Fine Gray-Burnished Pottery of the Early Helladic III Period the Ancestry of Gray Minyan

Mainland Cosmopolitanism and the Rise of Personal Prestige: New Evidence From the Coastal Early Helladic Town of Helike, North-West Peloponnese, Greece

“…On an initial level, the drinking sets, which show a marked increase in Helike by the earliest EH III, follow the noticeable growth trend attested elsewhere in the Aegean (Wilson 1999; Day and Wilson 2004, 48; Rutter 2008, 2012). More specifically, beyond their local origin of manufacture, the pots show very close stylistic similarities to the material revealed in the contemporaneous settlement of Aegina-Kolonna (phases D and E) in particular (Gauss and Smetana 2003; 2007, 457 fig.…”

“…The most striking material evidence for a widely shared culture lies in the adoption of the fashion for convivial gatherings and feasting. Already attested as an explosion of pottery features (serving and drinking ware) by EH II (Pullen 2008; Rutter 2008, 2012) and the stage of ‘Kastri Group/Lefkandi I’ phase which was distributed over much of the Aegean, this fashion for house-based ritual performances plays an important role in the rise of interpersonal partnerships and competition which assimilated, reinforced and overlapped with all the other elements of value: long-distance connections, openness across personal and socially demarcated boundaries, prestige and status display in a house and town context, skilled craftsmanship and the rise of institutionalisation through the adoption of symbolism. Cups for drinking acquired a vital personal, social and ritual role which culminated in the palatial rituals within less than a millennium.…”

“…The Helike tableware (cups, bowls and tankards) of the EH III, exhibiting angular outlines together with dark burnished surfaces, shares the strong metallic fashion which is one of the typical aesthetic features introduced in the period. At other sites, the stylistic trend has been discussed as indirect evidence of the widespread influence from the production and use of metallic tools, containers and accessories (Rutter 1983), whose imitation in clay may have increased the prestige and display value of pottery containers. Even more, the metallic appearance of clay cups and containers demonstrates the link between drinking and serving habits with the distribution of metals and, possibly, suggests the orientalising origin of both (Rutter 2008).…”

“…At other sites, the stylistic trend has been discussed as indirect evidence of the widespread influence from the production and use of metallic tools, containers and accessories (Rutter 1983), whose imitation in clay may have increased the prestige and display value of pottery containers. Even more, the metallic appearance of clay cups and containers demonstrates the link between drinking and serving habits with the distribution of metals and, possibly, suggests the orientalising origin of both (Rutter 2008). This link, also evident in EH III Helike, further supports the town's predilection for the drinking culture as a connotation of prestige and display.…”

When specialists collide: archaeology and Indo-European linguistics

“…Gamkrelidze & Ivanov have the proto-Greeks migrating across Anatolia after proto-Anatolians had settled there and bring them into Greece via the Troad (1985b: 52-6). This utilizes a now abandoned theory about the origin of Grey Minyan pottery and conflicts with current views about the development of Greek into dialects and the nature of the Greeks' first entry into western Anatolia (as Mycenaean colonists: Mellaart 1969;French 1973;Howell 1973;Rutter 1983;Guterbock & Mellink 1983;Hainsworth 1982: 856-8;D'iakonov 1985: 154-6;Crossland 1988Crossland : 157-9, 1701 In view of such difficulties some version of Marija Gimbutas' reconstruction seems the most satisfactory (1988: 455-6). In Neolithic times, as well as later, immigrants who achieved 'Blite' status might well have introduced a new language into an area without significantly changing its material culture (Renfrew 1988: 439;Anthony & Wailes 1988: 443).…”