Communication and trade at Tegea in the Bronze age

Abstract

Communication is a central part of any discussion of the Aegean Bronze Age and the development of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations. Movement and communication is always present in human society. The archaeological material from the Tegean Mountain plain indicates the importance of inland communication on the Peloponnese during the Bronze Age. I here look at the settlement structure at the Tegean plain in the Bronze Age, and its relation to possible routes of communication and trade. By discussing changes in settlement pattern, land use, and sacred space my aim is to trace possible changes in the local and regional communication networks in this area. During the EH communication and trade networks at Tegea seems primarily to have had a local focus, with some connection to the more developed trade nodes in the Gulf of Argos. A strong Minoan influenced trade network is also observed in Tegea from the MN and early LH with Analipsis and its strong connection to Laconia. The abandonment of Analipsis correlates with changes in the communication patterns due to a strong Mycenaean culture in the Argolid by the end of LH. The changes observed in the communication network suggest that Tegea, with its central location on the Peloponnese, could be seen as an interjection for all inland communication.