Inside Out? Materiality and Connectivity in the Aegean Archipelago

Problems of Dating Spread on Radiocarbon Calibration Curve Plateaus: The 1620–1540 BC Example and the Dating of the Therasia Olive Shrub Samples and Thera Volcanic Eruption

“…1611 BC), and so an end for the LMIA period around or not long after this time (the eruption occurs late in the overall LMIA period and likewise late in LHI, but there are indications from some sites and data sets of a subsequent relatively brief final portion of LMIA and LHI, after the abandonment of Akrotiri and the shortly following eruption, and before the LMIB or LHIIA periods: Davis and Cherry 1990; Lolos 1990; Manning 1999: 18, 70–75, 331–332), means that the subsequent LMIB period must be very long and around a century or more in length, since this period does not come to a close until during the earlier-mid 15th century BC (Manning 2022, 2009; Brogan and Hallager 2011). In particular: the considerable temporal extent of the LMIB period—a time period during which regional centrality begins to shift within the Aegean from Crete (Knossos) to various centers in mainland Greece (Knappett and Nikolakopoulou 2014: 31)—renders it problematic to see anything more than a very indirect relationship of the Thera eruption with the much later, or very much later, destructions in Crete that mark the close of LMIB period (Driessen and Macdonald 1997; Driessen 2019). The total evisceration of the island of Thera, which had previously formed a major port and focal communications center with widespread connections within Aegean and East Mediterranean networks, was undoubtedly traumatic to the Aegean regional economic, political and cultural systems (as suggested by the modeling of Knappett et al 2011).…”

Beyond networks and macro-scale analysis: unravelling micro-histories of pottery at Early Bronze Age Samos, Greece through an integrated methodology

“…Following the various intellectual developments of Aegean Archaeology, a number of popular theoretical models have been put forward in the study of connectivity and mobility (Knappett and Nikolakopoulou 2015;Knappett and Kiriatzi 2016;Alram-Stern and Horejs 2018b: 11-12;Leidwanger and Knappett 2018). More particularly, within the context of the culture-historical approach, the notions of trade, migration or diffusion of culture were usually invoked to interpret material similarities or differences, and exogenous factors were seen as the trigger for these changes.…”

Between East and West: Amorgian Pottery in Early Bronze Age Heraion (Samos)

“…The EB II period ( c .2750–2200 BC), characterized by Renfrew (, 451) as a time of ‘International Spirit’, has received special attention in the investigation of long‐distance exchange networks, cultural interaction and connectivity, and technological transfer (e.g. Broodbank , 279–87; Knappett and Nikolakopoulou ; Gauss et al . ), particularly discernible in the identification of ceramic links between distant sites or distinct cultural regions (Alram‐Stern and Horejs ).…”

“…The EB II period (c.2750-2200, characterized by Renfrew (1972, 451) as a time of 'International Spirit', has received special attention in the investigation of long-distance exchange OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 39(1) 41-66 2020 networks, cultural interaction and connectivity, and technological transfer (e.g. Broodbank 2000, 279-87;Knappett and Nikolakopoulou 2015;Gauss et al 2016), particularly discernible in the identification of ceramic links between distant sites or distinct cultural regions (Alram-Stern and Horejs 2018). This has entailed narratives of maritime interaction and communication in an area dominated by the Cycladic archipelago and a range of islands only a short distance offshore from the Asia Minor coast.…”