DIET, HEALTH AND SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION IN MIDDLE HELLADIC

ASINE: a bioarchaeological view

Anne Ingvarsson-Sundström, Sofia Voutsaki, Eleni Milka

Introduction

The ancient site of Asine, located on the Kastraki promontory, was excavated by a

Swedish team between 1922 and 1930.1 The field work revealed the existence of

considerable habitations of the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age. Excavations

extended to the Barbouna hill to the northwest, where the settlement expanded towards

the end of the Middle Bronze Age. In the 1970s excavations conducted to the east of

Kastraki revealed the East Cemetery, a MH to early LH burial mound surrounded by

graves, as well as further houses and graves on the lower slopes of the Barbouna.2

Table 1. Periods of use of the different burial areas in AsineMH I MH II MH III LH I LH II LH IIIA

Kastraki X X X ? - -East Cemetery - X X X X ?Barbouna - - X X - -

The MH period is thus attested in all three areas investigated in the site of Asine

(Figure 1).3 However, the three areas were not used for burial throughout the period.

In MH I-MH II graves are cut in between the Kastraki houses, while at some point,

probably in MH II, the extramural East Cemetery (including the tumulus) comes into

use.4 In MH III-LH I, graves are also opened amidst disused houses on Barbouna. In

Kastraki ‘intramural’ burial continues during the last phases of the MH period, but

1 Frödin & Persson 1938.

2 Dietz 1980; Dietz 1982; Hägg and Hägg 1973; Nordquist 1987; Nordquist n.d.a;

Nordquist n.d.b.

3 Nordquist 1987.

4 Here we follow the revised dating of the tumulus, based on the results of the

radiocarbon analysis and a careful re-examination of the stratigraphy; see Voutsaki,

Dietz & Nijboer 2010.

1

declines during the early Mycenaean period. The East Cemetery remains in use

probably into LH II. We see therefore, that the three burial areas overlap in the last

phases of the MH and the early LH period (Table 1).

Fortunately, both the human and animal remains from Asine have been studied,

though with varying intensity. At least 108 of the 110 graves at Kastraki contained

skeletal remains. These were only partly studied by Fürst and Angel, and

unfortunately most of this material is now lost.5 However, bones from both humans

and animals excavated during the 1926 season were transported to Sweden among

other finds from the excavation.6 The animal bones found in MH and LH contexts

have been studied by Moberg Nilsson.7 In an earlier study, Ingvarsson-Sundström

examined skeletal remains of children (and a few adults) found in MH contexts, some

of which could be assigned to the published graves.8 The human remains from the

East Cemetery and Barbouna were studied by Angel in the 1970’s and have recently

been re-examined by Ingvarsson-Sundström for the MH Argolid Project.9

Asine therefore provides us with an excellent opportunity to explore whether the

use of different burial areas between MH II and LH I was dictated by social reasons,

and whether variation in the mortuary record corresponds to differences in diet and

health. This will be achieved by integrating mortuary, osteological and

zooarchaeological data, but also the evidence from the well documented houses. Even

if the study sample may be too small and fragmentary to provide convincing answers

to the questions about social differentiation at a local level, we believe that careful

contextual analyses of individual sites are indispensable for interpretations of cultural

and social change at a regional level.

5 Fürst 1930; Angel 1982.

6 Nordquist & Hägg 1996.7 Moberg Nilsson 1996, 1997. Unfortunately, only a minor part of the animal remains

have been divided according to location in the settlement (i.e. the bones from terrace

III). Thus, it was not possible to discuss the animal bones at the level of the household.

8 Ingvarsson-Sundström 2008.

9 Angel 1982; Ingvarsson-Sundström in Voutsaki et al. 2006, 110-112; Ingvarsson-

Sundström in Voutsaki et al. 2007, 73-76; Voutsaki, Ingvarsson-Sundström & Dietz

(in press).

2

Social differentiation and the mortuary record

The first question we need to address is: How can we reconstruct social differentiation

on the basis of the mortuary record? Recent theoretical debates in mortuary studies

have cast doubt on the idea that energy expenditure or wealth deposited in graves can

be directly equated with social status held in life.10 It has been convincingly argued

that mortuary ritual does not simply reflect, but also shapes social relations.11

Therefore we should not automatically attribute differences between graves, or burial

groups to social differences, and certainly not conceive these as rigid divisions in a

static social system. One could see them rather as expressing social aspirations and

claims by different social groups who attempt to negotiate their position in the social

landscape, and as remnants of past ritual practices.

