Through the lenses of Disability Studies and archaeological theories of identity, I use ancient Greek art, literature, architecture, laws, and bioarchaeology to investigate how ancient Greek communities (ca. 1000 to 100 BCE) understood, treated, and accommodated physical disability among their members. Most specifically, I trace how the intersection of disability with age resulted in different negotiations for infants, children, adults, and the elderly, as well as for mythological figures like the limping god Hephaistos. I demonstrate that far from being ejected from their families or communities, disabled ancient Greeks were integrated where they could be and accommodated where they couldn’t. I highlight, for example, the ways that parents and midwives assisted infants who were born with conditions like cleft palate, as well as military exemptions for disabled adult men in 4th century BCE Athens. I emphasize how individuals with a variety of somatic realities participated and engaged in their communities. By removing disability from a biomedical frame of reference, with its attendant prejudices and estimations of ability predicated on modern modes of production and interaction, and re-locating it to an active, social context, I demonstrate the contingent and constructed nature of disability and resist generalizations about the universal plight of the disabled in the past.

This dissertation explores trade and economic interaction between polities during the Late Bronze Age within the Eastern Mediterranean. This study reconstructs the trade systems extant during this period through a network analysis of Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery distributed throughout Cyprus, Egypt, and the Levant. The network data compiled for this analysis includes over 23,000 sherds and vessels recovered from 269 different sites that date from the terminal Middle Bronze Age to the end of the Late Helladic IIIB period.

There are three primary goals of this dissertation. The first is to assess the structure of Late Bronze Age exchange systems through the distribution and consumption of ceramic imports across the three regions of study. The second is to quantitatively test the hypothesized intermediary role of Cypriot agents as suppliers of Aegean pottery to neighbouring regions of the Mediterranean. The final analytical goal of is to evaluate the efficacy of network analysis as a method for the quantitative assessment of trade systems, particularly with the aim of exploring broader questions surrounding the structural nature of trade systems and their associated political institutions.

The network analyses of Cypriot and Mycenaean ceramics demonstrate a high degree of variability in consumption and import distribution systems across Cyprus, Egypt, and the Levant. Network centralization and density measures indicate diverging mechanisms for import circulation, suggesting the existence of contrasting political economies. A significant result of this study was the demonstration of competing political institutions in Cyprus, suggesting the absence of a centralized state with a governing core (i.e. a ‘Kingdom of Alashiya’ centered on Enkomi). The high overall network density, the diffusion of Late Helladic shapes across sites and contexts of differing scale, and the high network centrality measures of multiple competing polities refute the presence of a governing system core. The pervasion of Mycenaean vessels on Cyprus and the correlation between the circulation of Cypriot and Aegean vessels, as evidenced by the high affiliation frequency of vessel groups across ware types, support the hypothesis that Cypriot agents were active in the distribution of Mycenaean imports through a shared primary trade network.

Most studies of the Greek oil and wine industry focus either on the Late Bronze Age or the Classical Period, rarely mentioning the Early Iron Age (so often cast as a <&ldquo>Dark Age) between the two. This dissertation attempts to fill this gap by investigating evidence for the continuity of a surplus economy between the Late Bronze Age and the Archaic period. Specifically, I examine what type of oil and wine economy existed in the Late Bronze Age (LBA), how this economy continued into the Early Iron Age (EIA), and how the Early Archaic period built upon these previously established, though smaller-scale, socio-economic networks.

Using data on the production, distribution, and consumption of large ceramic liquid transport containers, this study examines how the interaction between oil and wine manufacturers and central authority changed or remained constant during these periods of Greek antiquity. The first chapter puts transport containers into a context of oil and wine production in the LBA by discussing the available archaeological and written evidence. This in-depth look at the importance of wine and oil in the LBA sets the stage for the following chapters.

