Politics of Periodization and the Archaeology of Early Greece

Abstract

Periodization is a fundamental exercise for archaeology and for historical studies in general, aimed primarily at clarity in communication. However, this exercise imposes particular modes of conceptualizing specific periods. An attractive case study for research in the historiographical processes that shape periodization is posed by the period of Greek archaeology extending from the end of the second to the early first millennium B.C.E. This study analyzes the different conceptual baggage of each of the many names used for this period and focuses on the terminological struggle between the Dark Age(s) and the (Early) Iron Age. Ι argue that this struggle was shaped not only by discussions within classics but also by debates in other historical disciplines and developments in the political history of 20th-century Greece. The struggle over the name of the period has served as an arena for the unfolding of broader politicized debates in classics, Greek history, and the archaeology of the Mediterranean. 1 "too many names" in the archaeology of early greece In the first verses of the poem "Too Many Names," Chilean poet Pablo Neruda laments the confusing multiplicity of names that artificially divide the continuum of time, only to proceed to a protest against their rigid and political use as absolute definers: 2 Time cannot be cut with your weary scissors, and all the names of the day are washed out by the waters of night. 1 I am grateful to Jack Davis, Irene Lemos, John Papadopoulos, Dimitris Plantzos, and especially Donald Haggis for their feedback, and to Anthony Snodgrass for commenting on my interpretation of his writings. I am also thankful to Editor-in-Chief Sheila Dillon and the reviewers for the AJA for their suggestions. Cyprian Broodbank and Thames & Hudson kindly permitted the reproduction of fig. 1 from The Making of the Middle Sea. Thanks are also due to Ann-Sofie Diener and Victoria Sabetai for providing me with copies of inaccessible publications. I acknowledge the support of the Semple Classics Fund of the Department of Classics of the University of Cincinnati, and I am thankful to Carol Hershenson for proofreading my text. This article is dedicated to Christina on her first birthday. Translations are my own unless otherwise noted.