The next question is: How can we assess and reconstruct variation in the

mortuary record? The contextual approach in mortuary studies has made some specific

methodological suggestions. We have to examine all aspects of the mortuary record:

the location of the cemetery; the demographic composition, diet and health status of

the burial group; the construction, size and complexity of the grave; the disposal of the

body and the accompanying rites; the diversity, quantity and quality of the grave goods

– and we need to examine if differentiation along all these dimensions correlates or

not. Finally, we need to keep in mind that social status is only one dimension of

personal identity, and that burial treatment may also depend on age, gender, kinship

position, or other characteristics of the deceased.

However, correlating all the different aspects of the mortuary evidence is not

sufficient, precisely because the mortuary ritual may distort, exaggerate or mask social

differences. We also need to examine mortuary variation against the settlement record,

i.e. against differentiation between houses in terms of location, size, construction, lay-

out, or the diversity of economic activities. Despite problems caused by poor

preservation or post-depositional processes,12 comparing the situation in the domestic

10 I.a. Hodder 1982. For a general discussion on the development of mortuary studies

in archaeology see Parker Pearson 1999 and Knüsel 2010 on the relationship between

mortuary analysis and bioarchaeology.

11 Morris 1992, 1-30.

12 Allison 1999.

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and mortuary sphere will allow us to reach safer conclusions on the extent of

differentiation within a community.

But we still need to go one step further: We need to do more than reconstruct

the extent of differentiation in social life; we also need to understand the underlying

causes of differentiation. Social differentiation is often seen as arising from differences

in subsistence and productive potential. A number of ethnohistorical and

bioarchaeological studies indicate that socioeconomic inequalities may be connected

with differential access to nutritional resources which is sometimes reflected in the diet

and health status of the population.13 But the causal connection between social

inequality and productive potential is more complex than it appears. For instance, in a

society that is largely organized along kinship lines, where status is inherited and

defined by kinship position, productive potential will depend on kinship (hence social)

position rather than the other way around.

We therefore have a whole series of interconnected questions we need to address:

o Can differences in mortuary practices be connected with social status?

o Does differential burial treatment correspond to nutritional or health related

differences of the buried individuals or groups?

o Is this picture of emerging social differentiation confirmed by the settlement

record? Is there, for instance, evidence for increasing storage capacity, or for

engagement with more intensive economic activities in specific households?

o Finally, does the evidence from the animal bones tell us something about

changing economic strategies?

A bioarchaeological approach with integration of various types of data (e.g.

palaeopathological, palaeodemographical, archaeological, zooarchaeological and

biochemistry) makes it possible to deduce important information about the connection

between, and implications of subsistence strategies, disease and social structure in MH

and early LH Asine.

Indications of health and diet from skeletons

Adequate nutrition during infancy and childhood is crucial for growth, physiological

and behavioural development. Malnutrition during this critical period contributes to

13 E.g. Danforth 1999; Larsen 1997, 6-63, esp. 14, 50; Steckel 2008.

4

childhood morbidity and mortality and may have long-term consequences for the

overall health status in adolescence and adulthood.14 However, osteological evidence

of nutritionally related health problems is often either unspecific in nature or non-

existent: malnutrition acts synergistically with many diseases which are not by

themselves regarded as nutritionally related and/or that are not skeletally visible. 15

Furthermore, malnutrition lowers the immune response and may predispose the

individual to lethal infections before the skeleton becomes involved.16

As emphasized by Robb, it is seldom fruitful to seek for a simple correspondence

between osteological stress indicators and social status based on mortuary differences

because such a correlation rests on a number of more or less complex preconditions.17

For instance, it must be possible to identify hierarchical social groups and they must

differ significantly in lifestyle. Thus, the incomplete information about health and diet

obtained from skeletal material cannot be used independently of other evidence to test

hypotheses about social organization.

In the Asine material there are also other important limitations that may bias the

interpretation: the sample size is very small and the skeletons are poorly preserved.

