The Role of Bronze Age People in the Post-Bronze Age Landscape: An Integrated Geoarchaeological Approach to Site Formation at Mycenae, Greece

Summary

While human-landscape interaction has been a key question in the archaeology of early complex societies, little research has focused on the effect of occupation on the landscape post-abandonment. At Mycenae, a Late Bronze Age citadel in southern Greece, two distinct deposits, one anthropogenic and one natural, were identified as covering archaeological remains dating to the 12th century, B.C. Here, we present an integrated method combining micromorphology, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyses intended to target local environmental change during a period of abandonment associated with the Early Iron Age. Bulk samples and thin sections from 1.3 m of these two deposits were taken at 5 cm intervals and analyzed in order to record changes in microstructure, mineralogy and elemental proportions resultant from changing environmental conditions and soil formation. Through this approach, we hope to answer two key questions: How did the intensive occupation of Mycenae during the Bronze Age predetermine the eventual site formation during the Early Iron Age, and to what extent did the natural environment dictate change? By investigating multi-scale processes of post-abandonment site formation, we hope to shed light on the long-term impact of human-landscape interaction during a key transition in Greece.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage