Search

Nakassis et al., in their contribution to this Forum, argue that the term "redistribution" has been used with a range of meanings in the context of the Aegean Bronze Age and so obscures rather than illuminates the emergence and functioning of political economies. They call for detailed empirical investigation rather than reliance on ambiguous idealized types. Lupack and Schon concur, arguing respectively that the palace shared control of the Mycenaean economy with sanctuaries and local communities and that centralized production of craft goods (an,d thus elite strategies of wealth finance) developed late at the palace of Pylos. Pullen finds little archaeological support for Renfrew's extrapolation of centralized redistribution to the Early Bronze Age, while Christakis uses evidence of storage to argue the same for Prepalatial Crete and to play down the scale and importance of elite redistribution in the Minoan palaces. The calls for circumspect use of the term "redistribution" and for detailed empirical investigation are applauded, although these five papers arguably do not all attack the same form of redistribution. This response argues that redistribution sensu Polanyi, Finley, and Killen (i.e., centrally administered movements of goods and services without equivalence of value) retains considerable heuristic value in investigation of both textual and archaeological evidence for Bronze Age political economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author examines the politics of Mycenaean feasting through an analysis of three Linear B texts from the "Palace of Nestor" at Pylos that concern regional landholdings and contributions to a feast. Consideration of scribal practices, the political situation in Late Bronze Age Messenia, and historical parallels suggests that these tablets relate to the king of Pylos (the wanax) in his official and personal capacities. The scribal alternation between the title of the wanax and his name can consequently be seen as an effort to manipulate the dichotomy between his official and personal roles in order to emphasize his generosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]