Cult, Continuity, and Social Memory
Mycenaean Eleusis and the Transition to the Early Iron Age
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4541660 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael B Cosmopoulos (University of Missouri–St. Louis, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 118 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 401-427 |
| Publication date | 2014-07-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.3764/aja.118.3.0401 |
| OpenAlex | W2478835392 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 21 |
Religious continuity from the Mycenaean to the Geometric period is one of the thorniest issues in Greek archaeology. The problems created by the scantiness of the evidence are compounded by our own methodological pitfalls, especially the ambiguity of the term "continuity." The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis is a controversial case of a major Greek sanctuary for which a Mycenaean ancestry has been claimed but seriously debated. In this article, the architectural, stratigraphic, and ceramic evidence related to the Mycenaean Megaron B is analyzed on the basis of the unpublished finds and excavation notebooks. The analysis shows that religious rituals took place in Megaron B starting in Late Helladic IIB/IIIA1; that although the settlement of Eleusis shrank after the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces, it continued to be inhabited; and that the Megaron B complex was still standing and plausibly in use when the cult of Demeter was introduced in the eighth century B.C.E. It is further argued that this complex functioned as a lieu de mémoire, a landmark that allowed the inhabitants of Eleusis to preserve the memory of the earlier sanctity of the site, and that it became the defining factor for the choice of location for the later cult of Demeter. Despite this preservation of memory, however, the essence of the cult underwent significant changes that speak against continuity of function. Additional figures can be found under this article's abstract on AJA Online
Aesthetics · Ambiguity · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Cult · Linguistics · Period (music) · Settlement (finance) · Transition (genetics) · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · History · Law, logistics, and international trade · Philosophy
Archaeology and Social Memory
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Gateways to the Past
The Descent of Inana and the Rape of Persephone
Lieux de Mémoire , Central Places, and the Sanctuary of Ribemont-sur-Ancre
Lieux de mémoire mycéniens et la naissance des sanctuaires grecs
Beyond culture history
Ruins as Belief and Practice
M ycenaean Burnt Animal Sacrifice at E leusis
New Insights into Bronze Age Eleusis and the Formative Stages of the Eleusinian Cults
Greek Mysteries
Our Cups Are Full
The Dark Age of Greece. An Archaeological Survey of the Eleventh to the Eighth Centuries B. C
To Kill a Cemetery
The Origins of Greek Religion
Les vestiges mycéniens découverts sous le Telestérion d'Éleusis
Delphes et sa région à l'époque mycénienne
A New Companion to Homer
Greece in the Bronze Age
Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries
Tradition in Greek Religion
The Palatial Bronze Age of the Southern and Central Greek Mainland
Excavations at Eleusis, 1932 Preliminary Report
Eleusiniaka
Between Memory and History
| Citations per year | 0.83 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2025 (12) |
| Highly cited | No |