Cracking the Code: Symbols, meanings and networks in Early Iron Age Greece; Evidence from the Stamna pottery. The quantitative approach

During my stay at the CHS in Washington I worked on a collaborative project with Dr. Olga Gioulika Christakopoulou. In our joint research we investigated the impact of pottery from a Protogeometric cemetery in Aetolia upon western Greece while, in parallel, contemporary developments in the Aegean and the Mediterranean were taken into consideration. Our major task was to demonstrate how various theoretical perspectives in the interpretation of pottery could be integrated with qualitative and quantitative analysis.

My involvement in the project was triggered by my interest in the role rescue archaeology plays in modern development works, and by a strong belief that GIS applications can function as an indispensable tool for minimizing the loss that modern constructions engender to archaeological strata (Simoni, 2016, 2021). In addition, as the project refers to an excavation that was initiated in the 1990’s, applying a methodology that was not widely available at that time, allowed me to revisit the old finds from a new perspective.

The Stamna pottery comes from the rescue excavation of c. 500 Late Protogeometric burials in Stamna, Aetolia during the construction of a new highway. Here, 709 vessels have been recovered mostly intact, thus constituting one of the largest collections of painted pottery found in a single cemetery of this period in Greece (Christakopoulou Somakou 2009; Christakopoulou 2018). Certain repeated geometric decorative patterns on their surface raise questions regarding their meaning:

• Is the selection of specific geometric ornaments significant?
• Do the size of the cemetery and the quantity of finds provide evidence about a privileged yet unidentified settlement on the NE bank of the Aetolikon lagoon?
• Can we identify hierarchical models through the decorative motifs according to the way a specific community provides the deceased with? How do the motifs allude to the size and structure of the resulting elite-class formation?
• As the settlement of Stamna was remarkably thriving in the era under study, were the decorative motifs the thread of connection that determined the elite boundaries compared with other contemporary sites in the region?

In order to answer the research questions, quantitative analysis with the use of GIS was employed.

Quantifying archaeological data wasn’t planned during excavation. Documentation, including drawings, photos, diaries, and scattered notes, existed in various analogue formats. The unusually large quantity of the Stamna archaeological material (graves, burials, offerings), along with their related records, required a different management. Initially, the existing catalogues were digitized and reclassified for multi-scalar GIS analysis. The use of GIS necessitated condensing vast amounts of information into manageable databases, preserving content while reducing size (Smith et al 2014; Kansa & Kansa, 2021). Spreadsheets became the repository for recording the complexity and diversity of burial plots, tombs, finds, and decorative motifs.

Database compilation was seen as a prerequisite for detecting and processing patterns of statistical significance in GIS. For example, the chi square test was used to test the occurrence of certain decorative motifs on grave vases and only after its statistical significance was confirmed, did we proceed with georeferencing and importing related data in GIS.

Mapping the data from Stamna was implemented at two different scales, that of the cemetery (Fig. 1), and that of a plot (Fig. 2), with plots and graves constituting the units of analysis respectively. Beyond the site of Stamna, distribution maps were drawn with contemporary sites which shared common cultural elements, such as funerary practices, typology of pottery, and vase decoration (Fig. 3). The map, albeit incomplete, shows routes over land and sea. Terrestrial roads were digitized from early 19th c. maps (Carte de la Grèce, 1852). Straight lines emphasize spatial gaps, connect distant sites and represent sea routes.

The steps presented above were necessary to study and try to answer the research questions from a quantitative perspective. The cemetery (Fig. 1) was made up of 25 burial plots stretching for barely over 2 km, dated in the LPG times (900-800 BCE). Neighboring plots constituted bigger burial clusters, 6 in total, c. 500-700m apart. The vast quantity of graves was almost evenly distributed across the space (number ranging between 100-150 per cluster, except for the southernmost “cluster” of which only one pithos was excavated). In all clusters, burial practices entailed inhumations predominantly in pithos, and few cremations in urns, a very expensive practice traditionally attributed to elites (Alexandridou, 2020). Variations in the quantity and type of grave goods across the clusters may echo a stratified settlement, in which certain burial grounds are preferred for depositing the rich and the noble (Pollard, 2021).

