Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Marine Creatures and the Sea in Bronze Age Greece: Ambiguities of Meaning

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Maritime Archaeology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Like most cultures, prehistoric Greek communities had an ambiguous relationship with the sea and the creatures that inhabit it. Positive and negative associations always co-existed, though the particular manifestations changed over time. By drawing together evidence of consumption of marine animals, seafaring, fishing, and iconography, this article unites disparate strands of evidence in an attempt to illuminate the relationship prehistoric Greeks had with marine creatures and the sea. Based on the marked reduction in seafood consumption after the Mesolithic and the use of marine creatures in funerary iconography in the post-palatial period, it becomes apparent that the sea—then as now—is an inherently ambiguous medium that captures both positive and negative emotions. On the one hand, the sea and the animals residing in it are strongly associated with death. On the other hand, the sea’s positive dimensions, such as fertility and rebirth, are expressed in conspicuous marine consumption events.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Being a relatively new technique, some aspects of isotope analysis are still under discussion by specialists. In relation to Greece, four issues are of particular importance: the proportion of C4 pathway plants, the consumption of fresh fish versus marine fish, sample sizes and the meaning of ‘dominant’ dietary contribution. Consumption of C4 pathway plants can be mistaken for marine signals. Millet is the only well-known C4 pathway plant in Greece, but its presence is rarely attested until the Late Bronze Age (Valamoti 2007: 100). While marine foods leave a clear signal, the presence of freshwater fish in a person’s diet is difficult to detect. Given the rarity of permanent lakes and rivers on Crete or the Cycladic islands, there should be little or no impact on our interpretation (Hedges and Reynard 2007; Rose 1994: 392–394). Sample sizes are still small, but ever increasing. However, studies have demonstrated that people in small-scale communities have broadly similar long-term dietary patterns; subtler gender, status or age differences often are indicative of the exploitation of specific environments or food types and can often be distinguished from averaged long-term patterns (Schulting and Richards 2002; but see Milner et al. 2004). At the moment, there is no site that has both archaeozoological and human isotope data of good quality. It is hoped that future research will remedy this unsatisfactory state of affairs. Heated debates surrounding the end points of carbon isotope values and our interpretation of ‘dominant’ dietary practices appear to have come to an understanding that, as end points are not firmly fixed, an ostensibly 100% terrestrial diet may indeed mask up to 20 % of marine food consumption (Milner et al. 2004, 2006; Hedges 2004; Richards and Schulting 2006). First results from 41 isotope measurements for local prehistoric fauna (freshwater, marine and euryhaline fish) at five northern Greek sites show that minor ecological shifts can impact considerably on isotope values, different fish families have different values and that freshwater and marine fish values may not be distinguishable. The authors postulate a theoretical δ13C: −19.5 and δ15N: 6.58 for an individual living on a 90 % terrestrial-10 % marine diet (Vika and Theodoropoulou 2012). More measurements of the local contemporary fauna should eventually provide firmer ranges.

  2. The amount of fish bone was estimated visually as a percentage of the total bulk of bone in each unit.

  3. In Greece, humans with a dominantly (80–100 %) terrestrial diet should display δ13C values around −19‰ ± 1, while those with a predominant marine diet have values around −12‰ ± 1 (Richards et al. 1998; Petroutsa et al. 2007; Guixé et al. 2006). It is estimated that nitrogen isotope values increase by about 3–5 ‰ each step up the food chain.

  4. Strictly speaking, argonauts live near the sea surface, but since they are depicted as octopuses, they apparently were perceived as bottom-dwellers.

  5. A Late Roman example for status-related fish consumption is offered by Richards et al. 1998.

  6. Cycles of decline and resurgence of marine food consumption can be observed in many periods and regions, such as Classical and Roman Greece (Mylona 2008a), the Iron Age and post-medieval northern Scotland (Schulting and Richards 2002: 166); early and late medieval Germany, Italy, Belgium and the UK (Salamon et al. 2008); Pictish and Viking Age Scotland (Barrett et al. 2001).

