Use and Appreciation of Mycenaean Pottery in the Levant, Cyprus and Italy : (ca. 1600-1200 BC)

Abstract

A m s t e r dam U n i v e r s i ty P r e s s All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. ISO 9706C o n t e n t s p r e fac eThe present monograph is a revised version of a dissertation written for the department of Classical Archaeology at the University of Amsterdam. The research was made possible by a generous scholarship from the UTOPA foundation. I would like to express my gratitude to the director, Mr L. Dijkman, for providing me with this opportunity and for his pleasant cooperation over the years. The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) made a travel grant available which allowed me to visit many of the places mentioned in this volume. A publication grant, supplied by the same organisation, made the publication of this book possible.This study could not have been completed without the active support of a number of friends. Over the years, Professor Joost Crouwel has read my work with alacrity and care. His detailed knowledge of a range of archaeological topics, as well as his consistent emphasis on clarity have contributed greatly to the results of my research. His academic rigour and in his enthusiasm have been a particular source of inspiration.In the initial phases of my research, the late Vronwy Hankey helped me define the directions and the limitations of my research. My discussions with Vronwy provided an insight into the enormous complexity of the field I was about to enter. I consider myself fortunate to have been one of the many who were able to benefit from her kindness and expertise.Dr Lucia Vagnetti kindly assisted me with the parts of this study that deal with the central Mediterranean. She also pointed me in the right direction when I was in Italy. Similarly, Professor Albert Leonard helped me with the sections on the Levant and Cyprus. I would like to express my gratitude to both scholars for sharing their expertise and for taking the time to read lengthy instalments.A number of colleagues have discussed their work with me, shown me sites and material, and have given their views on parts of my research. In particular, I would like to thank Dr P. Attema, Dr M. Bettelli, Dr H. Catling, Dr N. Hirschfeld, Dr B. Kling, Dr G. van der Kooij, Dr S. Levi, Professor M. Marazzi, Mr G. Matteo and Professor R. Peroni.I would also like to thank Professor N. Roymans, who agreed to include this work in the Amsterdam Archaeological Studies. In addition, the staff at Amsterdam University Press, particularly W. Poelstra and J. Wagenaar, have assisted me in many ways.Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to my parents, Corrie and Jan van Wijngaarden, and to my wife Virna. Without their enduring encouragement and ceaseless support, this book would never have been completed. 1 Dicki...

The aid of Bayesian radiocarbon modeling in assessing the chronology of Middle Bronze Age Sicily at the site level. A case study

“…As for local goods liable to be exported, it is likely that commodities exploited during the preceding stage of the Bronze Age (i.e., Early Bronze Age) such as sulfur (Castagnino Berlinghieri, 2003;Castellana, 1998Castellana, , 2000, pumice (Sterba et al, 2009) and amber (Angelini and Bellintani, 2005), continued to be exploited in MBA. As a number of studies have stressed, it is also likely that the use and appreciation of foreign goods went hand in hand with the development of different kinds of local social trajectories (Alberti, 2012;D'Agata, 1997D'Agata, , 2000Smith, 1987;Van Wijngaarden, 2002;Vianello, 2005) to which the architectural development/transformation of settlements (or part thereof) (Alberti, 2012(Alberti, , 2014bDoonan, 2001;Lukesh, 1995, 2001;Militello, 2004;Tomasello, 2004), tomb typology (Tomasello, 1996), and the development of local metalworking (Albanese, 2006;Bietti Sestieri, 1997;D'Agata, 1986) were possibly linked.…”

“…Imports came from different geographical and cultural areas, such as Late Helladic (LH) Greece (Alberti, 2012;Blake, 2008;Jung, 2006;Smith, 1987;Taylour, 1958Taylour, , 1980Vagnetti, 1991;Van Wijngaarden, 2002;Vianello, 2005), Cyprus (Alberti, 2008b(Alberti, , 2014aKarageorghis, 1995;Vagnetti, 2001), Malta (Tanasi, 2008), Sardinia (Albanese et al, 2004;Levi, 2004), and Italian mainland (Alberti, 2012;Bernabò Brea and Cavalier, 1959, 1968, 1980Martinelli, 2005Martinelli, , 2011. It is likely that central Mediterranean people were active in eastern shores, as some (admittedly scant) evidence would indicate (Alberti, 2008b;Jung, 2009).…”

“…The possibility to neatly absolute date the boundaries between local phases by means of historical methods alone is challenged by some issues: the problematic interpretability of some local stratigraphies and of the formation processes of some layers in which datable sherds have been retrieved (Alberti, 2013b;Van Wijngaarden, 2002); the difficulties in identifying LH style in fragmentary ceramics (e.g., Tanasi, 2010); the problematic chronology of some of the Levantine and Egyptian contexts on which the absolute dates of the LH ceramic style itself is derived (Leonard, 1988); and the fact that the absolute chronology of LH ceramic style is currently under debate (review of the problem, and contributions from scholars supporting different views, in Warburton, 2009). …”

Investigating Technological Changes in Copper-Based Metals Using Portable XRF Analysis. A Case Study in Sicily

“…Determining the provenance of some artifacts could prove interesting for future research, but the mediated introduction of metallurgy and apparent high frequency of recycling, along with the absence of a clear indigenous metallurgical development, will prove most certainly that metals could have come from either the northern Italian peninsula or the Aegean, and tin came from even further afar. Finding the precise location is of little significance, because by the Middle Bronze Age the exchange network in which the ancient Sicilians participated included the whole Mediterranean (van Wijngaarden, 2002;Vianello, 2005;Broodbank, 2013). Rather, Sicily stayed on the margins of metallurgy and exchange networks trafficking metals, and benefited from them only very late as they expanded in closer regions and the technology matured.…”

Vianello 2005. Late Bronze Age Mycenaean and Italic Products in the West Mediterranean

“…Sherratt 1999 and many short papers in Laffineur & Greco 2005), there have been very few attempts to investigate the social implications of the pattern of consumption of these exotic products. A remarkable study by Van Wijngaarden (2002) tried to do this with detailed contextual analysis of a few well-studied sites, and also attempted to achieve a greater degree of theoretical sophistication in broad agreement with recent trends in Mediterranean archaeology (e.g. Blake and Knapp 2005).…”