Ancient Greece

Animal remains have long been an underutilized resource in the archaeology of Mycenae, overshadowed by the elite burials and high-value artifacts that dominated early excavations from Schliemann onward. This paper presents recent advances in the faunal study of Petsas House, an industrial-domestic complex at Mycenae, drawing on a assemblage of over 25,000 identified specimens recovered from a large well in the building. Using a combination of taphonomic, demographic, and isotopic analyses, the authors examine the role of cattle in the local economy, finding that while cattle were less...

Petsas House, the 14thc BCE building complex in Mycenae’s settlement, may serve as a case study for the socio-economic role/s of potters and pottery production, in this case on an almost industrial scale, within a domestic context during the palatial period. Pottery, its production, distribution, and consumption can give information on its role in the economy. Evidence from the workshop context may also provide evidence for the social roles of potters and the pottery they produced. Since the 2007 Langford conference and its publication in 2010, Petsas House has been interpreted as an...