References

  • Angel JL (1971) Lerna. A preclassical site in the Argolid. The people. American School of Classical Studies at Athens/Smithsonian Institution, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Angel JL (1973) Human skeletons from grave circles at Mycenae. In: Mylonas GE (ed) O Taphikos Kyklos B ton Mykinon. Archaeological Society of Athens, Athens, pp 379–397

    Google Scholar 

  • Angel JL (1982) Ancient skeletons from Asine. In: Dietz S (ed) Asine II. Results of the Excavations East of the Acropolis 1970–1974. Paul Åström Förlag, Stockholm, pp 105–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbarena R, Borrero LA (2005) Stable isotopes and faunal bones: comments on Milner et al. (2004). Antiquity 79:191–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber I (2003) Sea, land and fish: spatial relationships and the archaeology of South Island Maori fishing. World Archaeol 35:434–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett JH, Beukens RP, Nicholson RA (2001) Diet and ethnicity during the viking colonization of northern scotland: evidence from fish bones and stable carbon isotopes. Antiquity 75:145–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass GF (1987) Oldest known shipwreck reveals splendors of the Bronze Age. Natl Geogr 172:693–733

    Google Scholar 

  • Bekker-Nielsen T (2005) The technology and productivity of ancient sea fishing. In: Bekker-Nielsen T (ed) Ancient fishing and fish processing in the Black Sea region. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, pp 83–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg I (2011) Towards a conceptualisation of the sea: artefacts, iconography and meaning. In: Vavouranakis G (ed) The seascape in Aegean prehistory, interpretative approaches to the archaeological remains of human agency. Danish Institute at Athens, Athens, pp 119–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Betancourt PP (1977a) Marine-life pottery from the Aegean. Archaeology 30:38–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Betancourt PP (1977b) Further observations on the Marine Style. Am J Archaeol 81:561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Betancourt PP (1985) The history of Minoan pottery. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Bosanquet RC, Dawkins RM (1923) Unpublished objects from the Palaikastro excavations, 1902–1906 (British School at Athens supplementary papers no 1). Macmillan & Co, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradfer I (2000) Les Motifs Marins dans l’Art Égéen a l’Age du Bronze. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Paris

  • Broodbank C (1989) The longboat and society in the Cyclades in the Keros-Syros culture. Am J Archaeol 93:319–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchholz H-G, Jöhrens G, Maull I (1973) Jagd und Fischfang, Archaeologia Homerica, vol 2. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Casson L (1995) Ships and seamanship in the ancient world. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavanagh W (2007) Food preservation in Greece during the Late and Final Neolithic periods. In: Mee C, Renard R (eds) Cooking up the past. Oxbow, Oxford, pp 109–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Chisholm BS, Nelson DE, Schwarcz HP (1983) Marine and terrestrial protein in prehistoric diets on the British Columbia coast. Curr Anthropol 24:396–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman JE (1985) ‘Frying pans’ of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. Am J Archaeol 89:191–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corpus of the Minoan and Mycenaean Seals (CMS) online catalogue. http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/drupal/?q=de/node/196

  • Cosmopoulos MB, Greenfield HJ, Ruscillo D (2003) Animal and marine remains from the new excavations at Eleusis: an interim report. In: Kotjabopoulou E, Hamilakis Y, Halstead P, Gamble C, Elefanti P (eds) Zooarchaeology in Greece. Recent advances (British School at Athens Studies 9). British School at Athens, London, pp 145–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Curci A, Tagliocozzo A (2003) Economic and ecological evidence from the vertebrate remains of the Neolithic site of Makri (Thrace-Greece). In: Kotjabopoulou E, Hamilakis Y, Halstead P, Gamble C, Elefanti P (eds) Zooarchaeology in Greece. Recent advances (British School at Athens Studies 9). British School at Athens, London, pp 123–131

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Arcy P (2006) The people of the sea. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu

    Google Scholar 

  • Darcque P, Baurain C (1983) Un triton en pierre à Malia. Bull Corresp Hell 107:3–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson J (1998) Courtesans and fishcakes. Fontana Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis SJM (1995) The archaeology of animals. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Dölger FJ (1922) Der Heilige Fisch in den Antiken Religionen und im Christentum. Verlag der Aschendorffschen Verlagsbuchhandlung, Münster

    Google Scholar 

  • Doumas C (1965) Korphi t’Aroniou. Archaiol Deltion 20:41–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Doumas C (1983) Thera Pompeii of the ancient Aegean. Thames & Hudson, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Doumas C (1987) I Sesti 3 kai kuanokephaloi stin techni tis Thiras. In: Kastrinaki L, Orphanou G, Giannadakis N (eds) EILAPINI. Festschrift for Nikolas Platon. Bikelaia Dimotiki Bibliothiki, Irakleion, pp 151–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Doumas C (1992) The wall paintings of Thera. Idryma Theras-Petros M. Nomikos, Athens

