wace-Thompson 1912, p. 211; Velestino: Ο. Apostolopoulou-Kaka-vogianni,’Ευρὴματα της Πρωτογεωμετρικής και Γεωμετρικής Περιόδου από τις Φερές’, in Αρχαία Θεσσαλία, ρ. 312. Retsiouni: C. Picard,’Restiouni’, in BCH 79, 1955, p. 272; Verdelis 1958, p. 52, pl. 3. 9. Pieria: E. Poulaki-Pantermali, Όι ανασκαφές του Ολύμπου’, in ΑΕΜΘ 2, 1988, pp. 173-6; idem,’Πέτρα Ολύμπου, Τρεις Ελίες’, in ArchDelt 43, Β2, 1988, p. 366.
29 C. G. Styrenious, Submycenaean Studies, Lund 1967; P. A. Mountjoy, Mycenaean Decorated Pottery: A guide to identification, Goteborg 1986, pp. 194-200; B. S. Frizell, Asine II. Results of the Excavations East of the Acropolis, 1970-1974. Fasc. 3. The Late and the Final Mycenaean Periods, Stockholm 1986; A. Pa-padimitriou, ‘Bericht zur Früheizeitlichen Keramik aus der Un-terburg von Tiryns’, in AA 1988, pp. 228-43.
30 I. S. Lemos, Regional Characteristics in the Protogeometric Period and their implications, Oxford 1988 (unpublished D. Phil thesis); Lemos forthcoming.
31 Most of the archaeological material used in the following discussion is extracted from Lemos forthcoming. Here only some references are cited to illustrate the common features of the koine.
32 From Euboea: Desborough 1980, 294, pp. 298-9; Catling-Lemos 1991, 14-6, pp. 19-21. Amarynthos: unpublished cup. Skyros: Dawkins 1904/5, p. 79, fig. 3 (skyphos). Kalapodi: Nit-sche 1987, pp. 40, 43, fig. 61. 1 (cups); 43, fig. 61. 1 (skyphos). Nea Ionia (Volos): Sipsie-Eschbach 1991, pl. 54. 4, pl. 56. 5, pl. 58. 2 (cups); pl. 11: 5. 8. 13, pl. 21:2 (skyphoi). Theotokou: Wace-Thompson 1912, p. 211 fig. 148e (cup). Cos: Morricone 1978, pp. 243, fig. 502; 381, fig. 836; 385, fig. 848; 397, fig. 888 (cups); 74, fig. 57 (skyphos).
33 Euboean examples: Desborough 1980, p. 295; Catling-Lemos 1990, pp. 16-17, pl. 5a, pl. 9, pl. 10, pl. 48. Skyros: Desborough 1980a, pl. 11. Thessaly: Sipsie-Eschbach 1991, pls. 2. 1, 7. 9-10, 43. 1, 54. 5, 60. 1.
34 Compare the Attic examples to Euboean skyphoi: Catling-Lemos 1990, pl. 43, 50 (attic), pl. 5h, 11, 48 (local); Skyros: Lemos-Hatcher 1986, pp. 323-7; Kalapodi: Nitsche 1987, p. 41, fig. 61. 2; Nea Ionia (Volos): Sipsie-Eschbach 1991, pls. 2. 8, 21. 10; Tenos: Desborough 1952, pl. 25; Andros: Cambito-glou 1980, p. 102, fig. 59.
35 Lefkandi: Desborough 1980, p. 295, class IV; Skyros: Ma-rangou 1985, p. 61, nn. 65-6; Cos: Morricone 1978, pp. 90-1, fig. 33; Vergina: Andronikos 1969, p. 181, fig. 30.
36 Desborough 1980, pp. 304-7.
37 For the Euboean examples: Desborough 1980, pp. 299-302; the MPG examples: Catling-Lemos 1990, pp. 22-23; Popham-Lemos 1996, pls. 100, 111. For the distribution of the type: R. Kearsley, The Pendent Semi-Circle Skyphos, London 1989 and for a criticism of some of the chronological implications of Kearsley’s dating of late types: Popham-Lemos 1992, pp. 152-5.
