(Social) Place and Space in Early Mycenaean Greece, pp. 383-402, 2021/05/25
International Discussions in Mycenaean Archaeology
October 5–8, 2016, Athens
The ongoing excavations on the hill of Mygdalia near Patras give us the opportunity of a comprehensivestudy of domestic and tomb material and provide means of understanding early Mycenaean western Achaia. Mygdaliawas founded in the transitional MH III/LH I period and became a local centre in the early Mycenaean period. The settlementwas built on three successive terraces. The lower terrace was supported by a massive enclosure and retaining wallthat seems to be part of the original plan. Substantial architectural remains, including a large building, floor deposits,pottery and metal finds as well as a tholos tomb of LH IIB–IIIA1 date testify to the rise of a local elite. The transition tothe Palatial period was troubled, as witnessed by the abandonment of buildings and the plundering of the tholos tomb.
Keywords: Achaia, Mygdalia, enclosure wall, monumental building, domestic pottery, metal finds, tholos tomb