Content:
The Middle Helladic period (ca. 2000-1700 BCE) on the southern Greek mainland is generally considered a static period of relative poverty and isolation. It was kinship-based and egalitarian, with no monumental architecture or other expressions of wealth, until these societies rapidly transformed into ranked and competitive early Mycenaean polities (ca. 1800-1600 BCE). Recent studies have argued that this interpretation of Middle Helladic Greece is overly simplistic: change did take place, local communities were not disconnected from wider Aegean networks, and, although not visually impressive, a general increase in the durability, quality and complexity of construction of houses has been discerned. In this paper, I explore the notion of household inequality within these pre-Mycenaean communities.
My discussion is based on the comparison of Gini coefficient of a sample of ca. 100 domestic structures from the so-called Early Helladic III – LH I period (ca. 2200-1600 BCE) excavated across the Greek mainland. In particular, I explore the logic that governed the construction of the generally small dwellings that may explain the limited variation among them: is this a reflection of general poverty, the result of social rules that prevent ostentatious gestures, little community cooperation, small households, landscape limitations, or economic activities outside instead of inside the dwelling? Can house sizes in this time and place be taken as a solid indicator of household wealth?
Keywords:
Inequality, Household, Bronze Age Greece, Gini coefficient, Wealth