38 Catling-Lemos 1990, pp. 23-4, pl. 51; Dion: Ancient Macedonia, pp. 171, 91; Andronikos 1969, p. 174, fig. 25.
39 Desborough 1980, pp. 308-10 with references for comparative material from outside Lefkandi; Elateia: Deger-Jalkotzy 1991, pl. VI, fig. 11, which is probably an Euboean import; Thessaly: Verdelis 1958, pl. 3. 9-10; Torone: Papadopoulos 1986, p. 156, fig. 8. Amphoriskoi are common in the graves of the Argolid.
40 Desborough 1980, pp. 322-4 with the comparative material.
41 The hour glass motive on oinochoai: Desborough 1980, pp. 319-20; on amphorae, 338. Thessaly: Verdelis 1958, p. 10, fig. 5 and pl. 2; Tenos: J. N. Coldstream, Greek Geometric Pottery, London 1968, p. 152.
42 The Black and Red Wares are of the same shape as those in common use in this period, but are made of a different fabric which clay-analysis shows comes from Lefkandi: Desborough 1980, pp. 346-7; Catling-Lemos 1990, pp. 53-56. For the chemical analysis of the ware: R. E. Jones, Greek and Cypriot Pottery: a review of scientific studies, Athens 1986, pp. 628-31. For comparative material: Catling-Lemos 1990, p. 169, note 232. The vase from Atalanti is unpublished.
43 For examples from Pieria and Chalcidice: Ancient Macedonia, p. 184, n. 111; Thessalanian jugs at Marmariani: Heurtley-Skeat 1930-31, pp. 19-21, figs. 8, 19, pl. III; Kapakli (near Vo-los): Verdelis 1958, pl. 6. Examples from Lefkandi imported or locally copied: Desborough 1980, pp. 324-5; Popham-Lemos 1996, pl. 121 (handmade imports).
44 Heurtley-Skeat 1930-31, p. 15, figs. 5-7. From Kapakli (near Volos): Verdelis 1958, pls. 9, 10, 14, 15. For the handmade examples from Lefkandi: Catling-Lemos 1990, p. 65.
45 At Lefkandi pins were usually of plain types and made of iron. The MPG/LPG hybrid pin with an iron shaft and bronze globe is attested in a few examples at Lefkandi, Atalanti, and Theotokou in Thessaly. For the pins found at Lefkandi: Catling 1980, p. 245; Popham-Lemos 1996, pls. 130, 139. Dakoronia bas reported pins from Elateia of an EPG date. Pins have also been reported from the LPG-SPG graves at Atalanti. These have often been found with fibulae and occasionally with weapons: F. Dakoronia,’Χρήση και προέλευση μακρών περονών ΥΜ και ΠΤ : εποχῆς’, in Αρχαία Θεσσαλία, 1992, pp. 292-297; idem 1985, pp. 165-7; idem 1987, pp. 227-8.
46 I. Kilian-Dirlmeier, Nadeln derfrühhelladischen bis archaisch-en Zeit von der Peloponness, Munich 1984, pp. 82-3.
47 During the SM period fibulae and pins were found together in tombs in most of the SM sites including Lefkandi, Athens and the Argolid.
48 One has, however, to be cautious as unpublished evidence might change the picture.
49 Catling 1980, p. 237, pl. 248. Thessalian examples: Kilian 1975, pp. 18-9, pl. 1, nn. 3-5.
50 This type is also found in Athens but it never developed there into the subtypes with a heavy arm as it did at Lefkandi: Catling 1980, pp. 237-8, pl. 238. Similar examples from Skyros: Sapouna-Sakellarakis 1978, p. 72, pl. 22, nn. 650-9c; 89-90, pl. 34, nn. 1182-3; from Thessaly: Kilian 1975, p. 25, n. 70, pl. 2. 70; from Cos: Morricone 1982, pp. 214, fig. 433; 244, fig. 505.
