New Accelerator Mass Spectrometry C-14 Dates From The Mycenaean Site Of Iklaina

Although the ceramic phases and relative chronology of the Mycenaean (or "Late Helladic" abbr. LH) period on the Greek mainland are well established, there is ongoing disagreement regarding the relationship between the ceramic phases and their associated calendar dates. Part of the problem is the small number of radiocarbon dates from Mycenaean sites. In this article, we publish a set of 15 new AMS radiocarbon dates from the Mycenaean site of Iklaina, in southwestern Greece. The resulting date ranges allow us to establish an absolute chronology for major stages in the life of the Iklaina settlement and the associated relative chronology based on ceramic phases. In general, the Iklaina dates show a better fit with the High Chronology for the early Mycenaean period. Specifically, the transition from the Middle to Late Helladic, at the beginning of the Mycenaean period, is placed between the end of the 19th c. and the beginning of the 17th c. BC. The LH II period, when large-scale architecture appears at Iklaina for the first time, spans the 17th century BC and the LH IIIA1 period goes into the 15th century. None of the analyzed samples were recovered from secure LH IIIA2 deposits, so they do not affect the chronology of this period. However, the samples from the destruction of the monumental buildings, which ceramically is placed in the LH IIIB period, provide a general latest use date in the 13th century. Given the possibility that this destruction marks the annexation of Iklaina by the Palace of Nestor and the unification of the Pylian state, this becomes an important chronological marker for the formation of this state. It also indicates a very short life-span for this state, since its destruction is traditionally dated to ca. 1200 BCE.