Mycenaean Greece, Mediterranean Commerce, and the Formation of Identity

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Cambridge University Press, Mar 8, 2010 - Business & Economics - 246 pages
The impact of long-distance exchange on the developing cultures of Bronze Age Greece has been a subject of debate since Schliemann's discovery of the Shaft Graves at Mycenae. In Mycenaean Greece, Mediterranean Commerce, and the Formation of Identity, Bryan E. Burns offers a new understanding of the effects of Mediterranean trade on Mycenaean Greece by considering the possibilities represented by the traded objects themselves in their Mycenaean contexts. A range of imported artifacts were distinguished by their precious material, uncommon style, and foreign writing, signaling their status as tangible evidence of connections beyond the Aegean. The consumption of these exotic symbols spread beyond the highest levels of society and functioned as symbols of external power sources. Burns argues that the consumption of exotic items thus enabled the formation of alternate identities and the resistance of palatial power.
 

Contents

one AEGEAN AGENCY IN MEDITERRANEAN EXCHANGE
8
two BECOMING MYCENAEAN
41
three IMPORTS IN THE EARLY MYCENAEAN PERIOD
73
four CRAFTING POWER THROUGH IMPORT CONSUMPTION
105
five IMPORT CONSUMPTION IN PALATIAL CENTERS
130
six FUNERARY CONSUMPTION AND COMPETITION IN THE ARGOLID
163
seven CONCLUSIONS
191
REFERENCES
197
Index
241
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About the author (2010)

Bryan E. Burns is Associate Professor of Classical Studies at Wellesley College. He is the author of numerous articles on Bronze Age Greece and has been awarded fellowships and fieldwork grants from the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, the Loeb Classical Library Foundation and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

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