University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, TN 37916-3801)
Aleydis M. Van de Moortel (Project Director: November 2009 to May 2016)
RZ-51162-10
Collaborative Research
Research Programs
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[Grant products]
Totals:
$100,000 (approved)
$100,000 (awarded)
Grant period:
7/1/2010 – 6/30/2013
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Mitrou Archaeological Project
Documentation and analysis of the archaeological site at Mitrou, Greece, to understand the development and disintegration of the first state-level society on the European continent. (36 months)
The prehistoric site of Mitrou in central Greece was excavated in 2004-2008, and a first study season was held in 2009. Funding is sought for three more years of study in preparation for publication. Our main goals are to study the formative and fully developed stages of the Late Bronze Age Mycenaean palatial society--the first state-level society that appeared on the European continent--as well as to investigate its disintegration and reversion to a village-level society at the transition from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. Mitrou provides rare and excellent opportunities for our investigations, having considerable remains from these periods. It has the earliest elite complexes and organized settlement of the Late Bronze Age mainland. It is also one of a few settlements in Greece that was never abandoned at the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition. Our research relates to two fundamental issues in social archaeology: the rise and collapse of state-level societies.
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