Traditionalism and Cooperation as Foundations for the Construction and Maintenance of Social Institutions at Early Bronze Age Mochlos, East Crete, Greece: A Ceramic Case Study

Abstract

Through an investigation of the ceramics from the site of Mochlos, East Crete, Greece, this dissertation seeks to understand how Early Bronze Age Eurasian communities constructed and maintained socioeconomic institutions. Based on this research, I propose that the Early Bronze Age Mochlos community utilized social memory as a tool to generate cooperative institutions and maintain group cohesion. These institutions are reflected in the household assemblages through conformity to Western Anatolian and Cycladic pottery, textile, and metallurgical traditions and the adoption of Early and Middle Prepalatial wares from the Mirabello and the South Coast near Ierapetra. This balance created a uniquely Mochlosian culture that reinforced cooperative institutions by simultaneously connecting the community to its past and its present, both in their daily lives and through ceremonial activities in the cemetery. In the Late Prepalatial Period, however, Mochlos intensified their consumption of imported Mirabello wares and decreased their reliance on locally produced traditional pottery. This change in preference indicates a shift from the cooperative institutions of the Early and Middle Prepalatial period toward more individualistic, competitive institutions at Mochlos. This transition eroded group cohesion at Mochlos and may explain the decline in population that is evident at the beginning of the Protopalatial period.