Further, there is an uneven representation of age and sex groups between cemeteries

and chronological periods.18 Despite these difficulties, cemetery demography, skeletal

stress indicators and other skeletal lesions provide important information about health

during different periods of the life course. In addition, the relative importance of plant

and animal based foods in the diet, as well as breastfeeding practices may be

approached through stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of the skeletons. In order to

obtain information about health and nutrition at Asine the following indications will be

considered:

Childhood: Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH); Cribra orbitalia (CO);

long bone growth; adult stature; diet (stable nitrogen and carbon isotope

analysis).

14 Goodman & Armelagos 1989.

15 Newell Morris 1997.

16 Wood et al. 1992.

17 Robb et al. 2001.

18 The skeletons have been determined to age and sex using the morphological criteria

and the methods presented in Buikstra & Ubelaker (1994).

5

Adulthood: Caries, ante mortem tooth loss (AMTL) and diet (stable

nitrogen and carbon isotope analysis).

Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) and Cribra orbitalia are commonly regarded as non-

specific indicators of physiological stress during childhood and they are frequent

findings in many archaeological populations. LEH is seen as horizontal lines or

horizontally distributed pits or in tooth crowns which provide a permanent record of

periods of disrupted enamel formation.19 Although LEH may result from a large

number of different stressors malnutrition and infectious disease are often considered

to be among the most influential.20

Cribra orbitalia (CO) show as pitting on the superior wall of the orbits. CO has

been regarded as evidence of nutritionally related anaemia (and in some cases genetic

types) or as resulting from diseases such as scurvy or a combination of infections,

unsanitary living conditions with a high parasitic load and nutritional deficiencies.21 In

palaeopathological studies it is often pointed out that CO may result from a complex

synergistic relationship between many different factors difficult to separate. Regardless

of the original cause of the lesions, some type of health problems during childhood is

often regarded as implicit in the different types of aetiologies proposed for the lesion,

because active lesions are almost never found in adults.22

Subadult growth of the long bones and adult stature are often used as indicators of

environmental factors such as nutritional status and standard of living during

childhood, even if genetic factors are also influential. An interaction between

malnutrition and infection during childhood has been considered to be of predominant

importance for growth faltering and short adult stature.23

Indicators of oral health e.g. caries and ante mortem tooth loss (AMTL) are related

to different modes of subsistence and variation in diet: caries is often associated with a

19 Goodman & Armelagos 1988.

20 Goodman & Rose 1990, 1991.

21 E.g. Angel 1966; Stuart-Macadam, 1985; Walker et al. 2009; Fairgrieve & Molto

2000; Stavropodi et al. 2009; Wapler, Crubézy & Schultz 2004; Keenleyside &

Panayotova 2006.

22 Stuart-Macadam 1985.

23 King & Ulijaszek 1999; Gunnell, Rogers & Dieppe 2001.

6

diet rich in carbohydrates and AMTL is related to caries and to other factors such as

heavy dental wear and periodontal disease.24

Another, more direct way to approach the palaeodiet is through analysis of stable

isotopes of the human skeleton. The measurement of stable carbon and nitrogen

isotopes (expressed as δ13C and δ15N values) provides information on the sources of

dietary protein, i.e. if the protein derives mostly from terrestrial, marine or freshwater

resources.25 Since the nitrogen isotopes indicate the trophic level of the consumer it is

also possible to assess breastfeeding patterns: a breastfed child shows higher values

than its mother and when weaning starts the values gradually decrease.26

Mortuary practices, health and social differentiation in MH – early LH Asine27

Our analysis will be carried out in two stages: First, we will compare the (few) early

phase graves of the East Cemetery with those found in Kastraki. Then, we will

compare the late phase graves attested at all three cemeteries. Settlement remains and

animal bones will also be discussed in addition to the mortuary evidence from the two

broad phases.

The early phase (MH I – MH II )

Only two East Cemetery graves can be dated with certainty to this earlier phase: a

pithos burial and a cist grave. Two other graves, however (once more a pithos and a

cist), may also belong to this phase. Interestingly, the two pithos burials in the East

Cemetery are double adult (and juvenile and adult) burials - something fairly

exceptional in this early period. No pits are found in this burial group. In contrast, the

majority of MH I – MH II graves in Kastraki are simple pits, many of which contain

24 Larsen 1997, 64-78.

25 Schoeninger 1995

26 Herring, Saunders & Katzenberg 1998

27 The discussion is partly based on the analysis carried out by E. Milka (Milka 2006;

Milka n.d.) though the conclusions reached here differ in certain respects.

