How were the complex political structures created that allowed the emergence of the first Western states, namely the Mycenaean ones?
Michael Kosmopoulos, director of the Archaeological Society's excavations at Iklaina, Messinia, attempted to answer this question during the online lecture "Excavation at Iklaina. New Insights into the Mycenaean Kingdom of Pylos" organized on 2022.
"We live in a world where the institution of the state permeates every aspect of our lives, but it was not always so. The transition from a world without states to one in which the state is the dominant political institution is one of the most fascinating chapters in human history. In Western civilization, this chapter is written in Mycenaean Greece, and the excavations at Iklaina shed new light on the mechanisms that led to its creation. These mechanisms are complex, but we find that the driving force behind the creation of the first states was, unfortunately, war and the violent incorporation of territory by powerful rulers", says Michael Kosmopoulos, professor of Greek archaeology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the United States.
The first excavations at Iklaina - lasting only a few days - were carried out in 1954 by Spyridon Marinatos, who discovered parts of a monumental building he described as a palace, a street and cyclopean walls. Since then, the site remained unexplored until the 1990s, when Professor Georgios Korres, who included the site in Marinatos' list of ancient excavations in need of further research, suggested to M. Kosmopoulos that it be pursued. As a result, the Iklaina Archaeological Programme was established (http://www.iklaina.org/), courtesy of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Messinia and under the auspices of the Archaeological Society.
The excavations at Iklaina revealed an important capital of the Mycenaean kingdom of Pylos, which flourished in the Late Bronze Age (1600 - 1100 BC). In addition to the impressive finds, including the remains of two monumental buildings, the relationship of Iklaina to the Mycenaean kingdom of Pylos, which resulted from the incorporation of territories by the ruler of Ano Eglianos, also known as the "Palace of Nestor", makes the site particularly important. "The historical course of Iklaina shows a continuous flourishing until the incorporation by force by the ruler of the Palace of Nestor. During the four centuries that Iklaina lived, relations between the two cities varied and changed according to economic and political circumstances.", adds the professor.
Before the annexation by the ruler of Ano Eglianos, Iklaina seems to have been an independent capital of a hegemon or state. The monumental buildings date from this phase of the settlement, which was forcibly destroyed in the Late Helladic IIIB Period, that is, between 1300 and 1200 B.C., when the ruler of Ano Eglianos incorporated it into his kingdom. "We can trace its historical path from a simple village at the end of the Middle Bronze Age to a powerful capital at the Mycenaean period. That is, from about 1550 to 1300/1250 BC, Iklaina gradually evolved from the capital of a hegemony to the capital of a state," explains the professor. On the question of whether similar "transitions" took place in other known Mycenaean sites, M. Kosmopoulos notes: "It is difficult to draw general conclusions about other Mycenaean sites because, unfortunately, very few settlements have been systematically excavated. One of the demands of Mycenaean archaeology is the excavation of non-palatial sites in order to compare their historical course with that of the major palatial centers.".
The excavations at Iklaina revealed two monumental buildings: a magnificent two- or three-story building complex with three wings built around a courtyard - one wing built on a cyclopean structure - and a monumental building to the east of the first, also built with such stones and posts. Between them was a paved square and an open-air sanctuary, while around them there is the settlement with houses and workshops. In the 3D rendering published on the research project's website (https://iklaina.wordpress.com/2021/11/25/computer-reconstruction-of-the-iklaina-site/), both the buildings and the fresco representations are impressive, based on the fragments found on site. The professor explains why these architectural remains cannot be described as palatial: "From an architectural point of view, I would not call this site a palace center, since this term is associated with a specific architectural type and is used for the great centers at the end of the Mycenaean period, when Iklaina was inhabited by the ruler of Nestor's palace and its monumental buildings were destroyed. Iklaina has unique architectural features that, while showing that it was a powerful capital for most of its history, make it difficult to classify it as a palatial center."
In the summer of 2010, news of the discovery of a Linear B clay tablet at Iklaina with product lists on one side and men's names on the other, dating from before the destruction of Late Helladic IIIB, got known in the whole world as the "oldest Linear B clay tablet in Europe''. However, the value of the find lies not only in its age, but also in the fact that it was discovered. "A unique sign was found in Iklaina, dated to between 1400 and 1300 BC. Although I have heard in the media that it is called the oldest Linear B sign in Europe, I do not think this is true because there are very likely other signs from the same period. And, quite honestly, it doesn't even matter if it is the oldest or not.
What is important is that it reveals the existence of a state bureaucracy 100-150 years before the signs of Nestor's Palace, that is, we have evidence that a state bureaucracy was created earlier than we previously thought", stresses M. Kosmopoulos, professor and holder of the Endowed Chair of Greek Studies at the University of Missouri-St.Louis. It should be noted that this Chair is one of the first Chairs of Greek Studies in the United States, whose mission is to promote research, teaching and public education on Hellenism and, especially, on the impact of Greek culture on modern society. "The study of the past is not an academic and theoretical issue, detached from today's reality, but a matter of vital importance for the future. It is a valuable tool that allows us, on the one hand, to understand certain general principles that govern human behavior and the processes that govern the development of human societies, and, on the other hand, to understand what is happening in our world today so that we can make good decisions for the future. Issues such as the formation, development, and destruction of states or the impact of violence and war on people continue to affect our lives today. If we do not learn from the mistakes of the past, we are doomed to repeat them", he comments on the importance of archeology and, more broadly, history for our lives.
In addition to continuing the excavation work, Mr. Kosmopoulos has begun the restoration, protection and highlighting of the archeological site, with the ultimate goal of opening it to the public. The excavations at Iklaina are funded by the University of Missouri-St.Louis, the Institute of Aegean Prehistory, the National Geographic Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Science Foundation of the USA.
