The Early Iron Age in the Aegean and Central Mediterranean

Chapter 10 After the Fall: The Early Iron Age in the Aegean and Central Mediterranean

1 The Fall of the Mycenean Palaces

Though long held to be the case (e.g. Desborough 1964; 1972), the collapse of the palatial system in the Aegean did not mean the end of civilization there – nor did it necessarily mean an end to prosperity. This so-called ‘Dark Age’ may not have been a time of surplus in terms of wealth or population, particularly in some areas that seem to have been harder hit by the end of the Bronze Age; however, this does not necessarily reflect the cessation of communica- tion, exchange, and mobility. Instead, “while a distinctive post-palatial culture emerged, it was markedly different from its predecessor, involving lower stan- dards of living but also new kinds of warriors, traders, and raiders, new kinds of tools forged from a new metal, different kinds and points of connectivity” (Knapp and Manning 2016: 126; cf. Lemos 2006a; Moschos 2009a; 2009b; Mac Sweeney 2016; Jolliffe 2017). Indeed, while significantly fewer objects of foreign origin are found on the mainland than in the preceding LH IIIB period, the number of imports per capita is relatively unchanged across these periods. Thus, while the reduction in imported objects reflects a population that contracted by as much as fifty percent or more in some areas in the years around 1200 BCE, its distribution also suggests that not all who remained ceased outward-looking activities in favor of impoverished insularity (Murray 2017: 246; cf. Dickinson 2006a: 93– 98). A similar situation may be seen in the distribution of metals, which went from being concentrated at palatial sites in the LH IIIB to being more widely dispersed across sites in the post-palatial period (Murray 2017: 168–72). This is, in the words of one scholar, “evidence for the ‘positive’ nature of collapse, in which the dissolution of strong states cleared the way for a greater distribution of access to prosperity among those surviving the events precipitating the crisis” (Murray 2020: 207). To quote another, if indeed “rock bottom” in the Aegean “coincides, in fact, with the earliest (and richest) burials” at Knossos, Palaepaphos, Salamis, Kourion-Kaloriziki, Amathus, Lapithos Kastros, and Tiryns, as well as “the beginning of the Euboean expansion to the east, to Cyprus, Tyre, Tel Dor, and Tel Hadar … this is quite a spectacular rock bottom” (Muhly 2003: 23).

1.1 Destruction, Rebuilding, and Repurposing While destruction was widespread at the end of the LH IIIB, some palatial sites were at least partly reoccupied in the 12th century. The citadel at Mycenae, for example, was partially occupied into the Iron Age, while the lower terraces surrounding the acropolis at Midea were occupied in LH IIIC Middle and Late despite suffering another destruction between these phases (Thomatos 2006: 184, 186, 188). Tiryns, on the other hand, experienced an unprecedented expansion in the LH IIIC. Unlike Mycenae, where new building took place atop the former palace’s open courtyard, the throne area of the Upper Citadel at Tiryns was incorporated into LH IIIC construction (Building T), visibly connecting the 12th century citadel to its Late Bronze Age predecessor. A storage facility containing large pithoi also supports the area’s reoccupation and continued importance for administration and power dynamics (Maran 2001b; 2011a). The well-organized Lower Citadel – whose material culture included Handmade Burnished Ware, albeit as only 1% of the unpainted pottery repertoire (Hallager and Hallager 2000: 298; Kilian and Mühlenbruch 2007: 54–55) – seems to have experienced a decrease in population as the LH IIIC went on, although it has been suggested that this does not reflect a depopulation of the site itself, but a transfer of residency to the 25-hectare Lower Town, which demonstrates both urban planning and particularly complex architecture for this period. Buildings like Megaron W, as well as a large building in the northeastern sector featuring a room (Room 8/00) which is noteworthy for its having been subdivided by rows of columns, may suggest that “a driving force behind the development of the Lower Town was an elevated group, which claimed new living quarters for themselves and their kin groups,” in part by highlighting their connection to the palatial past (Maran 2006: 125–27; 2012; 2015: 283–86; Stockhammer 2009).

1.2 ‘Flight from the Coasts’? Some of the population movements of this time have been rationalized in the past, at least in part, as representing a “flight from the coasts” – an abandon- ment of some sites and nucleation of settlements that took place in response to a “universal and continuing threat from the sea” (Dickinson 2006a: 64). This view is partially supported by developments from the mainland and from some Aegean islands. These include the establishment of ‘refuge settlements,’ which have been particularly noted on LM IIIC Crete (e.g. Nowicki 1987; 1994; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2011). A definition of this type of site is one which is “defensible by its physical terrain or architecture, within a period of culture change involving drastic changes in settlement patterns” (Haggis 2001: 52). Featuring larger, more concentrated populations and positioning in defensible areas of the island, these sites are found inland, where interdependence and