7

neonates. No pithoi are found in Kastraki, and (smaller) jar burials are rare,28 used

exclusively for single sub-adult burials.

Only one among the early East Cemetery graves contained any offerings. However,

the four vases from one of the pithos double burials are rather exceptional during a

period where most graves are unfurnished. Indeed, a much smaller proportion of

graves in Kastraki received any offerings.29

Let us now examine the human remains: Even if the sample size is small, it can be

noticed that adults dominate at both cemeteries and that neonates are completely

missing at the East Cemetery (Figure 2).30

Table 2. Indications of health and diet in the East Cemetery and Kastraki. Early Phase (MH I-II). Number of individuals affected/number of individuals observable, diet = stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values. A=adult, J=juvenile.

  East Cemetery KastrakiChildhoodCribra orbitalia 2/2 –Enamel hypoplasia 3/4 1/5Children short for age 0/1 1/3Mean adult stature – 165.9 cm (n=2)Diet (δ13C: δ15N ) ‰ -18.9: 8.9 (n=1) –

AdulthoodCaries 1/2 –Ante mortem tooth loss 2/2 –

Diet (δ13C: δ15N ) ‰ A: -19.1:10.3 (n=1) J: -19.1:9.8 (n=1) –

Do we have evidence for differences in nutritional related disease or differences in diet

between cemetery populations? If we look at the few observations on diet and

palaeopathology (Table 2), here expressed as individual counts31 to facilitate a

comparison between graves and skeletons, some observations can be made:

28 2-3 out of 34 early MH graves: Milka n.d.

29 Only 4 out of 34 graves contained one single vase: Milka n.d.30 The four adult age groups used in the MH Argolid Project (Young adult 18-30

years, Prime adult 30-40 years, Mature adult 40-50 years and Old adult + 50 years )

have been merged into two age groups (18-40 and +40 years of age) because of the

varying and poorly preserved criteria for age determinations in the Asine skeletons.31 Only individuals who could be observed for the studied lesion have been included.

8

Health and diet differences in childhood: Evidence of childhood stress is found

at both cemeteries. The diet of a child (about 10 years of age) shows slightly

lower protein consumption in comparison to the mean adult values for the total

MH Asine sample (n=10), -19.4 ± 0.5 ‰ (δ13C) and 9.1 ± 0.7 ‰ (δ15N). The

mean adult male stature is comparable with the BA average (165.6 cm).32

Health and diet differences during adulthood: The stable isotope analysis shows

a heavy reliance on C3 terrestrial foods (and it should be mentioned that this

applies in general to the total MH assemblage where we have results from 19

individuals).33 The diet of the adult and juvenile buried in a pithos at the East

Cemetery seem to have contained quite substantial amounts of animal protein

when compared to the animal values from Lerna, unfortunately comparative

animal values from Asine is presently lacking.34 The adult has nevertheless

evidence of both caries and tooth loss.

It is thus evident that the limited osteological and chemical data at hand give us few

possibilities to actually compare the health and diet of the two populations. Evidence

of intermittent periods of childhood stress is found in individuals at both cemeteries.

The character of the cemeteries and graves, however, show clearer evidence for

differentiation between Kastraki and the East Cemetery, although the settlement

evidence does not confirm this. The analysis of the MH I - MH II houses in Asine 35

has revealed no differences in size, lay-out, storage capacity, or in the diversity of

work activities or the quantity of manufactured items or imports across the

settlement.36

32 Angel 1982. The mean adult stature is based on femur length and only males had this

bone complete enough enable measurements to be taken.

33 Ingvarsson-Sundström, Richards & Voutsaki 2009.

34 Triantaphyllou et al. 2008.

35 Voutsaki (in press).

36 A conclusion already reached by Nordquist 1987, 90.

9

Evidence for the utilization of animal resources at Asine37 can be discerned

from composition of the animal bone assemblage, even if only a crude division in MH

and LH assemblages is available.

During the MH period bones of pigs dominate the material which makes it likely

that it was the most numerous animal at Asine; young piglets as well as adult animals

seem to have been a source of meat (Fig. 3). Approximately one fourth of the stock

was slaughtered during their first year but a majority were kept for 2-3 years. Second

in abundance is the sheep/goat category (24% of the material), most animals were

probably kept for milk and wool as indicated by the high slaughter age (at or after 4

years of age). Cattle bones make up one fifth of the material, less than 1% from

animals younger than 12-18 months and almost 30% are from animals older than 24-30

months. Less than 8% of the assemblage comes from wild animals, mainly red deer.

