Asine and the Argolid in the Late Helladic III Period

This study evaluates and critiques the traditionally held view that Late Bronze Age society was highly centralised on the Mycenaean palaces, especially in a political and economic sense. In seeking to test whether this is really true of the Late Helladic economy in the Argolid, Birgitta Sjoberg examines evidence for settlement patterns at Asine and the Argive Plain, economic activities and socio-economic information that can be gleaned from tombs. Her conclusion suggests that the picture of Mycenaean palaces as dominant, centralising, redistribution centres can not be confirmed for the Argolid and that a more diverse, decentralised, market-based economic system was more likely.