    Google Scholar 

  • Economidis PS (2000) The “little fisherman” and the fish he holds. In: Sherratt S (ed) The wall paintings of Thera. Proceedings of the first international symposium. Thera Foundation, Athens, pp 555–560

  • Ervynck A, Van Neer W, Hüster-Plogman H, Schibler J (2003) Beyond affluence. World Archaeol 34:428–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans A (1926) The palace of Minos at Knossos. Macmillan & Co., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans JD, Renfrew C (1968) Excavations at Saliagos near Antiparos (British School at Athens supplement), vol 5. Thames & Hudson, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer J (2003) Nahrungsmittel in den Linear B-Texten. Chiron 33:175–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer A, Olsen J, Richards M, Heinemeier J, Sveinbjörnsdóttir AE, Bennike P (2007) Coast-inland mobility and diet in the Danish Mesolithic and Neolithic: evidence from stable isotope values of humans and dogs. J Archaeol Sci 34:2125–2150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furumark A (1941) The Mycenaean Pottery, Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Adademien, Stockholm

  • Galanidou N (2011) Mesolithic cave use in Greece and the mosaic of human communities. J Mediterr Archaeol 24:219–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallant TW (1985) A fisherman’s tale. Belgian Archaeological Mission in Greece, Ghent

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamble C (1979) Surplus and self-sufficiency in the Cycladic subsistence economy. In: Davis JL, Cherry JF (eds) Papers in Cycladic prehistory. University of California, Los Angeles, pp 122–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield HJ, Fowler K (2003) Megalo Nisi Galanis and the secondary products revolution in Macedonia. In: Kotjabopoulou E, Hamilakis Y, Halstead P, Gamble C, Elefanti P (eds) Zooarchaeology in Greece. Recent advances (British School at Athens Studies 9). British School at Athens, London, pp 134–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Guixé EG, Richards MP, Subirà ME (2006) Paleodiets of humans and fauna at the Spanish Mesolithic site of El Collado. Curr Anthropol 47:549–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hadjidaki E (2011).The first Minoan shipwreck: eight years of study. In: Paper presented at the 11th international Cretological congress, Rethymnon

  • Haysom M (2011) Fish and ships: Neopalatial seascapes in context. In: Vavouranakis G (ed) The seascape in Aegean prehistory. Interpretative approaches to the archaeological remains of human agency. Danish Institute at Athens, Athens, pp 139–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedges REM (2004) Isotopes and red herrings: comments on Milner et al. and Lidén et al. Antiquity 78:34–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedges REM, Reynard LM (2007) Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology. J Archaeol Sci 34:1240–1251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiller S (1995) Der SM II-Palaststil. Ausdruck politischer Ideologie? In: Laffineur R, Niemeier W-D (eds) Politeia. Society and state in the Bronze Age Aegean. Université de Liège, Liège, pp 561–573

    Google Scholar 

  • Horden P, Purcell N (2000) The corrupting sea. A study of Mediterranean history. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen ALL (2005) The reliability of fishing statistics as a source for catches and fish stocks in antiquity. In: Bekker-Nielsen T (ed) Ancient fishing and fish processing in the Black Sea region. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, pp 97–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones AKG (1986) Fish bone survival in the digestive systems of the pig, dog, and man: some experiments. In: Brinkhuizen DC, Clason AT (eds) Fish and archaeology: studies in osteometry, taphonomy, seasonality, and fishing methods (BAR international series 294). Archaeopress, Oxford, pp 53–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones AKG (1990) Experiments with fish bones and otolithics: implications for the reconstruction of past diet and economy. In: Robinson DE (ed) Experimentation and reconstruction in environmental archaeology. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp 143–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamash Z (2008) What lies beneath? Perceptions of the ontological paradox of water. World Archaeol 40:224–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karali L (1999) Shells in Aegean prehistory, BAR international series, vol 761. Archaeopress, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Karali L (2010) The seashells of Maroulas, Kythnos. In: Sampson A, Kaczanowska M, Kozlowski JK (eds) The prehistory of the island of Kythnos (Cyclades, Greece) and the Mesolithic settlement at Maroulas. The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, Kraków, pp 147–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Karali L (2011) Malacological material. In: Sampson A (ed) The Cave of Cyclops, vol 2. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, pp 267–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Karali-Yannacopoulou L (1990) Sea shells, land snails and other marine remains from Akrotiri. In: Hardy DA, Doumas CG, Sakellarakis JA, Warren PM (eds) Thera and the Aegean world III, vol 1. Proceedings of the third international congress, Santorini, 6–9 Sep 1989. Thera Foundation. London, pp 410–415