To conclude on the MH I–II period: The settlement evidence shows no

indication of a differentiation among houses. In contrast, the mortuary evidence

indicates that certain groups or individuals began to demarcate themselves from the

rest of the community: The establishment of a formal cemetery at a distance from the

graves in the settlement, the presence of adult and juvenile pithos burials and

indications that the diet of at least two of these individuals were largely based on

animal protein is certainly worthy of attention. Interestingly, the animal bone data

which indicate a dominance of pigs most likely kept for meat agree well with the

chemical data pointing to a diet rich in animal protein. Evidence of childhood stress is

found at both cemeteries as well as oral health problems in adults in the East

Cemetery.

The late phase (MH III – LH I)

37 All data on the animal bones derive from Katrin Moberg Nilsson’s analysis of the

faunal material excavated at Kastraki in 1926. The result of this analysis has been

presented in a seminar paper (22 October 1997) at the Department of Classical

Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Uppsala, a smaller part of the

material has been published in a short article (Moberg Nilsson 1996). The faunal

material from 1926 is currently kept in the magazine of Uppsala University.

10

Only cists (and one pit) are found in the East Cemetery in this phase. As we can see in

table 3, the percentage of cists found in the East Cemetery is higher than that found in

Barbouna or in Kastraki.38 The only pit in the tumulus, belonged to an adult man and

contained a bronze knife and a golden ear-ring. No burial pithoi are found in the East

Cemetery in this period. In contrast, jar burials are still found among the Kastraki

graves.

Table 3. Types of graves used in MH III–LH I Asine

East Cemetery Kastraki BarbounaPits 1 11 5Cists 10 8 10Jar burials 0 2 0Pithos burials

0 0 0

Single burials represent the norm in all three burial grounds. However, some double

burials are attested, the majority of which are found in the East Cemetery. On the other

hand, the new practice introduced in this period, the re-use of graves and the secondary

treatment of earlier burials, is only attested in one grave in Barbouna.39

Table 4. Numbers of ceramic and non-ceramic offerings in the three areas in MH III – LH I

Number of MH III – LH I graves

Graves with offerings

Number of vases

Number of non-ceramic offerings

Kastraki 2140 9 12 7 (5 bronze)Barbouna 16 8 18 8 (3 bronze)East Cemetery

10 or 11 5 22 5 (4 bronze, 2 gold)

38 Of course, pit graves are mainly used during this period for sub-adults, who are

usually buried in graves among houses (Milka n.d.).

39 It should be noted, however, that both in the East Cemetery and Barbouna bones

from additional individuals was occasionally found in some graves (Ingvarsson-

Sundström n.d.).

40 Here only the graves certainly dated are included.

11

In all three burial grounds a general increase in the proportion of graves containing

offerings can be observed (Table 4). However, the percentage of graves with offerings

was higher in the East Cemetery and in Barbouna than in Kastraki. In terms of quantity

and diversity, however, the East Cemetery presents a more complex assemblage than

Barbouna. Finally, only the East Cemetery contains golden objects (golden diadem,

golden earring). It should be pointed out, however, that the East Cemetery contains

quite a few unfurnished graves in this period.

If we look at the age distribution in the cemeteries, the adult overrepresentation

at the East Cemetery persists, whereas there is an almost equal proportion of neonates

and adults at Kastraki and Barbouna (Figure 2). It can be noted, however, that in this

phase one neonate was actually buried at the East Cemetery. Males dominate at all

three cemeteries, although the sex determinations (as well as the age determinations of

adults) in several cases rest on few and poorly preserved criteria (Table 5).

Table 5. Sex distribution in the East Cemetery, Kastraki and Barbouna.

East Cemetery Kastraki BarbounaFemales 3 2 2Males 4 4 4No sex determination 2 0 1Total 9 6 7

Turning now to the evidence for inter cemetery differences in health and diet (Table 6),

the following can be observed:

Health and diet differences in childhood: Evidence of childhood stress is still

found at all three cemeteries and no differences between them can be discerned.

The stable isotope values indicate that children were given breast-milk. The

mean adult male stature is still comparable with the BA mean at all three

cemeteries.

