Understanding the Mycenaean "Koine": Norms and Variations in Aegean Cooking and Tableware Pottery Assemblages from the Late 15th to the Early 12th Century B.C.E. (15 min)

Presenters

Salvatore Vitale, University of Pisa

Abstract

This contribution critically assesses the meaning of increased homogeneity in the pottery assemblages from different regions of the Mycenaean world between the late 15th and the early 12th century B.C.E. Following Michael Dietler’s approach to cultural koinai, this study places special attention on diachronic shifts in the distribution and use of two functional classes: cooking and tableware ceramics, respectively designed for the preparation and consumption of food and drinks. These classes were instrumental for the creation and maintenance of a shared Mycenaean culture, as they played critical roles in social arenas, such as feasting and burial ceremonies, where symbols of identity and power were implemented, manipulated, and endorsed. The case studies considered here include palatial and nonpalatial centers from central Greece, the Peloponnese, and the eastern Aegean.

The results of this research demonstrate that data always require rigorous theoretical and methodological approaches to extract meaning. While homogeneity in the distribution and consumption of cooking vessels remained moderate throughout the considered timespan, the agency of Argive workshops in fashioning a shared vocabulary for Mycenaean eating and drinking practices cannot be overlooked. Nevertheless, each surveyed area shows significant differences in the quantitative distribution and use of diagnostic shapes. The social meaning of Mycenaean tableware vessels was continuously transformed, based on a complex balance between the agendas of different competing palatial centers and the agendas of smaller local communities and their leaders. The evidence thus indicates different levels of participation into a shared Mycenaean material identity, which was developing during LH (Late Helladic) IIB–LH IIA1, at its peak in LH IIIB1, and under stress during LH IIIB2. This picture is better understood as the outcome of peer polity interaction between similarly structured states, rather than as the result of political unity under the leadership of a single wanax.