In Mycenaean Greece monumental architecture was produced on the Peloponnese and well beyond. This building tradition resulted in many fortification walls and culminated into Cyclopean-style monuments in LH III (e.g. citadels at Mycenae, Tiryns, Midea, Athens, Teichos Dymaion, Gla), several of which were still visible during Classical times. These were recognized as works of the past, and could be re-used, and give inspiration to later builders (e.g. Mycenaean walls at the Athenian Acropolis). We investigate how Mycenaean building technologies were anchored in earlier techniques, and determine whether and what technologies disappeared after a peak period in the EBA, why these do not seem to be continued in the MBA, and whether this may have been related to less effective anchoring.
In the Aegean, the FN and EBA saw the rise of elites, the gradual expansion of metallurgy, early forms of monumental architecture, and an increase in maritime connections—each with their consequences and inherent changes for the societies involved. After an apparent gap from EH III to MH II the subsequent prehistoric phases (from MH III–LH III), however, would have run a very different course without the constant interactions of many social groups whose activities resulted in acquiring, transporting, and producing items which were subsequently consumed and discarded by elites. This networked interactive entity of ‘small’ and ‘big’ people alike, together with the levels of uncertainty, interdependency, risk, and opportunity (after Horden and Purcell 2000; now also Broodbank 2013), prompted resilient people to find creative solutions to various environmental and social challenges, also beyond the safety of traditional lifeways.

The aim for this position is to explain the technological building innovations, appearing already in the Final Neolithic period at sites such as Strofilas (Andros, FN, EC fortifications), Geraki (Laconia), and several sites on the west coast of Asia Minor (in the EBA period), and manifested especially in the production and construction of monumental walls. Such walls are better known from the subsequent periods which saw the rise of elites in the EH period (e.g. Tiryns Roundbau, Lerna fortifications, Geraki’s fortification walls). We want to find out how successful these building innovations were when looking diachronically until the end of the LH III. The use of architectural energetics or labour cost studies would be an ideal method to find answers to such questions and may help understand the scale of differences in labour input across the different periods. We want to understand if and how these early innovative constructions/attempts were perhaps the anchoring points for later manufacturing traditions, which became more clearly visible as time moved on. We also want to understand how the involved technical skills were learnt, adopted, adapted, and refined through hands-on practices and experiences. We want to reconstruct networks of interaction and interdependence between emerging and established elites and all other social groups (specialist artisans, untrained labour, supportive professions, etc.), and understand the impact of technological innovations on economic and socio-political relations. Finally, we want to investigate how and why these innovations were made socially acceptable, at least temporarily, by being anchored in traditional practices.

We invite candidates to submit a research proposal that employs the architectural energetics method and will help to explain (1) the rise/innovation of building technologies expressed in monumental fortification walls, and (2) how and why building at such a scale seemed to have been more, or less, successful/ anchored in subsequent periods in prehistory. This research should lead to one or more peer-reviewed publications.
More information about the Anchoring Innovation research agenda of OIKOS can be found on the OIKOS website (http://www.ru.nl/oikos/anchoring-innovation), including an article by Ineke Sluiter, entitled “Anchoring Innovation: a Classical
Research Agenda” (http://www.ru.nl/oikos/anchoring-innovation/publications).