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Aegeus Society For Aegean Prehistory

ARTICLES | 2026

Phases of childhood in Early Mycenaean Greece

Judit Lebegyev Childhood in the Past: An International Journal 2.1 (April 2009): 15-32.

The paper examines the question of whether or not it is possible to distinguish age grades within childhood in Early Mycenaean Greece. The analysis centres upon burial evidence from the Argolid, the core-area of Mycenaean civilisation, from where the largest amount of material suitable for such an analysis is available. The study concludes that on the basis of the available evidence three major phases can be identified within childhood - up until 1-2 years; 1-2 to 5-6 years and post 5-6 years. These approximate age grades, however, appear to have been somewhat fluid and changed over time.

The debate on Aegean high and low chronologies: An overview through Egypt

Tiziano Fantuzzi Rivista di Archaeologia, anno XXXI 2007 [2009]: 53-65.

One of the most important problems which affect the reconstruction of the Aegean Late Bronze Age (LBA), and its significance in the Mediterranean world, is the absolute chronology of the Minoan LM I-II periods, and, in turn, the absolute dating of the mature LM I A Theran eruption, and their relationships with the Egyptian and Cypriote relative chronologies.

Wilusa: Reconsidering the evidence

Vangelis D. Pantazis Klio 91 (2009): 291-310.

A wide consensus among archaeologists and classicists today prevails that Ilios of the Homeric epics should be identified with the hill of Hisarlik. Moreover, a growing number of Hittitologists tends to believe, with less hesitance than before, that Taruisa of the Hittite texts should be identified with Troy and Wilusiya/Wilusa with (F)Ilios. A strong argument in favour of this view is, among others, the striking similarity between the names of the Wilusan ruler Alaksandu and Homeric Alexander (the second name of the unfortunate Trojan hero Paris).

Farfalle nell’Egeo: Una rassegna delle raffigurazioni dell’età del Bronzo nelle Cicladi, a Creta e nella Grecia continentale

Giorgia Baldacci Rivista di Archaeologia, anno XXXI (2007) [2009]: 29-51.

Among the Aegean Bronze Age images of the natural world, those of butterflies, which appear on various media (seals, signet-rings, gold leaf ornaments, ivory, frescoes) in Crete, in the Greek Mainland and in the Cyclades, play an interesting role, for their diffusion as well as for their possible symbolic meaning. This contribution collects and reviews all the representations of butterflies, in an overall view and on the basis of both iconographic and archaeological survey, with a particular attention of find contexts.

Life and death in the periphery of the Mycenaean world: Cultural processes in the Albanian Late Bronze Age

Lorenc Bejko Ocnus 17 (2009): 11-22.

The identification and description of the Mycenaean type objects found in the late Bronze Age contexts of Albanian sites has been object of several previous publications. As objects that stand out from the characteristic types of the local cultures, the finds of Mycenaean types have received particular attention. They have served extensively in the establishment of the late Bronze Age, early Iron Age chronologies as well as in the characterization of some form of contacts between the Aegean and Albanian territories in the later prehistory.

Stable isotope analysis of the Middle Helladic population from two cemeteries at Asine: Barbouna and the East Cemetary

A. Ingvarsson-Sundström, M. P. Richards & S. Voutsaki Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 9.2 (2009): 1-14.

In this paper we report the results of the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of humans from two Middle Bronze Age cemeteries at Asine, Greece: Barbouna (n=6) and the East Cemetery (n=13). In general, the dietary pattern of adults and juveniles shows a heavy reliance on mainly terrestrial foods; C3 plants and a varying amount of animal protein (meat, milk or dairy products). The high nitrogen values of some individuals from the East cemetery indicate a substantial consumption of animal protein, although the carbon values show that no detectable amounts of marine foods, or C4 plants such as millet had been consumed.

Placing social interaction: an integrative approach to analyzing past built environments

Kevin D. Fisher Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28.4 (December 2009): 439-457.

A growing recognition of the vital role that built space plays in social reproduction has created a need for analytical methods and interpretive frameworks with which to investigate this relationship in archaeological datasets. I address this by developing an integrative approach that emphasizes the role of the built environment as the context for interactions through which social structures are created, transformed and reproduced.

Re-capturing the sea: The past and future of ‘Island Archaeology’ in Greece

Ina Berg Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures 4.1 (2010): 16-26.

Research into past and present islands and coastal communities in Greece has long remained steeped in biogeographical concepts. An overview of relevant surface survey publications highlights their focus on landscape investigations, such as settlement patterns, mortuary landscapes, land use, soil analysis, botanical reconstructions and terracing.

“One, none, and a hundred thousand”: Settlements and identities in the prehistoric Mediterranean Islands

Helen Dawson Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures 4.1 (2010): 82-98.

This paper explores the relations between island settlement, identity and sense of place in the prehistoric Mediterranean. It uses modern examples and archaeological case studies to discuss the effects of colonisation and abandonment on island communities and the creation of distinctive identities as a form of cultural resistance.

Volcanoes, ice-cores and tree-rings: one story or two?

M.G.L. Baillie Antiquity 84, No. 323 (March 2010): 202–215.

Good archaeology relies on ever more precise dates – obtainable, notably, from ice-cores and dendrochronology. These each provide year-by-year sequences, but they must be anchored at some point to real historical time, by a documented volcanic eruption, for example. But what if the dating methods don't agree?

The Prehistoric Stones of Greece: a resource of archaeological surveys and sites

Paraskevi Elefanti, Gilbert Marshall & Clive Gamble Antiquity 84, No. 323 (March 2010): online article.

The Prehistoric Stones of Greece (SOG) project began in 2005. Our main focus was chipped stone dated to the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, but the project required us to collate for the first time in a standardised way, all the archaeological field surveys undertaken in Greece and the findspots and sites located. Published and unpublished sources were assembled, the latter including a variety of materials supplied by survey directors such as project daily record sheets, annotated maps and notebooks. The whole database is now publically available online.

Reconstructing Late Bronze Age diet in mainland Greece using stable isotope analysis

Eirini I. Petroutsa & Sotiris K. Manolis Journal of Archaeological Science 37.3 (March 2010): 614-620.

The Late Bronze Age is a period of great importance in prehistoric Greece, due to the rise of the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations. Settlements, palatial complexes and cemeteries have been excavated whilst a plethora of findings among which wall paintings and artifacts provided a large amount of information regarding the period.

A provenance study of Mycenaean pottery from Northern Israel

Sharon Zuckerman, David Ben-Shlomo, Penelope A. Mountjoy & Hans Mommsen Journal of Archaeological Science 37.2 (February 2010): 409-416.

The occurrence of imported Mycenaean pottery in the Late Bronze Age southern Levant is one of the most conspicuous aspects of Eastern Mediterranean trade connections during this period. A group of 183 Mycenaean pottery vessels from 14 sites in northern Israel, from both coastal and inland settlement contexts were analyzed by Neutron Activation Analysis.

The prehistoric finds from the Halasarna survey project 2003-2006, Kos: A preliminary report

M. Georgiadis Aegean Archaeology 8 (2005-2006) [2009]: 7-19.

This is a preliminary report on the six most important prehistoric sites identified during the Halasarna Survey Project. The early occupation of Kos was until recently only slightly touched on by archaeological investigations and this survey has provided substantial data for better understanding of settlement on the island, in particular during the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.