Social change in Aegean prehistory / edited by Corien Wiersma and Sofia Voutsaki.

Papers from an international conference entitled Explaining Change in Aegean Prehistory, which was held in Groningen, the Netherlands, October 16-17, 2013.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Introduction: Social change in Aegean prehistory – 2. Pre-Mycenaean pottery shapes of the central Aegean : a new resource in development / Walter Gauss and Michael Lindblom – 3. The temporal slicing and dicing of Minyan culture : a proposal for a tripartite division of a lengthier Greek Middle Bronze Age and the issue of nomadism at its beginning / Jeremy B. Rutter – 4. Early Helladic III : a non-monumental but revitalized social arena? / Erika Weiberg – 5. Reciprocity and exchange relationships : exploring the dynamics of Bronze Age social structures through feasting and hospitality / Daniel J. Pullen – 6. Domestic architecture : a means to analyse social change on the Bronze Age Greek mainland / Corien Wiersma – 7. Social change in middle Helladic Lerna / Sofia Voutsaki and Eleni Milka – 8. Social complexity in late middle Bronze Age and early late Bronze Age Cyclades : a view from Ayia Irini / Evi Gorogianni and R.D. Fitzsimons – 9. Long-term developments in southern mainland settlement systems from early Helladic to late Helladic times as seen through the lens of regional survey / John Bintli – 10. Middle Helladic reflections / John F. Cherry.

"This volume brings together papers that discuss social change. The main focus is on the Early Helladic III to Late Helladic I period in southern Greece, but also touches upon the surrounding islands. This specific time frame enables us to consider how mainland societies recovered from a 'crisis' and how they eventually developed into the differentiated, culturally receptive and competitive social formations of the early Mycenaean period. Material changes are highlighted in the various papers, ranging from pottery and burials to domestic architecture and settlement structures, followed by discussions of how these changes relate to social change. A variety of factors is thereby considered including demographic changes, reciprocal relations and sumptuary behaviour, household organization and kin structure, age and gender divisions, internal tensions, connectivity and mobility. As such, this volume is of interest to both Aegean prehistorians as to scholars interested in social and material change. The volume consists of eight papers, preceded by an introduction and concluded by a response. The introduction gives an overview of the development of the debate on the explanation of social change in Aegean prehistory. The response places the volume in a broader context of the EH III-LH I period and the broader discussion on social change"--From publisher's website.