A closer look at the largest plot is very illuminating. The so-called Kousaridas’ plot comprised 165 graves layered over time. Here, in the upper level (Fig. 2), which is contemporary with the rest of the excavated cemetery, 8 elite burials formed two distinct groups, North and South, surrounded by 46 graves. The latter contained inhumations, many of them very richly furnished. Their content (weapons, pottery, jewels, etc) was counted. In addition, the quantity of decorative motifs on vases, such as triangles, was calculated, too. Their density across the plot was visualized. The wealthiest graves were located near the cremations. The grave goods that appear to have a closer association with cremations are weapons (predominantly knives, and to a lesser extent, daggers and spearheads) and sympotic vessels, decorated with triangles. On the other hand, when considering the vessels in general, it appears that they were dispersed, forming several small kernels.

Pithos burials were richer than the elite burials. Is what we see a political statement? Is there a lower class which places grave goods in their dead’s tombs to state that they deserve a resting place near the chief/noble? Why are they obsessed with cross-hatched triangles when, elsewhere in the same period, drawings of concentric circles and semicircles on the vases are more popular?

If there was a political statement, it was based on weapons and the use of decorative patterns as symbols which have had a wide distribution in the Aegean world before, during and after the Early Iron Age (Fig. 3).

Analysis on the regional and interregional scale was crucial to identify contact routes extending from Aetolia and across the wider Greek network. Primary contact routes appear to traverse the two gulfs between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnese. Popular decorative motifs were studied regarding their geographical distribution and chronological framework beyond Stamna, across the Mediterranean. These motifs primarily inhabit coastal, insular, or sites with a focus on trade and seafaring. Conversely, their presence inland suggests a longstanding cultural tradition (Klontza-Jaklová, V. 2018). Comparisons with past eras and neighboring areas will help determine if they originated locally or were adopted from elsewhere. Rivers and their respective basins may have aided communication and cultural exchange among riverine settlements (Frisone, 2012; Huy, 2021). This widespread distribution across diverse regions and times underscores the enduring cultural importance of these motifs, fostering intercultural interactions and exchanges.

Mapping burial grounds and associated finds revealed new insights into grave goods and burial practices, suggesting markers of social change at a transitional period between the palatial system of the Late Bronze Age and the polis-state of the archaic period. The next phases of our research will focus on highlighting the social and demographic identity of the people in Stamna and on tracing the routes that brought them to this place and took them afterwards (Donnellan, 2020).

Parts of the collaborative project were presented by Dr Christakopoulou and me at the 89th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in New Orleans (April 17-21, 2024) and at the 30th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Rome (August 28-31, 2024). An article has been written and is currently in press: Christakopoulou G. & Simoni, H. “Stamna’s Pithoi Workshops: Unveiling Pottery Heritage,” in Partida, C. E. & Graml, C. (eds.) Workshops / Ateliers / Werkstaetten: Premises and Processes of Creation in Antiquity. Oxford: Archaeopress. We have also drafted the initial chapters of a book.

During my stay at the CHS in Washington, in parallel with this work, I co-authored with Kostas Papagiannopoulos an article on spatial analysis of Roman centuriation systems in Achaea. Additionally, I led a hybrid round table (May 16, 2024) on “Cultural Heritage Preservation” with participants from the CHS (Spring term research fellows) and the University of Patras (tutors and students of Geology Department).

Residency in a world-renowned academic environment like CHS allowed me to escape from day-to-day activities and to focus on my project. 24/7 access to physical and online resources was fundamental. In addition, I became part of an intellectual community composed of like-minded, dedicated colleagues from all over the world, who are my friends now. I am grateful to CHS and to my co-fellows for this life transforming experience in such an inspiring milieu.