The Politics of Storage: Storage and Sociopolitical Complexity in Neopalatial Crete

by Kostandinos S. Christakis

Overview

The storage of staples and its importance for the functioning of Cretan Bronze Age society has become an active topic of debate. This study reassesses the intrinsic relationship between storage and sociopolitical complexity by combining testimonies on the storage of staples from palatial, nonpalatial elite, and ordinary domestic contexts dated to the LM I period. The main goals are (1) to examine a wide range of information concerned with the storage of staples; (2) to develop a comprehensive model to explain how storage strategies operate within LM I societies; and (3) to infer sociopolitical and socio-economic levels of interaction among the different social sectors operating within LM I societies (mainly LM IB societies).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781931534505
Publisher:	INSTAP Academic Press
Publication date:	08/10/2008
Series:	Prehistory Monographs , #25
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction
1. From Storage Implements to Subsistence Autarkies: A Framework for Interpreting the Archaeological Record
2. Palatial Storage Practices
3. Domestic and Nonpalatial Elite Storerooms Described
4. Storage Behaviors and Subsistence Autarkies in the Nonpalatial Sector of LM I Societies
5. Storage and Sociopolitical Dynamics in LM I State Societies.

Editorial Reviews

The Politics of Storage: Storage and Sociopolitical Complexity in Neopalatial Crete, offers a thorough evaluation and analysis of the role pithoi and storage in Neopalatial Crete...This analysis offers a number of new insights into the workings of the Neopalatial economy, and even its demise.'

Mouseion, 2009 - R. Angus K. Smith