  • Koehl RB (1986) A marinescape floor from the palace at Knossos. Am J Archaeol 90:407–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotjabopoulou E, Hamilakis Y, Halstead P, Gamble C, Elefanti P (eds) (2003) Zooarchaeology in Greece. Recent advances (British School at Athens Studies), vol 9. British School at Athens, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Laderman C (1981) Symbolic and empirical reality: a new approach to the analysis of food avoidances. Am Ethnol 8:468–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lai L, Tykot RH, Beckett JF, Floris R, Fonzo O, Usai E, Manunza MR, Goddard E, Hollander D (2007) Interpreting stable isotope analyses: case studies on sardinian prehistory. In: Glascock MD, Speakman RJ, Popelka-Filoff RS (eds) Archaeological chemistry (ACS symposium series 968). American Chemical Society, Washington, pp 114–136

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lindenlauf A (2003) The sea as a place of no return in ancient Greece. World Archaeol 35:416–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd-Jones H (1975) Females of the species: semonides on women. Duckworth, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Malainey ME, Przybylski R, Sherriff BL (2001) One person’s food: how and why fish avoidance may affect the settlement and subsistence patterns of hunter-gatherers. Am Antiq 66:141–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mavriyannaki C (1972) Recherches sur les larnakes minoennes de la Crète occidentale. Edizioni dell’Ateneo, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Milner N, Craig OE, Bailey GN, Pedersen K, Andersen SH (2004) Something fishy in the Neolithic? A re-evaluation of stable isotope analysis of Mesolithic and Neolithic coastal populations. Antiquity 78:9–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Milner N, Craig OE, Bailey GN, Andersen SH (2006) A response to Richards and Schulting. Antiquity 80:456–458

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan L (1988) The miniature wall paintings of Thera. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Moundrea-Agrafioti A (2003) Mesolithic fish hooks from the Cave of Cyclope, Youra. In: Galanidou N, Perlès C (eds) The Greek Mesolithic. Problems and perspectives (British School at Athens Studies 10). British School at Athens, London, pp 131–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Moundrea-Agrafioti A (2011) Mesolithic and Neolithic bone implements. In: Sampson A (ed) The Cave of the Cyclops, vol 2. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, pp 3–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Mountjoy PA (1974a) A note on the LM IB Marine Style at Knossos. Annu Br Sch Athens 69:173–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Mountjoy PA (1974b) A later development in the Late Minoan IB Marine Style. Annu Br Sch Athens 69:177–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Mountjoy PA (1983) Ritual associations for LM IB Marine Style vases. In: Darcque P, Poursat J-C (eds) L’Iconographie Minoenne (BCH Suppl. XI). Ecole Française d’Athènes, Paris, pp 231–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Mountjoy PA (1984) The Marine Style pottery of LM I B/LH II A: towards a corpus. Annu Br Sch Athens 79:161–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller W (1997) Kretische Tongefäße mit Meeresdekor. Entwicklung und Stellung Innerhalb der Feinen Keramik von Spätminoisch IB auf Kreta. Gebr. Mann, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Mylona D (2000) The ‘fishermen’ frescoes in the light of the fish bone evidence. In: Sherratt S (ed) The wall paintings of Thera. Proceedings of the first international symposium, Thera Foundation, Athens, pp 561–566

  • Mylona D (2001) Mia Archaiologiki Anasitisi ton Psaradon tis Archaias Santorinis kai tis Psarias tous. In: Danezi M (ed) Santorini, Thera, Therasia, Aspronisi, Iphaisteia. Adam, Athens, pp 189–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Mylona D (2003a) Fishing in late antiquity: the case of Itanos, Crete. In: Kotjabopoulou E, Hamilakis Y, Halstead P, Gamble C, Elefanti P (eds) Zooarchaeology in Greece. Recent advances (British School at Athens Studies 9). British School at Athens, London, pp 103–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Mylona D (2003b) Archaeological fish remains in Greece: general trends of the research and a gazetter of sites. In: Kotjabopoulou E, Hamilakis Y, Halstead P, Gamble C, Elefanti P (eds) Zooarchaeology in Greece. Recent advances (British School at Athens Studies 9). British School at Athens, London, pp 193–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Mylona D (2003c) The exploitation of fish resources in the Mesolithic Sporades: fish remains from the Cave of Cyclope, Youra. In: Galanidou N, Perlès C (eds) The Greek Mesolithic. Problems and perspectives (British School at Athens Studies 10). British School at Athens, London, pp 181–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Mylona D (2004) The fish remains. In: Soles JS, Davaras C (eds) Mochlos IC. Period III. Neopalatial settlement on the coast: the artisans’ quarter and the farmhouse at Chalinomouri: the small finds. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, pp 121–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Mylona D (2007) The fish remains. In: MacGillivray JA, Sacket LH, Driessen J (eds) Palaikastro. Two late Minoan wells. British School at Athens, London, pp 217–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Mylona D (2008a) Fish-eating in Greece from the fifth century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. (BAR international series 1754). Archaeopress, Oxford

