Scope and Background
MITAMBA investigates the links between and within central Greece and the northern Aegean during the Middle Bronze Age (MBA, ca. 2100 - 1550 BCE), incorporating pottery phases Early Helladic III, Middle Helladic, and Late Helladic I. This region has often been considered peripheral to contemporary Aegean networks centred on Crete, the Cycladic islands, Aegina, and the southern Greek mainland. Nevertheless, there are interesting hints that the northern Aegean was part of a distinct regional network.
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| Selected MBA sites ands regions of interest to MITAMBA |
Some evidence and key issues were highlighted by The Aegeo-Balkan Prehistory Project, organised by Peter Pavúk (Charles University, Prague) and Barbara Horejs (Austrian Academy of Sciences), a direct inspiration for lots of subsequent scholarship and many of MITAMBA's research questions.
One important piece of
evidence is that the potters’ wheel seems to have been introduced to central
Greece from northwestern Anatolia at the end of the Early Bronze Age (Rutter
1979; 2008; Choleva 2018; 2020). At the other end of the period, notable
technological and typological similarities have been observed among some types of reduced-fired pottery found in central Greece, along the coast of northwestern
Anatolia, and in central Macedonia during the later MBA (Aslanis 2017; Pavúk
2007; 2008; 2010; Horejs 2007a; 2007b).
However, pottery
representing both these phenomena (and all potential imports from these
regions) have rarely undergone any analytical examination, which has left their
origins uncertain, and the dynamics and structure of the related networks are
unclear.
Other evidence also suggests largely unexplored connections beyond pottery. For example, an enigmatic carved deer antler horse-bridle piece with wave-band meander decoration, later modified for the chariot, was found in a Late Helladic I context at Mitrou in East Lokris (Maran and Van de Moortel 2014). This piece may have originally been imported from the Carpathian Basin or the Balkans, where the decoration and type are well known. A similar wave-band meander decoration is seen on an early Mycenaean gold-plated sword hilt from a rich burial at Staphylos on the Sporades island of Skopelos (David 2007). A bronze wheel-headed pin, also dated to Late Helladic I, was found in a burial from Antron near Glypha in Pthiotis, and may have also originated from central Europe (Ruppenstein 2010; Papakonstantinou 1999).
Such objects from central Greece complement occasional materials with links to the north and/or northwestern Anatolia known from the southern mainland in critically important Late Helladic I contexts such as Mycenae's Grave Circle A and B. Moreover, many of the amber artefacts found in early Mycenaean contexts in southern Greece also likely originated from Balkan sources, but it is unclear how they may have ultimately arrived in the south and through which intermediaries (Czebreszuk 2011). While an Adriatic Sea route has often been favoured, other routes involving the northern Aegean have been proposed.
How should the
significance of these findings be interpreted? Are they truly exceptional and
exotic, or are they symptomatic of a much more consistent connection better understood when considering a wider-range of material cultural? Exploring
these connections is crucial to properly understand this region’s role as a
potential intermediary between the southern Aegean and places such as central
and eastern Europe or northwestern Anatolia.
Research questions:
MITAMBA brings together a wide range of expertise to ask -- Can any of these links be confirmed through chemical and/or petrographic analysis?
- When might these links have been established?
- Is there more evidence in a wider range of material culture for connections between MBA central Greece and the northern Aegean?
- Were some regions more connected to broader inter-regional networks than others?
- Did objects, ideas, and/or people move through this network? In which direction, when, and how?
- How intense, frequent, and consistent might some of this interaction have been?
- What role did these connections play in the social and cultural changes observable during the MBA?
Personnel
Our team consists of an evolving range of experts, co-investigators, postdocs, and PhD students all of whom offer something unique to complement MITAMBA's aims. See their profiles and links to their work listed under our Team page.
Interested in participating?
While a range of target assemblages have already been identified, we are always looking to expand our research network with relevant materials and expertise. MITAMBA may be able to provide resources for new sampling and analytical examinations, the cataloguing of important assemblages, network and chronological modelling, experimental archaeology, and investigations of morphometrics and use-wear.
Contact c.hale@iaepan.edu.pl to discuss options.
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Funded by a SONATA-BIS-13 grant from the National Science Centre, Poland (no. 2023/50/E/HS3/00578) |
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| Hosted by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences |
Bibliography
Choleva, M. 2018. ‘Craft behaviours during a period of transformations: The introduction and adoption of the potter’s wheel in Central Greece during Early Bronze Age’, in Caloi, I. and Langohr, C. (eds), Technology in Crisis. Technological changes in ceramic production during periods of trouble (Louvain-la-Neuve), 45–74.
Pavúk, P. 2008. "Grey Wares as a Phenomenon." 12 Jun. 2008. In Horejs, B. - Pavúk, P. (eds.): Aegean and Balkan Prehistory. (accessed 21 Jul. 2025).
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