(Social) Place and Space in Early Mycenaean Greece, pp. 215-230, 2021/05/25
International Discussions in Mycenaean Archaeology
October 5–8, 2016, Athens
During late MH III/LH I the mortuary landscape of the area around Pylos changed dramatically with the constructionof tholos tombs close to the site of the later palace. These early tholos tombs were followed by the constructionof chamber tombs, also in close proximity to the palace.In this paper, I explore how the addition to the landscape of prominent and visible mortuary areas changed and shapedpeople’s perception of time and memory, their behaviour, and their creation and interpretation of their social positionsand roles. I show that the mortuary arena at the end of MH III was perceived as an untapped social resource with greatpotential for communicating identity, creating a strong social order, and introducing a new ideology based around thefamily line. I argue that the creation of the tombs broke with the older ideology and funds of power and stressed thelineal family’s connection with the past, present and future.
Keywords: Pylos, landscape, memory, identity, ideology