  • Mylona D (2008b) Appendix C. Fish remains from the ‘kitchen’ in Pillar Shaft 65 N: the tuna slices in the ‘baking-pan’. In: Brodie N, Doole J, Gavalas G, Renfrew C (eds) Horizon. A colloquium on the prehistory of the Cyclades. McDonald Institute, Cambridge, pp 369–370

  • Mylona D (2010) Mesolithic fishers at Maroulas, Kythnos: the fish bones. In: Sampson A, Kaczanowska M, Kozlowski JK (eds) The prehistory of the island of Kythnos (Cyclades, Greece) and the Mesolithic settlement at Maroulas. The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, Kraków, pp 151–161

  • Mylona D (2011) Fish vertebrae. In: Sampson A (ed) The Cave of Cyclops, 2. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, pp 237–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumann G (2006) … Gans und Hund und ihresgleichen…. In: Deger-Jalkotzy S, Panagl O (eds) Die neuen Linear B-Texte aus Theben. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, pp 125–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson RA (1992) Bone survival. The effects of sedimentary abrasion and trampling on fresh and cooked bone. Int J Osteoarchaeol 2:79–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niemeier W-D (1985) Die Palaststilkeramik von Knossos. Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Hanlon R (2004) Trawler. Penguin, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Palaima TG (1991) Maritime matters in the Linear B tablets. In: Laffineur R, Basch L (eds) Thalassa. L’Égée Préhistorique et la Mer (Aegaeum 7). Université de Liège, Liège, pp 273–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Pálsson G (1990) The idea of fish: land and sea in the Icelandic world-view. In: Willis R (ed) Signifying animals. Human meaning in the natural world (one world archaeology 16). Unwin Hyman, London, pp 119–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Papathanasiou A (2003) Stable isotope analysis in Neolithic Greece and possible implications on human health. Int J Osteoarchaeol 13:314–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papathanasiou A (2011) Health, diet and social implications in Neolithic Greece from the study of human osteological material. In: Pinhasi R, Stock JT (eds) Human bioarchaeology of the transition to agriculture. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, pp 87–106

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Papathanasiou A, Larsen CS, Norr L (2000) Bioarchaeological inferences from a Neolithic ossuary from Alepotrypa Cave, Diros, Greece. Int J Osteoarchaeol 10:210–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partlow MA (2006) Sampling fish bones: consideration of the importance of screen size and disposal context in the North Pacific. Arctic Anthropol 43:67–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payne S (1973) Animal bones. Excavation in the Franchthi Cave 1969–1971. Hesperia 42:59–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Pendlebury JDS (1939) The archaeology of crete: an introduction. Biblio & Tannen, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Perlès C (2001) The early Neolithic in Greece. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Petrakis VP (2011) Politics of the sea in the Late Bronze Age II-III Aegean: iconographic preferences and textural perspectives. In: Vavouranakis G (ed) The seascape in Aegean prehistory. Interpretative approaches to the archaeological remains of human agency. Danish Institute at Athens, Athens, pp 185–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Petroutsa EI, Richards MP, Manolis SK (2007) Stable isotope analysis of human remains from the Early Helladic site of Perachora, Korinth, Greece. In: Mee C, Renard J (eds) Cooking up the past. Oxbow, Oxford, pp 290–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell J (1996) Fishing in the prehistoric Aegean. Paul Åström Förlag, Jonsered

