ARCHAEOLOGICAL MEETING OF THESSALY AND CENTRAL GREECE, 2006-2008
FROM PREHISTORY TO THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD

Paper abstract

KRAMER-HAJOS Margaretha
Assistant Professor of Classical Archaeology, Department of Classical Studies, Indiana University
A Scenario for the End of the Bronze Age in the North Euboean Gulf

The LH IIIC period is a period of great cultural revival in the North Euboean Gulf area. After a cultural decline in LH IIIB, most likely due to oppression from the Mycenaean palaces at Thebes and Orchomenos, sites like Lefkandi, Mitrou, and Kynos, flourish in this period and establish a LH IIIC Euboean koine which includes e.g. the inland site of Kalapodi, but emphatically excludes the former centers of great palatial power; the well-known griffin pyxis from Lefkandi even seems to intentionally mock palatial iconography. After the end of the Bronze Age, these sites survive into the Early Iron Age suffering much less destruction and trauma than many other regions and continuing their koine. This paper combines iconographic and skeletal evidence with ‘evidence’ from Homer to paint a picture of Mycenaean sailor-warriors based along the North Euboean Gulf, who were active participants rather than passive victims of the troubles that accompanied the end of the Bronze Age.

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