Egeja Chronology Overview

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Chronology Overview

The Chronology and Terminology of Aegean Prehistory

Stone Age

A. The Single Site of Franchthi Cave The dates below are uncalibrated; that is, they

indicate radiocarbon, not calendar years. All are expressed in years before present [b.p.]

rather than B..; the present is by con!ention arbitrarily anchored at "#$% A.&.

B. Mainland Greece in General'includin( Thessaly, central )reece, and the *eloponnese

the dates to the left are calibrated, true calendar years.

Bronze Age

+ee also the chart headed elati!e hronolo(y of the Ae(ean on pp. "-"/ with dates

indicated in calendar years, as well as the charts in0 1ood, A*) '"#234 "$; 5. &ic6inson, The

Ae(ean Bron7e A(e '"##/4 "#; +. 8. 9annin(, The Absolute hronolo(y of the Ae(ean

:arly Bron7e A(e '"##$4 "2; and Aote

the followin( abbre!iations0

EBA? :arly Bron7e A(e

MBA? 9iddle Bron7e A(e

LBA? @ate Bron7e A(e

Crete

The Bron7e A(e culture is tered 9inoan after the le(endary 6in( 9inos.

The EBAis referred to as the :arly 9inoan 'abbre!iated :94 period and is

subdi!ided into :9 , , and .

The MBAis tered the 9iddle 9inoan 'abbre!iated 994 period and is subdi!ided

into 99 A, B, AB 'only at the palaces of Cnossos, *haistos, and 9allia4, A,

and B.

TheLBAis called the @ate 9inoan 'abbre!iated @94 period and is subdi!ided into@9 A, B, , A", B, and .
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~prehistory/aegean/wp-content/uploads/mainlandGreece.pnghttp://www.dartmouth.edu/~prehistory/aegean/wp-content/uploads/franchthiCave.png


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The followin( +ubinoan period is the earliest phase of the ron A(e. The 9inoan palaces

were first built at the be(innin( of 99 B; all of the except that at Cnossos were destroyed

and abandoned in @9 B; the palace at Cnossos suffers at least two additional destructions

in early @9 A and @9 B before finally (oin( out of use.

An alternati!e fraewor6 for 9inoan chronolo(y is based on aDor chan(es in socialor(ani7ation connected with the buildin(, rebuildin(, and abandonent of the aDor

architectural coplexes at Cnossos, *haistos, 9allia, and Ea6ro which are in!ariably referred

to as palaces0

*repalatial :9 99 A 'ca. -"%%F-%%%"#$F"#%% B..4

*rotopalatial 'or 5ld *alace4 99 B 99 B 'ca. "#$F"#%%"2$%F"2% B..4

>eopalatial 'or >ew *alace4 99 A @9 B 'ca. "2$%F"2%"/#%F"/2% B..4

*ostpalatial @9 A 'ca. "/#%F"/2%"%2$F"%$% B..4

>ote that the ters >eopalatial and *ostpalatial do not apply to Cnossos durin( the

periods in Guestion, since the palace at Cnossos appears to ha!e continued to function as anadinistrati!e center at least as late as the iddle of the "-th century B..

The Cyclades

The Bron7e A(e cultures within the central and western Ae(ean islands are tered

ycladic.

The EBAis referred to as the :arly ycladic 'abbre!iated :4 period and is

subdi!ided chronolo(ically into , , and .

o

To : is assi(ned the )rotta*elos culture 'soeties called the *elos@a66oudes culture4;

o to : belon(s the Ceros+yros culture;

o the Castri )roup is assi(ned either to the early part of the : phase ':

A, followin( Barber and 9ac)illi!ray4 or to the later part of the :

period ': B, followin( utter4;

o the subseGuent *hyla6opi culture is then put either late in the : period

': B, followin( Barber and 9ac)illi!ray4 or early in the MBA, at the

be(innin( of the 9iddle ycladic seGuence '9 , followin( utter4.

The later sta(es of the 9 phase are best attested at *hyla6opi on 9elos and Ayia rini on

Ceos0 9 ? *hyla6opi . ? Ayia rini H, 9 ? *hyla6opi .- ? Ayia rini H. The@BA is tered @ate ycladic, subdi!ided as usual into , , and , of which is by far the

best understood by !irtue of the fact that the town of A6rotiri on Thera belon(s to this phase.

