-Problem addressed:
What is it like to live like common people in a Kingdom? This was the most important research question of the project EcoNoMy, carried out by Dr Efrossini Vika in 2019-2022, funded by the European Commission.
The archaeology of Greece in the Late Bronze Age is dominated by the glory of the illustrious Mycenaean palaces and the rich warrior burials. The role of the non-elites remains at large an enigma, although recent research suggests that their contribution to the economy was much more critical than previously thought.
-Objectives:
The project applied a novel combination of the most advanced analytical techniques in reconstructing subsistence in the past, in order to shift the attention from elite burials to non-elite lifeways.
By comparing, contrasting, and integrating isotope analyses from bulk collagen and specific collagen aminoacids, ZooMS, proteomics, and organic residue analyses, the project has created a new suite of methodological applications, that overcomes the limitations of the previous approaches and creates a new avenue in the pursuit of subsistence studies.
-Conclusions:
By applying this new, combined analytical protocol for the first time, the project reconstructed in unprecedented detail the economy of peripheral societies, in particular the economic activities reflected in subsistence practices. The level of detail provided demonstrated that it is methodologically possible to overcome the limitations imposed by previous techniques. The results of this project form the largest dataset for the Late Bronze Age in Greece to-date, and will serve as the basis for all future studies. In addition to the methodological advancements, the project successfully shifted the archaeological attention from the elites to the peripheral communities and will revolutionise the way archaeologists think about local economies in the Bronze Age.
-Importance for archaeology and society:
It is well established that the reconstruction of ancient diets is the most efficient way to understand the exploitation of natural resources, inequalities in access to food-producing technologies, and lifestyle hierarchies. The aim of the project was to reconstruct the local subsistence economies in non-palatial regions, in order to approach their socio-economic system that did not lead to palatial development, but yet created a sustained power for its participants to be able to negotiate with the elites. Thus, the objective was to offer an alternative narrative, one that comprehends the role of non-elite polities in the creation of social hierarchies in the Late Bronze Age. In a wider frame, the project resonates with issues relevant in present times. Food is part of our collective intangible heritage. The results of this project extend the transmission of knowledge in time, demonstrating within diachronicity the amphidromous relationship between humans and nature, a common human intellectual tradition, that operates regardless of social systems. As the current circumstances across Europe raise awareness around the sustainability of local economies, a project that provides evidence on the evolution of communities, their development and thriving, can provide a strong anchor for initiatives that support a more social view of development.