The second chapter focuses on the most popular Greek transport jar of the LBA, the transport stirrup jar (TSJ). An examination of the production strategies of TSJs, their distribution throughout the Mediterranean, and their patterns of deposition within different regions, suggests that TSJs functioned within a commercial economy fueled by the palatial system, but by no means entirely controlled within it. Chapter Three of this dissertation discusses the ensuing Postpalatial period on Crete and the Greek mainland when the TSJ shape was slowly abandoned while the technologically simpler and more convenient amphora shape was adopted as the primary bulk liquid transport container.

Although the earlier part of the Protogeometric period has generally been regarded as one of isolation, the data presented in the fourth chapter on the North Aegean amphora (NAA) instead suggests that production became highly regionalized, concentrated in central Greece, Thessaly, and eventually the Thermaic Gulf. In addition, trade networks seem to have survived, continuing to link Greece with Asia Minor and eventually the central Mediterranean. In the ensuing Early Archaic period, the southern Greek response to the northern Greek NAA was the SOS amphora. Chapter Five discusses the importance of this amphora within a burgeoning socio-economic network that included not only Greeks and their colonies, but foreign agents as well.

The results of this research suggest that despite dramatic social and economic changes in the EIA, certain Greek societies maintained a level of surplus production of these two critical commodities and participated in an external commercial network. On a broader level, this dissertation addresses some larger problems concerning the relationship between economic organization and political hierarchy, especially in periods of dramatic political change.

My dissertation examines the period after the collapse of the Mycenaean palatial system until the beginning of the Early Iron Age (1200–1050 BC). Traditionally identified as a ‘Dark Age,’ this period has been characterized as one of decline, stagnation, and relative egalitarianism in contrast with the palatial period. Recent research has begun to contradict these assumptions, demonstrating that international contacts continued in the post-palatial period and many communities continued to thrive. Drawing on the growing field of post-collapse literature and integrating elements of resilience and urban theory, my dissertation poses the following interrelated questions: Why do certain communities survive collapse? What made a resilient community? And what influenced the settlement pattern identified in the post-palatial period? I argue that the perception of abundance (whether in terms of resources, opportunities, information, or technologies) played an integral role in shaping the landscape of Greece.

I take the site of ancient Eleon, a community in Boeotia, Greece, that survived the post-palatial collapse, but ultimately failed prior to the Early Iron Age, as a case study. I consider four different aspects of households: household size, storage capacity, household industry, and ceramic consumption. At Eleon, storage space was provided mainly by fired ceramic containers such as pithoi, vats, and bathtubs and unfired clay bins known as kotselles. Storage seems to have been on the scale of yearly subsistence. Evidence for textile production included two types of loom weight; a spool loom weight that is probably of foreign origin, and a heavy loom weight possibly used in the specialized production of very thick textiles like rugs. Ceramic evidence also suggests foreign influence and perhaps even a foreign potting community at Eleon. This includes the appearance of foreign shapes such as the carinated cup and handmade burnished ware. There are also close stylistic ties with the site of Xeropolis (Lefkandi). The architecture at Eleon, however, shows close ties with palatial Thebes, including the use of fired ceramic rooftiles, colonnaded hearth rooms, and a ramp. Overall, the analysis of Eleon presents the picture of a small self-sufficient settlement with weak ties to its neighboring communities. Many of the developments at Eleon derived from its contacts with the coast, making the community vulnerable to any shift in regional networks.

But how does Eleon differ from sites such as Kynos, Xeropolis and Tiryns that ultimately survived into the Early Iron Age? My research demonstrates that, in contrast to Eleon, these communities produced evidence for robust storage practices and abundant textile manufacture. Their location on the coast facilitated external contacts, both within local networks, as well as allowed them to develop links with foreign networks of interaction. Such contacts allowed them primary access to new ideas and technologies, resulting in a more diverse and thereby more resilient community. This is reflected in the archaeological record, as these sites show early evidence for iron-working, the adoption of spool loom weights for weaving, and a variety of imported objects. While Eleon initially participated in this network of interaction, as demonstrated by close ceramic ties to Xeropolis in the early post-palatial period, changes to this network in LH IIIC Middle (c. 1150 BC) gradually resulted in the isolation of this inland settlement. It is likely that the contraction of the former palatial center at Thebes resulted in a diminished role for Eleon as a node between Thebes and the coast, and the inhabitants of Eleon left their homes seeking out more abundant opportunities, jobs, and resources elsewhere.

