"A burden of one’s own choice is not felt": observing ceramic production technology, exchange and consumption in the Late Mycenaean Saronic Gulf.

Summary

It is widely recognized that Mycenaean states varied in their structure and organisation, were linked to different types of crafting industries, a range of trade networks and a host of consumer preferences. The Saronic Gulf is a paradoxical space that physically separates Mycenaean geopolitical states/regions, while its waters facilitate the interregional movement of people, goods and ideas. The application of thin section petrography and INAA to observe the movement of pottery, the most archaeologically visible good exchanged in this area during the Late Mycenaean period, has resulted in the identification of a restricted number of pottery production locations and the wide movement of their ceramic products.

Taking into account complete vessel assemblages representing different activities within this landscape, we have identified patterns of availability of varied pottery types to ordinary consumers in the area. This paper examines links between the technical choices made during the production sequence of a select group of vessel types and the choices made at the consumer end of the spectrum. In this way, we are able to observe and characterize several key variables of the regional ceramic ecology, economy and social life of the region and to contextualize it within the wider Mycenaean world.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Advances in the Method and Application of Ceramic Petrography: International Perspectives on Key Archaeological Questions Part II

Keywords

Spatial Coverage