[Ior a published chart tabulatin( all phases of the ycladic Bron7e A(e presently reco(ni7ed,

toether with the phases of the retan and 9ainland )ree6 Bron7e A(e with which they are

conteporary, see . Barber 'eds.4, The *rehistoric yclades

':dinbur(h "#3/4 -%". Ior recent (eneral treatents, see . @. >. Barber, The yclades in the

Bron7e A(e 'owa ity "#324 and +. 8. 9annin(, JThe :er(ence of &i!er(ence0

&e!elopent and &ecline on Bron7e A(e rete and the yclades,J in . 9athers and +.

+toddart 'eds.4, &e!elopent and &ecline in the 9editerranean Bron7e A(e '+heffield "##/4

"2%.]

The Gree Mainland


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The Bron7e A(e cultures of the 9ainland are described as 1elladic after the )ree6sK own

word for )reece, 1ellas.

The EBAis tered the :arly 1elladic 'abbre!iated :14 period and is subdi!ided into

, and . As in the case of the related Castri )roup in the yclades, there is

presently a debate (oin( on aon( specialists as to what the chronolo(ical position ofthe @ef6andi culture on the 9ainland is0 soe !iew it as an early sta(e of :1

'e.(. 9ac)illi!ray4 while others see it as a late sta(e of :arly 1elladic 'e.(. utter4.

The MBAon the 9ainland is described as the 9iddle 1elladic 'abbre!iated 914

period, which is occasionally but not re(ularly subdi!ided into , , and .

The 9ainland LBAis called either @ate 1elladic 'abbre!iated @14 or 9ycenaean and

is subdi!ided into , A, B, A", B 'further subdi!ided into " in the

Ar(olid4, and 'usually subdi!ided into at least three and soeties as any as

fi!e subphases4. The latest phase of @1 in certain re(ions of the 9ainland is

usually tered +ubycenaean.

!estern T"rey

The Bron7e A(e cultures of Asiatic Tur6ey 'i.e. Asia 9inor4 are usually referred to as

Anatolian, fro the )ree6 word for the risin( of the sun [anatole] and, by extension, the

east 'copare the @atinbased ter 5rient and the Irenchbased @e!ant4. The portion of

this enorous landass closest to the Ae(ean is ordinarily described as 8estern Anatolia

and can itself be further subdi!ided into northern, central, and southern sections. The Bron7e

A(e chronolo(y of all of 8estern Anatolia has traditionally been based upon the stratification

of a sin(le site in the northern subdi!ision, the ound of 1issarli6 that fors the core of the

lassical to 1ellenistic )ree6 city of lion and the oan perial city of Troy. Thus the

:arly Bron7e A(e in 8estern Anatolia is typically bro6en down into :B [:arly Bron7e] "-,

represented at Troy by settleents '? late :B "4, '? :B 4, and H '? :B -4. The

8estern Anatolian MBA[9iddle Bron7e A(e] is not further subdi!ided and is represented at

Troy by settleent Hac or H :arly. The 8estern Anatolian LBA[@ate Bron7e A(e] is

li6ewise not subdi!ided, and is represented at Troy by settleents Hdh 'or H 9iddle and

@ate4 and Hab.

#ote$n (eneral, absolute dates for the Ae(ean +tone and Bron7e A(es are not yet !ery

reliable and any different sets of dates are often in use for one and the sae phase or period.

A aDor debate has been ra(in( since "#32 o!er the absolute date of the (reat !olcanic

explosion of the island of TheraF+antorini early in the @ate Bron7e A(e. As a result, absolute

dates within the first twothirds of the second illenniu B.. 'ca. %%%"-$% B..4 arepresently in an unusually acti!e state of flux. t is therefore always best to describe an

archaeolo(ical assebla(e in ters of a relati!e chronolo(ical label 'e.(. :arly 1elladic ,

@ate 9inoan A, etc.4 rather than in ters of its supposed duration in calendar years B..

ndeed, it is often preferable to refer to a particular assebla(e by the site and le!el in which

it was found 'e.(. Troy H, @ef6andi , @erna H, Ayia rini H, etc.4, particularly in the cases

of archaeolo(ical cultures whose precise chronolo(ical positions are disputed e!en in relati!e

ters 'e.(. the Castri )roup and @ef6andi 4. [Ior the ost recent sur!eys of chronolo(y, both

relati!e and absolute, see *. 8arren and H. 1an6ey, Ae(ean Bron7e A(e hronolo(y 'Bristol

"#3#4 and, for the :arly Bron7e A(e, +. 8. 9annin(, The Absolute hronolo(y of the Ae(ean

:arly Bron7e A(e0 Archaeolo(y, adiocarbon, and 1istory '+heffield "##$4, the latter

abstracted in A


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