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell J (2003a) The fish bone assemblage from the Cave of Cyclope, Youra: evidence for continuity and change. In: Galanidou N, Perlès C (eds) The Greek Mesolithic. Problems and perspectives (British School at Athens Studies 10). British School at Athens, London, pp 173–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell J (2003b) Fishing in the Mesolithic and Neolithic—the Cave of Cyclops, Youra. In: Kotjabopoulou E, Hamilakis Y, Halstead P, Gamble C, Elefanti P (eds) Zooarchaeology in Greece. Recent advances (British School at Athens Studies 9). British School at Athens, London, pp 75–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell J (2011) Non-vertebral fish bones. In: Sampson A (ed) The Cave of the Cyclops, vol 2. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, pp 151–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulak C (1998) The Uluburun shipwreck: an overview. Int J Naut Archaeol 27:188–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Purcell P (1995) Eating fish. In: Wilkins J, Harvey D, Dobson M (eds) Food in antiquity. University of Exeter Press, Exeter, pp 132–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Radcliffe W (1921) Fishing from the earliest times. J. Murray, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Reese DS (1987) Palaikastro shells and Bronze Age purple-dye production in the Mediterranean Basin. Annu Br Sch Athens 82:201–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese DS (1990) Triton shells from East Mediterranean sanctuaries and graves. J Prehist Relig 3–4:7–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese DS (1992) Appendix I: recent and fossil invertebrates. In: McDonald WA, Wilkie NC (eds) Excavations at Nichoria in Southwest Greece. The Bronze Age occupation, vol 2. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp 770–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese DS (1995a) The marine invertebrates. In: Shaw JW, Shaw MC (eds) Kommos I: The Kommos Region and houses of the Minoan Town. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 240–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese DS (1995b) The faunal remains. In: Betancourt PP, Davaras C (eds) Pseira I. The Minoan Buildings on the west side of area A (University Museum monograph 90). The University Museum, Philadelphia, pp 11, 45–46, 56–57, 83, 129–130

  • Reese DA (1998a) The faunal remains, Building AC. In: Betancourt PP, Davaras C (eds) Pseira II. Buiding AC (the “Shrine”) and other buildings in area A (University Museum monograph 94). The University Museum, Philadelphia, pp 35–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese DA (1998b) The faunal remains. In: Betancourt PP, Davaras C (eds) Pseira III. The Plateia Buildings (University Museum monography 102). The University Museum, Philadelphia, pp 131–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese DA (1999) The faunal remains. In: Betancourt PP, Davaras C (eds) Pseira IV. Minoan Buildings in Areas B, C, C, and F (University Museum Monograph 105). The University Museum, Philadelphia, pp 36–37, 80, 99, 136, 162–164, 184, 282–283

  • Reese DS (2004) The fauna. In: Soles JS, Davaras C (eds) Mochlos IC. Period III. Neopalatial settlement on the coast: the artisans’ quarter and the farmhouse at Chalinomouri: THE SMALL FINDS. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, pp 118–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese DS (2007) Shells. In: MacGillivray JA, Sackett LH, Driessen J (eds) Palaikastro. Two late Minoan wells. British School at Athens, London, p 221

    Google Scholar 

  • Renfrew J, Whitehead P, Greenwood P (1968) Appendix VIII. The fish bones. In: Evans J, Renfrew C (eds) Excavations at Saliagos (British School at Athens supplement 5). Thames & Hudson, London, pp 118–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Hedges REM (1999) Stable isotope evidence for similarities in the types of marine foods used by late Mesolithic humans at sites along the Atlantic coast of Europe. J Archaeol Sci 26:717–722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Hedges REM (2008) Stable isotope evidence of past human diet at the sites of the Neolithic Cave of Gerani; the Late Minoan III cemetery of Armenoi; Grave circles A and B at the palace site of Mycenae; and Late Helladic Chamber tombs. In: Tzedakis Y, Martlew H, Jones MK (eds) Archaeology meets science. Biomolecular investigations in Bronze Age Greece. Oxbow, Oxford, pp 220–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Mellars PA (1998) Stable isotopes and the seasonality of the Oronsay middens. Antiquity 72:178–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Schulting RJ (2006) Touch not the fish: the Mesolithic-Neolithic change of diet and its significance. Antiquity 80:444–456

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Vika E (2008) Stable isotope results from new sites in the Peloponnese: cemeteries at Sykia, Kalamaki and Spaliareika. In: Tzedakis Y, Martlew H, Jones MK (eds) Archaeology meets science. Biomolecular investigations in Bronze Age Greece. Oxbow, Oxford, pp 231–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Hedges REM, Molleson TI, Vogel JC (1998) Stable isotope analysis reveals variations in human diet at the Poundbury Camp cemetery site. J Archaeol Sci 25:1247–1252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Hedges REM, Walton I, Stoddart S, Malone C (2001) Neolithic diet at the Brochtorff Circle, Malta. Eur J Archaeol 4:253–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Schulting RJ, Hedges REM (2003) Sharp shift in diet at onset of Neolithic. Nature 425:366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riley FR (1999) The role of the traditional mediterranean diet in the development of minoan crete (BAR international series 810). Archaeopress, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose MJ (1994) With line and glittering Bronze hook: fishing in the Aegean Bronze Age. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Indiana University