51 Andronikos 1969, pp. 227-30; K. Rhomiopoulou-I. Kilian-Dirlmeier,’Neue Funde aus der eisenzeitlichen Hiigelnecro-pole von Vergina, griechisch Makedonien’, in PZ 64, 1989, p. 117. Dion: Ancient Macedonia, pp. 171, 90. The only fibula that has been illustrated from Torone was found on the archaic floor and is not of the “spectacle” type, Cambitoglou-Papadopoulos 1991, p. 152, fig. 6. At Koukos one fibula is of the simple arched type, the other looks very much like the asymmetrical bow with a central swelling, typical in Euboea and Skyros and with examples in Thessaly: Carington-Smith-Vokotopoulou 1988, p. 368, fig. 3 and 4.
52 Higgins 1980, p. 221, pl. 231b; Popham-Lemos 1996, pl. 136. a.
53 Kilian 1975, pp. 143-49.
54 Kilian-Dirlmeier has sensibly pointed out that the origin of the offerings does not necessarily indicate the origin of the visitors. But if fibulae are more than pins then they might have been offered by the local visitors rather than foreigners. However, this is only hypothetical since, as Kilian-Dirlmeier (1985, pp. 216-225) made clear, we only have a small percentage of the actual offerings.
55 For the fibulae: R. C. S. Felsch,’Zur Chronologie und Stil geometrischer Bronzen aus Kalapodi’, in Renaissance, 1983, p. 125, fig. 3; 1987, pp. 5, 10, fig. 41. The best parallels for this fibula are to be found at Lefkandi. Pins: R. C. S. Felsch,’Ka-
56 Higgins 1980, p. 222, pls. 112, 113; Popham 1993, p. 20, pl. 18c; Popham-Lemos 1996, pl. 130 and pl. 139.
57 Higgins 1980, pp. 217-222; Popham-Lemos 1996, pls. 136-9; Skyros: Marangou 1985, pp. 144-8; Lemos-Hatcher 1986; P. G. Calligas, Ή Αρχαία Σκύρος, Διαλέξεις 1986-1989’, in Ιδρυμα Ν. Π Γουλανδρή, Αθηνα 1990. Further discussion on the jewellery in Lemos forthcoming.
58 Popham 1994, pp. 11-33.
59 More tombs rich in jewellery and imports from Skyros have been reported by Sapouna-Sakellarakis 1986, pp. 37-44; 1991, p. 187. Faience finds have been reported at Atalanti and faience beads have been found at Marmariani, Pherae and Nea Ionia in Thessaly. For references see above.
60 Catling 1980, pp. 252-58; Snodgrass 1971, pp. 252-3.
61 Themelis 1980, pp. 209-212.
62 M. R. Popham-P. G. Calligas-L. H. Sackett,’Further Excavation of the Toumba cemetery at Lefkandi, 1984 and 1986’, in AR 35, 1988/9, p. 118.
63 Sapouna-Sakellarakis 1990, pp. 161-2.
64 In most of the cases the tholos tombs used were built during the PG and SPG period. There are also some tombs re-used from the Mycenaean period. For a useful discussion see P. Ara-
65 See for example the material from the tholos tombs at Ka-pakli (near Volos): Verdelis 1958 and at Marmariani: Heurtley-Skeat 1930-31.
66 For the Early Iron Age cemetery at Torone: Cambitoglou 1982, pp. 73-77; 1984, pp. 44-50; Cambitoglou-Papadopoulos 1988, p. 187-8; discussion of the burials with SM and PG pottery, Papadopoulos 1996, pp. 154-6.
67 In 1990 some 98 burials have been reported, most found robbed. The cremated remains were either placed in urns or in cist tombs. Pithos burials have been also reported with cremated remains: Carington-Smith-Vokotopoulou 1988, pp. 359-63; 1989, pp. 427-31.
