Mortuary practices and societal change in Early Mycenaean Greece

This chapter discusses the ways in which we approach societal change and focuses on the relationship between the emergence of differentiation and change in mortuary practices. It explores three sets of contrasts which are central to the study of change: the tensions between identity and difference, tradition and innovation, the group and the person. The historical question addressed is the transformation from the kin-based, introverted, and austere village societies of the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1700 BCE) southern Greek mainland to the highly differentiated, expansionist, and ostentatious Mycenaean kingdoms (1700–1200 BCE). The discussion will be based on a specific case study, the Early Mycenaean (1700–1450 BCE) North Cemetery at Ayios Vasileios in southern Greece, which predates the recently discovered palace at the same site and spans the crucial period of transition and transformation. The site is compared with a well-known elite precinct, the Grave Circle B at Mycenae, in order to explore mortuary traditions, trajectories of change, and the operation of agency in two contemporary communities.