American Journal of Archaeology

Several surviving artifacts of Roman imperial date consist of two small plaques designed for connection by balks (rectangular beams) and cylindrical dowels. All but one of the surviving specimens are of ivory and were probably luxurious versions of utilitarian objects. All have decorative details; three particularly lavish specimens bear mythological narratives in relief on both sides of each plaque. The original function of these objects is controversial, but the strongest evidence supports their identification as looms for weaving narrow strips to be used as decorative trim. If this reconstruction is correct, then their intended owners were primarily women, and the viewers of them were the members of those women’s private households. Although most of the craftsmen who carved these very technically demanding works were probably male, the iconography of the decorated examples may reflect the social roles of their owners. The relief-decorated specimens in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne appear to depict myths that concern childbirth and motherhood. This essay examines how the functions of these objects dictated the reading of their narrative content as their viewers interacted physically with them. The narratives delivered didactic, comforting, and stimulating messages.

In the absence of extensive written sources, the history of the Macedonian kingdom prior to the reign of Philip II remains largely understudied. Yet, the archaeological record of the region, although primarily of funerary character, has much to contribute in this direction. In this article, I examine the funerary evidence particularly from the Classical period until the rise of Philip II. Focusing especially on vases, which formed the most common type of offering, my discussion begins with an overview of the types that appear in classical Macedonian graves until ca. 360 B.C.E. Then, with the aim of defining the possible ideological and practical funerary functions of these artifacts, my analysis moves to the patterns of intra- and intersite synchronic variability in their consumption. Changing to a diachronic perspective, I demonstrate that between the sixth and the fourth centuries B.C.E. the patterns of synchronic variation in the funerary consumption of vases did not remain constant. Finally, I argue that changes in these patterns are strongly suggestive of specific transformations in the sociopolitical structures of the kingdom. However, I stress that this interpretation needs to be tested against evidence from nonritual contexts, which at this time remains scanty.

For a long time, the emergence of Aegean states was explained in terms of general evolutionist models based on evidence from a handful of major palatial sites. Recently, however, a growing emphasis on regional diversity has demonstrated the importance of specific models for understanding the multiple pathways to social complexity. It is becoming increasingly clear that static neoevolutionary types do not reflect the fluid and dynamic character of human societies and that top-down explanatory models based on top-tier centers are biased and incomplete. In this article, a detailed historical modeling of the Mycenaean state of Pylos based on new data from the systematic excavation of Iklaina tests the current model and proposes that the Pylian state, as it is known to us from Linear B tablets, was not integrated until an advanced phase of the Late Helladic IIIB period. This analysis suggests that for most of the Mycenaean period both Iklaina and Ano Englianos were primary centers following parallel trajectories and functioning as capitals of independent micropolities. A late date for the unification of the Pylian state could account for its partly decentralized character, the duplication of administrative structures, and the instability that may have contributed to its collapse.