Health and diet differences in adulthood: There is no discernable difference in

the oral health of adults, but the animal protein component in diet of the East

Cemetery adults is still quite substantial (esp. regarding females and unsexed

individuals). In contrast, the male at Barbouna (the only adult which gave

results in the stable isotope analysis) show slightly lower nitrogen value than

the mean male value from the East Cemetery. It should be mentioned, however,

12

that the male from the pit burial (containing a golden earring among other

things), show the lowest nitrogen value of the whole Asine sample, suggestive

of a mainly plant based diet.41 But on the other hand, in the East Cemetery the

two adults buried in cist graves containing prestige items show slightly higher

nitrogen values, and thus a diet with more animal protein, in comparison with

the East Cemetery mean.

Table 6. Indications of health and diet in the East Cemetery, Kastraki and Barbouna. Late Phase (MH III-LHII). Number of individuals affected/number of individuals observable, diet = stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values.

East Cemetery Kastraki BarbounaChildhoodCribra orbitalia 3/4 – 1/9Enamel hypolasia 2/4 2/3 5/6Short for age 1/1 1/2 0/2Mean adult stature 165.6 cm (3) 166.3 cm (2) 167.5 cm (2)Diet (δ13C: δ15N ) ‰ -18.7:10.7 (1) – -18.8:10.1 (5)

AdulthoodCaries 1/3 – 1/5Ante mortem tooth loss 1/3 – 1/3Diet (δ13C: δ15N ) ‰ -19.5: 9.1 (6) – -19.3: 8.3 (1)

To conclude, during the late phase there is more evidence for differentiation between

the three burial grounds: In terms of mortuary treatment the differences between

Kastraki and the East Cemetery become deeper, because of the (almost exclusive) use

of cists, the more diverse and rich funerary assemblage and the presence of golden

objects in the East Cemetery. The differences with the Barbouna graves are less

pronounced. The skeletal evidence show no immediate changes from the preceding

period regarding health status or diet of the populations: in all three cemeteries there is

still evidence of periodic physiological stress during childhood which does not seem to

have affected the mean adult stature. Oral health problems are also found, despite the

evidence for a continued quite high consumption of animal protein among most

individuals in the East Cemetery.

In this period we also notice some important changes in the settlement. Some

houses in Kastraki are much larger and have a more regular, but also more complex

41 δ13C: -19.1, δ15N: 7.9.

13

plan than earlier houses on the promontory or contemporary houses in Barbouna.42

E.g. houses D and E are rectangular, symmetric, have well-defined boundaries, and

form regular blocks surrounded by roads or courtyards.43 While early MH houses

usually consist of two, at the most three rooms, house D consists of eleven rooms, B

of seven rooms (plus a second floor?), and E of five. Finally, while early houses

follow an axial design, the so-called ‘megaron’ arrangement, the larger houses in

Kastraki, for example B and D, have a much more complex plan and seem to consist of

joint ‘megaroid’ units, each with its own entrance and its own cooking installation.

Unfortunately it is not possible to assess the storage capacity of these houses.

However, house D, the largest house in Asine, which can be sub-divided into three

separate units has four small, rectangular rooms at its centre.44 According to

Nordquist,45 large numbers of pithos fragments were found in one of these small

rooms, which adjoined all three separate parts of the house and had a pavement of

stone slabs - something exceptional in MH houses. The concentration of pithoi in one

small room may imply that the three different domestic units using the separate parts

of the house pooled and stored their resources in this one room. While none of these

larger houses contains more ‘valuable’ items,46 they seem to have slightly higher

quantities of imported pottery. Indeed the households which pool and share

agricultural resources increase their economic capacity, even if the individual families

are not really richer than the other households of the village. In this way, these

households can initiate new exchange partnerships, expand their exchange networks,

and acquire more valued goods. While our conclusion is based on very uncertain and

limited data, it may suggest one possible way MH households acquired an economic

advantage over their neighbours.

The animal bones also give indications for a certain intensification of animal

husbandry practices, although we cannot really date this development with precision:47

42 They do not constitute an exception, however: in the Argolid alone, such larger and

more complex houses are also found in Lerna and Tiryns, see Voutsaki (in press).

