(Social) Place and Space in Early Mycenaean Greece, pp. 193-214, 2021/05/25
International Discussions in Mycenaean Archaeology
October 5–8, 2016, Athens
This paper presents the results of the preliminary study of a recently excavated LH IIB pottery assemblagefrom the Ano Englianos ridge at Pylos in western Messenia. The deposit comes from Trench 5Z and its six extensions,situated northeast of Carl Blegen’s Main Building, and was uncovered during the archaeological investigations associatedwith the construction of the new roof over the Palace of Nestor. The material fills a gap in the local sequence andreveals significant information on pottery consumption trends at Pylos during the crucial transition from the early tothe late formative stage of Mycenaean palatial society. Specifically, our analysis suggests that the ceramics from the 5Zdeposit may represent the remains from feasting activities, which occurred during a late stage of LH IIB, and highlightsthe importance of Messenian and Minoan cultural traditions in the gradual formation process of Mycenaean Pylos. Ifcorroborated through future research, these conclusions raise the possibility that LH IIB may have been a key phase forthe elaboration and performance of those feasting practices, which constitute a distinctive feature of the Pylian socialspace during the final Mycenaean Palatial period.
Keywords: Mycenaean Pylos, cultural formation processes, feasting activities, ceramic analysis, relative chronology
