Pylos and its Neighbours

We should also bear in mind that, at the end of MH, Bronze Age Pylos was one of a number of communities of roughly comparable size. Two other PRAP sites in particular offer an instructive comparison with each other and with Pylos itself (see also Bennet 1999: 13-17; Shelmerdine 2001). After Bronze Age Pylos, Koryfasio Beylerbey (II) and Gargaliani

Ordines (Kl) are the two most substantial sites in the PRAP study area. In LHI-II, Pylos was already the largest in area of the PRAP sites, but it was just one of several substantial communities in western Messenia. The growing success of these early Mycenaean powers is measurable in several ways, such as settlement expansion, the construction of elite tombs, and a marked increase from MH in the amount of datable pottery (Bennet 1999; Shelmerdine 2001).

Table 9.1 PRAP statistics for Pylos, Beylerbey and Ordines (after Bennet 1999; Shelmerdine 2001)

At both Pylos and Koryfasio Beylerbey (PRAP site 11), the presence of a noticeable amount of MHIII and LHI ceramics indicates the timing of this growth spurt more precisely than at other sites within the PRAP study region. A tholos tomb was constructed at the same time (late MH) at each site, the earliest examples in Greece of this new elite monumental tomb form. The one at Pylos is the so-called 'Grave Circle' (Blegen et al. 1973: 134-76), while Beylerbey is probably to be associated with the Osmanaga tholos tomb (Hope Simpson and Dickinson 1979: 130-31 [D5];

Lolos 1987: 172-78). Fine and coarse ware ceramics are of comparable number and quality at the two sites, adding to the impression that they were both full and flourishing settlements, though Beylerbey is perhaps only half the size of Pylos (3.32ha) by LHI-II (Bennet 1999: 14). The LHI-II pottery at Beylerbey is concentrated in the centre and northeast parts of the site, as the MH material had been. Because of the difficulty in distinguishing early Mycenaean from Mycenaean coarse wares, however, it is not possible to be clear about the relative proportion or placement of these during early Mycenaean.

In the LHIII period Beylerbey grows little in area, but the amount of pottery decreases by nearly two-thirds. It is also diffused over a larger area of the site, though still predominantly across the center. Other finds are few and help little in defining the nature of the settlement. Twenty nine chert and eight obsidian lithic artefacts were scattered around much of the site, particularly in the east-central part where LHI-II and LHIII ceramics predominate, but, as surface finds, few could be dated. A human figurine fragment (SF 0018: Davis et al. 1997: 453) and a sealstone of Younger's Mainland Popular Group (SF 0091: Davis et al. 1997: 453, pi. 90f) are certainly LH IIIA-B, and a grinding stone and a spindle whorl / dress weight (Davis et al. 1997: 446, fig. 16: 6, 453) complete the MH-LH picture. The decrease in pottery from LHI-II to LHIII is a notable feature of the site's history. One can argue that it suggests a diminution of the settlement's importance, perhaps reflecting its demotion from competing power to second-order center, after Pylos emerged as the dominant center of the region, as it appears to have done in LHIIIA. Despite its apparent diminution in the LHIII period, Beylerbey remains the only site known in this vicinity with a comparable presence to that of Bronze Age Pylos. This fact, along with its geographical position south of Pylos and its coastal perspective, suggests that it could be the location of a-ke-re-wa, a taxation center and coastal lookout point attested in the Pylos tablets (Davis et al. 1997: 424-27, fig. 11). As noted above, such a guess depends on whether size does matter. It seems likely that it does, and also that higher concentrations of finds go along with higher degrees of importance. The usual caveat must however apply, that assumptions based only on surface material can carry only limited weight (cf. Zangger et al. 1997: 575-76).

Another site with a different but equally interesting history in relation to Pylos is Gargaliani Ordines (PRAP site Kl), which lies a little way inland from the coast on the high southern edge of fhe Langouvardos River gorge (e. g. Bennet 1999: 11, fig. 2.2). This is the only site within PRAP's study region apart from Pylos itself to exhibit steady growth from Neolithic/EH to LHIII. It is also the only known Mycenaean site north of the palace with a coastal view. Ordines is always much smaller than Beylerbey, covering 0.92ha in the early Mycenaean period and doubling to 2.1ha in the Mycenaean period (Bennet 1999: 16-17). LHI-II pottery is found all over the site, while in the LHIII period the heavier concentrations are in the southern part. Lithics are numerous (69 chert, 11 obsidian, 1 quartz), especially in the northern part, with a heavy cluster of obsidian and especially chert in the northwest sector. Six MH-LH grinding stones (saddle querns) were found in the south-central part of the site, two at least of LH date (Davis et al. 1997: 453). The only other Bronze Age find is a LH IIIA-B clay spindle whorl or dress weight. The prominence and strategic location of this site are unmatched in this vicinity, and it is a good candidate for the taxation center j>e-torn in the northern part of the Hither Province (Davis et al. 1997: 424-27, fig. 11).