This project examines how select works of Greek sculpture became iconic in modern museums and considers the effect of these statues on the viewer through the lens of archaeoaesthetics. I argue that the process of assigning value to art and deriving pleasure from it are initially institutional constructs. Once works of art become iconic, they have a more profound impact on the viewer and form the basis for Western-biased socio-cultural narratives that are presented as the norm.

Pottery is the most common archaeological material recorded in large quantities at the excavation of the Neolithic sites in the Aegean and the Balkans. Thus, it comprises the best proxy to understand the Late Neolithic communities in the southern Balkans, especially prehistoric technology, daily life practices, human-object interactions, and local or regional contacts. Despite the attention that the Neolithic pottery has received in previous publications, its social dimensions have been poorly studied in Albania. The current dissertation approaches such aspects by exploring the sociocultural journey of the ceramic assemblages in Kor�� region in southeastern Albania as they traverse various itineraries from the manufacture and use to cross-site circulation. This research adopts a holistic, interdisciplinary approach combining contemporary theoretical perspectives, traditional recording techniques, and a multianalytic approach. My research views the sociocultural dimensions of the pottery as dynamic interactions between humans and vessels, interhuman relationships, and cross-site or interregional contacts providing a narrative told by vessels as they move from one social practice to another. It perceives technological choices as practices that emerge through the interaction of tradition, relationship with the material world, and cross-site contacts. The study considers the active role of the Neolithic Pottery in the southern Balkans beyond functionality and identity negotiation, imposing through its attributes such as size and shape, specific behaviors of the residents regarding their use, and the interaction with other members of their community. This approach also assigns an active role to ceramic assemblages in local or regional contacts putting the communities of potters at the center of such connections since they facilitate the circulation of technologies and raw materials. As links or boundary objects, potters and ceramic technologies bring together social groups from different sites and regions, shaping and maintaining interregional communication channels in southeastern Albania. The participation of potters within such networks plays an essential role in the local and regional patterns of ceramic tradition in the Late Neolithic period in the region of Kor�� and the southern Balkans.

This project is a study of the commemoration of Classical Greek battles from a landscape biography perspective, approaching monuments and other practices as vital elements in the creation and curation of memories. It analyzes the diachronic development of battlefield, sanctuary, and city spaces, as evidenced by archaeological remains, ancient literary sources, and inscriptions. In addition, it explores the experience of the commemorative spaces through the application of theories of space, phenomenology, and social memory. Following a biographical approach, the commemoration of each battle is separated into stages of initial commemoration, official monumentalization, memory curation, memory lapse, and recovery and reception. The battles fought at Marathon, Leuktra, and Chaironeia are chosen as case studies for three reasons. First, Marathon (490 BCE) and Chaironeia (338 BCE) effectively span the period of Classical Greece. Secondly, these battles have different participants: Athenians over Persians at Marathon, Thebans over Spartans at Leuktra, and Macedonians over Thebans at Chaironeia. By focusing on these battles, this project looks at a diverse range of participants, both victorious and defeated. Lastly, these were battles that had lasting impacts in the material and literary record. Archaeologically, there are numerous monuments on each battlefield, as well as many that were dedicated in sanctuaries and in individual cities. Literary records indicate the Athenians repeatedly celebrated their victory at Marathon, whether to bolster their esteem among Greek states or to encourage their own citizenry in their undertaking of empire in the subsequent centuries. Similarly, the victory at Leuktra inspired the Thebans while simultaneously provoking the Spartans and other Greek cities. The project has several conclusions. The commemoration of each battle can be divided into stages, but that the stages are not always discrete. There is variation in the types of commemorations within the stages, dependent on both time and surrounding space. Single commemorations can resonate differently with multiple audiences. The processes within the stage of memory curation lead to the subsequent lapse. The final stage of commemoration for each battle begins with the rediscovery of ancient monuments and continues to this day.