68 In one case, (this was tomb 8 which has not been robbed), the offering were found together with a token number of bones, Carington-Smith-Vokotopoulou 1988, p. 360; Snodgrass 1994, p. 90. However, one should also consider the corrosive effect of the soil before concluding that the rite is similar to that at Lefkandi. It is also not clear from the report whether the bones were cremated.
69 Papadopoulos 1996.
70 Mazarakis-Ainian 1997, pp. 54-7 has summarised most of the arguments for the use of the building.
71 Popham 1993, pp. 97-101.
72 Coulton 1993, pp. 56-59
73 Vokotopolou 1987; 1988; 1990; 1991; 1991a; 1992.
74 Andreou - Kotsakis 1991; 1992; 1993 and Soueref in this volume.
75 Wardle 1988, pp. 376-80; 1989; Mazarakis-Ainian 1997, pp. 98-9.
76 For the rectangular houses at Nea Ionia: D. Theocharis, 'Άνασϰαφαὶ Ιωλϰοῦ', in Prakt, 1960, pp. 54-7; 1961, pp. 46-50; Z. Malakasiotis, ‘Νεότερα δεδομένα για την αρχαία Ιωλϰό στά Παλιά του Βόλου, Νεὸτερα δεδομένα των ερευνών γιὰ την Αρχαία Ιωλϰὸπ', Βόλος, 1994, pp. 47-50; Asine: Β. Wells, Asine II: Results of the Excavations East of the Acropolis, 1970-1974, Fasc. 4, The Protogeometric Period. Part 2, Stockholm 1983, pp. 25-26, 82; Old Smyrna: E. Akurgal, Alt-Smyrna, I: Wohnschichten und Athenatempel, Ankara 1983, pp. 15-7.
77 The question has been tackled by Coldstream 1983 and discussed in relation to ethnicity and the formation of early Greek states by C. Morgan, 'Ethnicity and early Greek states: historical and material perspectives', in PCPS 37, 1991, pp. 131- 63.
78 The bibliography on this subject is vast. The most useful discussions appear in P.R. Rice, Pottery Analysis. A Sourcebook, Chicago - London 1987, pp. 244-73; P. Wiessner, ‘Style and changing relations between the individual and society’, in I. Hodder (ed.), The Meaning of things, Cambridge 1989, pp. 57-63; J.R. Sackett, ‘The meaning of style in Archaeology’, in American Antiquity 42, 1977, pp. 369-380; and M. Conkey – C Hastorf (edd.), The uses of style in archaeology, Cambridge 1993, pp. 32-43, where J.R. Sackett (‘Style and ethnicity in archaeology: the case of isochretism’), developed his “isochrestic” model and Hodder argued of the role of style as a reaction to an active selection which can be understood in a boarder social context.
79 De Polignac has argued for such a role for later extra-urban sanctuaries in southern Greece (F. de Polignac, Cults, Territory, and the Origins of the Greek City-State, Chicago - London 1995, pp. 33-40) and in the western colonies (98-106), while Malkin (I. Malkin, ‘Territorial Domination and the Greek Sanctuary’, in P. Hellström - B. Alroth (edd.), Religion and Power in the Ancient Greek World, Uppsala 1996, pp. 75-81) suggested that these later extra-urban sanctuaries founded in the western colonies were intended to divide the land equally between the new settlers and their gods. Whether either of this models can be applied to the much earlier sanctuary at Poseidi might become clear after the publication and the study of both the sanctuary and the settlement material from Mendi.
80 Arguing against the Euboean involvement in early contacts and trade within and outside the Aegean: O. Negbi, ‘Early Phoenician Presence in the Mediterranean Islands: A Reappraisal’, in AJA 96, 1992, pp. 599-615; S. - A. Sherratt, ‘The growth of the Mediterranean economy in the early first millennium’, in Ancient Trade: New Perspectives, World Archaeology 24, 1993, pp. 360-378.
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