The Last Days of the Pylos Polity

A conference paper published in Aegaeum, vol. 12, entitled "Politeia: Society and State in the Aegean Bronze Age." This volume comprises the proceedings of the 5th International Aegean Conference, held at the University of Heidelberg from April 10-13, 1994. In his contribution, Palaima deconstructs the old state-of-emergency theory around Pylos tablet Tn 316, and constructs an alternative reading of the evidence.Classic

Individuals and Society in Mycenaean Pylos

This book revises our understanding of Mycenaean society through a detailed analysis of individuals attested in the administrative texts from the Palace of Nestor at Pylos in southwestern Greece, ca. 1200 BC. It argues that conventional models of Mycenaean society, which focus on administrative titles and terms, can be improved through the study of named individuals. A new, methodologically innovative prosopography demonstrates that many named individuals were not only important managers of palatial affairs but also high-ranking members of the community. This work significantly broadens the elite class and suggests that the palace was less of an agent in its own right than an institutional framework for interactions amongst individuals and social group

Economic Interplay Among Households And States

This Forum has made progress on both its stated research themes: control of craft production and the newer topic of markets. My comments take up the issues of household economy, state control, and markets. First, I discuss developments at the second-order center of Nichoria, which show both independent activity and the effect of incorporation into the state of Pylos. Excavation of another such settlement at Iklaina promises to support and expand on the findings from Nichoria. State control is another subject for discussion; the evidence suggests some differences between prestige goods and ordinary pottery, concerning both production and consumption. Finally, I argue that the existence of markets is well supported by both archaeological and textual data.Classic

The Nature of the Mycenaean Wanax: Non-Indo-European Origins and Priestly Functions

The wanax is the central figure of authority in Mycenaean society. This much is clear from studies of the references to wanax in the Linear B tablets, interpretation of the history of the use of the term wanax in Homer and later Greek, and reconstruction of the development of the institution of kingship from the end of the Bronze Age through the Archaic to Hellenistic period. Scholars want to know the same things about the Mycenaean wanax that we do about power figures -- "big men", chieftains, shamans, kings -- in any society: how and when did the wanax originate? How were the institution and authority of the wanax legitimized and maintained? What cultural needs did the wanax satisfy and what powers and responsibilities did he have in different spheres of daily life: religious, political, economic, military, and social? What led to the disappearance of the institution of the wanax in post-palatial Greek culture? Each of these questions is major and multi-faceted. Here Palaima discusses them and problems connected with them in two parts. In the first part he rejects the Indo-European model of a warrior-king in favor of a priest-king more along the lines of Hittite models. In the second part he pursues several speculative arguments related to the paraphernalia of Mycenaean kingship.Classic

PRESTIGE AND INTEREST: Feasting and the King at Mycenaean Pylos

In this article the author examines the politics of Mycenaean feasting through an analysis of three Linear B texts from the “Palace of Nestor” at Pylos that concern regional landholdings and contributions to a feast. Consideration of scribal practices, the political situation in Late Bronze Age Messenia, and historical parallels suggests that these tablets relate to the king of Pylos (the wanax) in his official and personal capacities. The scribal alternation between the title of the wanax and his name can consequently be seen as an effort to manipulate the dichotomy between his official and personal roles in order to emphasize his generosity

Digital Palace of Nestor: Assessing Mycenaean Palatial Complex Construction of Socio-Political Status and Navigation Through Architecture

Because architecture necessitates the conscious planning of space, its consequences for navigation and socio-political status are equally deliberate and have indirect effects. This research combines experiential and spatial syntax techniques to gain a deeper understanding of how Mycenaeans shaped space to construct status and navigation in the Palace of Nestor at Pylos. Using a digital reconstruction of the palace ensured the most accurate experiential data by utilizing a whole, albeit virtual, version of the site. Without employing a digital reconstruction, the only experiences with the site would occur in the ruinous, actual site preventing complete experiences with how the site’s architecture affects the individual. Additionally, the spatial analytics provides the ability to cross-verify, quantify, and in the future compare, the results with other Bronze Age Palaces. While the quantitative methods discern how the architecture interacts with itself and agents in an idealized, objective environment, the phenomenological data elucidates if and how people actually experience the palace and what explicitly or implicitly affects their navigation. The latter ensures the interpretations of all the data maintains plausibility in the real world and not just statistical simulations. Together, the results indicate the palace’s left side has easy local access with little ability to travel across. Conversely, the right side has an overall easy ability to access anywhere in the palace but is difficult to enter. Similarly, court, megaron, and vestibule possess the highest status in the complex with increasingly restricted access into the latter two rooms

A Greek State in Formation

Although the Mycenaean civilization of the Greek Bronze Age was identified 150 years ago, its origins remain obscure. Jack L. Davis, codirector of excavations at the Palace of Nestor at Pylos, takes readers on a tour of the beginnings of Mycenaean civilization through a case study of this important site. In collaboration with codirector Sharon R. Stocker, Davis demonstrates that this ancient place was a major node for the exchange of ideas between the already established Minoan civilization, centered on the island of Crete, and the residents of the Greek mainland. Davis and Stocker show how adoption of Minoan culture created an ideology of power focused on a single individual, celebrating his military prowess, investing him with divine authority, and creating a figure instantly recognizable to readers of Homer and students of Greek history. A Greek State in Formation makes the powerful case that a knowledge of the Greek Bronze Age is indispensable to the classics curriculum. “This is a book to be read, not just consulted. Jack Davis is a masterly raconteur whose story simultaneously provides a wide-ranging and accessible guide to what archaeology is all about, a broad account of the Greek Bronze Age, and a detailed evocation of Bronze Age Pylos.” ROBIN OSBORNE, Professor of Ancient History, University of Cambridge “Accessibly written, this book will appeal to scholars of the ancient world and those with an interest in archaeology as a discipline, as well as anyone following the media exposure of the exciting new finds at Pylos.” KIM SHELTON, Associate Professor of Classics, University of Californi

Late Bronze Age climate change and the destruction of the Mycenaean Palace of Nestor at Pylos

This paper offers new high-resolution oxygen and carbon isotope data from Stalagmite S1 from Mavri Trypa Cave, SW Peloponnese. Our data provide the climate background to the destruction of the nearby Mycenaean Palace of Nestor at Pylos at the transition from Late Helladic (LH) IIIB to LH IIIC, similar to 3150-3130 years before present (before AD 1950, hereafter yrs BP) and the subsequent period. S1 is dated by 24 U-Th dates with an averaged precision of +/- 26 yrs (2s), providing one of the most robust paleoclimate records from the eastern Mediterranean for the end of the Late Bronze Age (LBA). The delta O-18 record shows generally wetter conditions at the time when the Palace of Nestor at Pylos was destroyed, but a brief period of drier conditions around 3200 yrs BP may have disrupted the Mycenaean agricultural system that at the time was likely operating close to its limit. Gradually developing aridity after 3150 yrs BP, i.e. subsequent to the destruction, probably reduced crop yields and helped to erode the basis for the reinstitution of a central authority and the Palace itself

Special vs. Normal Mycenaean: Hand 24 and Writing in the Service of the King?

This paper given in honor of John T. Killen concerns the relationship between the written and the spoken word within the narrowly defined literate administrative record-keeping systems of Mycenaean palatial centers and focuses on questions connected with socio-linguistic stratification and information-gathering.Classic