43 Nordquist 1987, 29.

44 These small rooms had no entrances, and could therefore only have been entered

with a ladder (or a high threshold): Nordquist 1987, 82.

45 Nordquist 1987, 82.

46 Nordquist 1987, 90.

47 Moberg Nilsson 1997.

14

In the LH period there is a change from a household economy based primarily on pigs

to an economy based on sheep and goat husbandry, while also cattle show an increase

(Figure 3). In comparison to the MH period there is no patent change in slaughter ages;

most sheep and goats were slaughtered around 3-4 years of age, although there is a

slight increase in older cattle (43% were older than 24-30 months). The changing

proportions of bones from domestic species could imply that higher efforts were put

into clearing and farming the surrounding land, a process which may have been

facilitated by pooling resources. Expansion of household herds would also have been

costly in terms of human labour, especially if dairying were at focus, and may have

necessitated collective herding of large flocks.48 It is thus possible that a greater

demand for cooperation among (family? kin?) groups ensued in LH, but at the same

time this may have brought more competition between other groups within and

between settlements.

Bones from wild species, esp. red deer are more numerous than in the preceding

period, a pattern observed also at other sites.49 Hunting of red deer probably became

more important; whole carcasses seem to have been brought to Asine so it likely that

they were hunted not far away. Hamilakis and others have proposed that during the

LBA there was an increased importance of hunting, not only for subsistence, but as

ideological needs for élite groups to produce and legitimise power.50

Discussion and conclusions

If we start with the mortuary evidence, it has already been suggested that the initiation

of the East Cemetery marks out the group using it and distances them from the rest of

the community. The predominance of cists, the higher quantities and wider diversity of

offerings, the presence of gold ornaments – all point to a special status for the group

buried there. On the other hand, the absence of shaft graves (found, of course, in the

Mycenae Grave Circles, but also in Lerna), the scant evidence for secondary treatment

and re-use (adopted in many MH III–LH I graves across the southern mainland), the

48 Halstead 1987; Halstead 1996.

49 Halstead 1999.

50 Hamilakis 2003.

15

presence of many unfurnished graves imply that the differences between the East

Cemetery and the rest of the community were not unbridgeable. Is it possible to

establish whether this group simply legitimated their status, already acquired by

accumulating wealth and resources, or whether they attempted to create it by means of

mortuary display? The study of the houses may point towards an answer: not a single

house in MH Asine, not even in the later period, has evidence for a larger storage

capacity or for accumulated wealth.

The study of the human remains may also point to some answers. Let us repeat the

main observations: The East Cemetery stands out from the other two burial areas in

Asine in at least two ways;

1. The temporally consistent, skewed age distribution where subadults, esp.

neonates are underrepresented.

2. Although admittedly based on very limited evidence, in both phases a

number of adults and juveniles at the East Cemetery (esp. females) seem to

have had a diet rich in animal protein, even if this diet evidently did not

exclude the existence of dental pathologies. In fact, some individuals seem

to have received most of their protein from animal resources in resemblance

with those buried at Grave Circle B at Mycenae, while a more varied

animal-plant based diet has been attested in the population at neighbouring

site of Lerna. A notable exception in the East Cemetery is a man whose diet

seems to have been largely vegetarian.

Although it cannot be excluded that socioeconomic inequalities in terms of differential

access to nutritional resources may have existed at Asine, it has not been possible to

distinguish any clear differences between the populations at the three burial grounds in

terms of differences in poor skeletal growth and other stress related indicators. The

absence of such differences is, however, not unexpected given the small sample size

and poor skeletal preservation which often obstructed a temporal comparisons between

the cemeteries.

It must be emphasized that even if correspondence between skeletal stress

indicators and archaeological variables derived from mortuary data (often regarded in

terms of status) is sometimes attested in bioarchaeological studies, there is never a

simple relationship between signs of pathology and social differentiation, even when

16

reasonably large sample sizes are available.51 For example, data from prehistoric

populations in so-called egalitarian societies in North America and Mesoamerica show

few indications of nutritional differences, whereas ‘transegalitarian’ or ‘chiefdom

groups’ show only limited evidence for nutritional or other health advantages in ranked

compared to unranked lineages; it is only in state-level societies that such differences

become evident.52

We know very little about the actual living circumstances in MH Asine but it is

possible that crowded living conditions, bad sanitation and proximity to domesticated

animals could have contributed to high parasitic loads and rapidly fatal infections. It is

likely that such health hazards would have affected the people in a small farming

community fairly equally, regardless of possible distinctions in social status, and that

the children who is always the most vulnerable segment of the population suffered

most. Evidence of childhood stress is found in both phases, but adult stature indicates

reasonably good nutrition. This may suggest that although childhood was a stressful

period for many children, those who survived until adulthood were not markedly

affected by growth disturbances, or managed to catch up from periods of reduced

growth.

