Cultural entanglement and regional interaction during the Late Bronze Age: A study of Mycenaeanisation and assertive objects in the Cycladic Islands (1450-1100 BCE)

This thesis aims to investigate the relationships between the societies of the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1450-1100 BC). The Cyclades are a group of some 200 islands which form an archipelago stretching south-eastward from Greece toward the island of Crete, the Dodecanese, and Asia Minor. The islands have a long history of habitation, as well as a unique and flourishing culture beginning in the Neolithic Period through the Early Bronze Age prior to becoming entangled in trade and cultural exchanges with the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations during the Middle and Late Bronze Age respectively. In this work, I attempt to uncover the nature of the cultural interaction and exchanges which took place between Mycenaeans of the Greek Mainland and the communities living in the Cycladic Islands. Drawing primarily on cultural entanglement theory and the framework of assertive objects, I aim to highlight the varied responses of four Cycladic Islands to the spread of Mycenaean power and influence. This research provides an analysis that contributes to a deeper understanding of cross-cultural interaction, colonialism, and trade, during the Late Bronze Age by closely interrogating what it meant to be ‘Mycenaeanised’ as in an island community.