  • Rose MJ (1995a) The fish remains. In: Shaw JW, Shaw MC (eds) Kommos. An excavation on the south coast of Crete, vol 1.1. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 204–239

  • Rose MJ (1995b) Fish remains. In: Betancourt PP, Davaras C (eds) Pseira I. The Minoan Buildings on the West Side of area A (University Museum monograph 90). The University Museum, Philadelphia, pp 130–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose MJ (1998a) The fish remains, Building AC. In: Betancourt PP, Davaras C (eds) Pseira II. Buiding AC (the “Shrine”) and other buildings in area A (University Museum monograph 94). The University Museum, Philadelphia, pp 37–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose MJ (1998b) The fish bones. In: Betancourt PP, Davaras C (eds) Pseira III. The Plateia Buildings (University Museum monography 102). The University Museum, Philadelphia, pp 145–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose MJ (1999) The fish remains. In: Betancourt PP, Davaras C (eds) Pseira IV. Minoan Buildings in areas B, C, C, and F (University Museum monograph 105). The University Museum, Philadelphia, p 164

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruscillo D (2006) Faunal remains and murex dye production. In: Shaw JW, Shaw MC (eds) Kommos V. The Monumental Minoan Buildings at Kommos. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 776–840

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutkowski B (1986) The cult places of the Aegean. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Salamon M, Coppa A, McCormick M, Rubini M, Vargiu R, Tuross N (2008) The consilience of historical and isotopic approaches in reconstructing the medieval Mediterranean diet. J Archaeol Sci 35:1667–1672

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson A (1998) The Neolithic and Mesolithic occupation of the Cave of Cyclope, Youra, Alonnesos, Greece. Annu Br Sch 93:1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson A (2008) The Cave of Cyclops Mesolithic and Neolithic Networks in the Northern Aegean, Greece, vol 1. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson A (2011) The Cave of Cyclops, vol 2. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson A, Kaczanowska M, Kozlowski JK (2010) The prehistory of the island of Kythnos (Cyclades, Greece) and the Mesolithic settlement at Maroulas. The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, Kraków

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders E (2008) Pictures from the sea. The role of marine imagery and artefacts in the Bronze Age Aegean. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Trinity College Dublin

  • Schulting RJ, Richards MP (2002) The wet, the wild and the domesticated: the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition on the west coast of Scotland. Eur J Archaeol 5:147–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulting RJ, Blockley SM, Bocherens H, Drucker D, Richards M (2008) Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis on human remains from the early Mesolithic site of La Vergne (Charente-Maritime, France). J Archaeol Sci 35:763–772

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott JA (1917) Homeric heroes and fish. Class J 12:328–330

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott JA (1923) Homeric heroes and fish. Second note. Class J 18:242–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Sealy J (2001) Body tissue chemistry and palaeodiet. In: Brothwell DR, Pollard AM (eds) Handbook of archaeological sciences. Wiley, New York, pp 269–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw MC (1997) Aegean sponsors and artists: reflections of their roles in the patterns of distribution of themes and representational conventions in the murals. In: Laffineur R, Betancourt PP (eds) TEXNH. Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmenship in the Aegean Bronze Age (Aegaeum 16). Université de Liège, Liège, pp 481–504

    Google Scholar 

  • Sordinas A (1969) Investigations of the prehistory of Corfu during 1964–1966. Balkan Stud 10:393–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Sordinas A (1970) Stone implements from Northwestern Corfu, Greece. Anthropological Research Centre, Memphis State University, Memphis

  • Steinberg PE (2001) The social construction of the ocean. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Strang V (2004) The meaning of water. Berg, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Tauber H (1981) 13C evidence for dietary habits of prehistoric man in Denmark. Nature 292:332–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Televantou C (1994) Akrotiri Thera I: toichographies tis Ditikis Oikias (Archaeological society monograph 143). Archaeological Society, Athens