Whatever the situation was, both the settlement evidence and the animal bones

suggest that attempts were made to ensure a more stable subsistence basis and perhaps

increase social contacts by a) pooling resources among (probably related, possibly co-

habiting) families, and b) by adopting more labour intensive animal husbandry

methods.

The small sample size and uneven data prevents us from reaching secure

conclusions about the possible connection between diet, health and social

differentiation. From the data at hand, however, it seems likely that the sample

populations experienced similar conditions with intermittent periods of stress

regardless of possible hierarchical position. It is plausible that differences between

individuals were more related to other factors, such as age and individual frailty.

Nevertheless, the first signs of emerging asymmetries can be seen perhaps already

during the MH II period, while social complexity clearly increases during the MH III -

LH I periods. In both the domestic and mortuary sphere we have increasing evidence

for differentiation, but also for the continuing significance of family and kin relations.

51 Robb 2001.52 Danforth 1999.

17

In the settlement area, (related?) families live together in larger houses; in the

cemetery, (family or kin?) groups continue to demarcate and separate themselves from

the rest of the community. It can be suggested that in this way, kinship and family ties

become a motor for social differentiation and asymmetry, as this process of subtly

transforming kinship relations, of pooling resources and expanding exchange networks

takes place in an uneven fashion across the social body.

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Acknowledgements

The analysis has been carried out as part of a 5-year multidisciplinary project, the Middle Helladic Argolid Project, financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. For the aims and methods of the project, see Voutsaki 2005, or visit the website of the project: http://www.MHArgolid.nl.The re-examination of the skeletal material from Asine has been funded with Research Grants from the Institute of Aegean Prehistory, The Wiener Laboratory (ASCSA), the Swedish Research Council and Gösta Enboms Foundation. We would like to thank the former and current Ephors at the 4th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Mrs Zoi Aslamatzidhou and Mrs A. Banaka, and the Department of Conservation, Ministry of Culture for granting us permission to examine and take samples from the Middle Helladic human skeletons of Asine. We thank the Swedish Institute at Athens, Prof. Dr. C.-G. Styrenius and Prof. Dr. R. Hägg for granting us the permission to sample the skeletons from the East Cemetery and Barbouna. The samples have been taken by Dr Anne Ingvarsson-Sundström, with assistance by Dr Sevi Triantaphyllou. We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the staff at the 4th Ephorate, particularly Mrs E. Pappi. Our thanks go also to the guards of the Nauplion Museum who were particularly helpful during our study.

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the complex picture of living conditions, economy and social differentiation that emerges from the integration of different analytical techniques on different sources of data. The main question to be answered is if evidence for emerging social differentiation can be found at Asine in the MH and early LH period, and if there are indications for economic change and better nutrition through time.

We will focus on: Mortuary variability Diet and subsistence

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Indicators of health and physiological stress The household economy

Keywords: Middle Helladic, bioarchaeology, social organization, graves, houses.

Fig. 1. The site of Asine (from Nordquist 1987, fig. 8)

22

Age distribution in Kastraki, East Cemetery and Barbouna

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Kastraki(n=19)

EastCemetery

(n=5)

Kastraki(n=14)

EastCemetery

(n=13)

Barbouna(n=17)

Juveniles & adults

Children

Neonates

Early Phase Late Phase

Fig. 2. Age distribution in the three cemeteries at Asine in the Early phase (MH I-II)

and the late phase (MH III-LH II).

Proportion species from the settlement of Kastraki

Pig Sheep/goat Cattle Wild species

Pig

Sheep/goat

Cattle

Wildspecies

MH (NISP=3350) LH (NISP=2732)

Red deer 7% of the sample Red deer 16% of the sample

Fig. 3. Proportion of species identified from the animal bones recovered during the

1926’s years excavation at Kastraki (NISP= Number of identified specimens).

Diagram based on data from Moberg 1997.

23