    Google Scholar 

  • Theodoropoulou T (2007) La mer dans l’assiette: l’exploitation des faunes aquatiques dans l’alimentation en Egee pre- et protohistorique. In: Mee C, Renard J (eds) Cooking up the past. Oxbow, Oxford, pp 71–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas J (2003) Thoughts on the ‘repackaged’ Neolithic revolution. Antiquity 77:67–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas J (2004) Current debates on the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain and Ireland. Documenta Praehist XXXI: 113–130

  • Trantalidou K (1990) Animals and human diet in the prehistoric Aegean. In: Hardy DA, Doumas CG, Sakellarakis JA, Warren PM (eds) Thera and the Aegean world III, vol 1. Proceedings of the third international congress, Santorini, 6–9 Sep 1989. Thera Foundation, London, pp 392–405

  • Trantalidou K (2008) Glimpses of Aegean island communities during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods: the zooarchaeological point of view. In: Brodie NJ, Doole J, Gavalas G, Renfrew C (eds) Horizon: a colloquium on the prehistory of the Cyclades. McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research, Cambridge, pp 19–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Trantalidou K (2010) Dietary adaptations of coastal people in the Aegean archipelago during the Mesolithic period: the macrofauna assemblages of Maroulas on Kythnos. In: Kaczanowska M, Kozlowski JK (eds) The prehistory of the island of Kythnos (Cyclades, Greece) and the Mesolithic settlement at Maroulas. The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, Kraków, pp 163–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Trantalidou K (2011) From Mesolithic fishermen and bird hunters to Neolithic goat herders: the mammal and bird bone assemblages. In: Sampson A (ed) The Cave of Cyclops, vol 2. INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, pp 53–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Tvedt T, Oestigaard T (eds) (2009) A history of water: idea of water from ancient societies to the modern world. Tauris & Co., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Tykot RH (2004) Stables isotopes and diet: you are what you eat. In: Martini M, Milazzo M, Piacentini M (eds) Proceedings of the international school of physics “enrico fermi” course CLIV. IOS Press, Amsterdam, pp 433–444

  • Tzala C (1989) O Dromos tou Opsidianou me ena Papyrenio Skaphos stis Kyklades. Archaeologia 32:11–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Ungar PS (2007) Evolution of the human diet. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Valamoti S-M (2007) Traditional foods and culinary novelties in Neolithic and Bronze Age northern Greece: an overview of the archaeobotanical evidence. In: Mee C, Renard J (eds) Cooking up the past. Oxbow, Oxford, pp 89–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Van de Noort R (2011) North sea archaeologies: a maritime biography, 10,000 BC - AD1500. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan S, Coulson WDE (eds) (2000) Palaeodiet in the Aegean (Wiener laboratory monograph 1). Oxbow, Oxford

  • Vika E, Theodoropulou T (2012) Re-investigating fish consumption in Greek antiquity: results from δ13C and δ15N analysis from fish bone collagen. J Archaeol Sci 39:1618–1627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vryonis S (ed) (1993) The Greeks and the sea. Aristide D. Caratzas Publisher, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wachsmann S (1998) Seagoing ships and seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant. Chatham, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Watrous LV (1991) The origin and iconography of the Late Minoan painted larnax. Hesperia 60:285–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westerdahl C (2006) Maritime cosmology and archaeology. Dtsch Schiffahrtsarch 28:7–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead P, Bauchot M-L, Hureau J-C, Nielsen J, Tortonese E (1984) Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Part 1. UNESCO, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead P, Bauchot M-L, Hureau J-C, Nielsen J, Tortonese E (1986) Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Part 2. UNESCO, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkens B (1996) Faunal remains from Italian excavations on Crete. In: Reese DS (ed) Pleistocene and Holocene Fauna of Crete and its first settlers. Prehistoric Press, Madison, pp 241–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins J (2000) The boastful chef. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Preliminary drafts of this article were presented at WAC 2008 in Dublin and the ‘Ships, Saints and Sealore’ conference in Malta 2009. I am grateful to the sessions’ participants for their comments. I would also like to thank colleagues in Sydney, Melbourne, Prince Edward Island and Malta for their feedback at several research seminars. The anonymous reviewers offered generous advice and feedback which improved this paper greatly. Much of the research for this paper was undertaken during my Leverhulme Trust sponsored sabbatical in 2010.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Ina Berg

Authors
  1. Ina Berg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ina Berg.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Berg, I. Marine Creatures and the Sea in Bronze Age Greece: Ambiguities of Meaning. J Mari Arch 8, 1–27 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-012-9105-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-012-9105-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation