THE MYCENAEANS AND THE BLACK SEA

Did theMycenaeansknowtheBlack Sea,andwastherea Mycenaeanpresenceon andaroundit?

The idea thatprehistoricGreeks travelledas far as Colchis, i.e. the region on theNorthwestcoastof theBlack Sea,is by no meansa new one.At leastGreekpoetsof theclassicalperiodwhoequatedit to themythologicallandof Aia sharedthisview.But modernphilology concludedthatthe identificationof legendaryAia with Colchis cameonly as aconsequenceof Milesiancolonization1.

On theotherhand,thequestionwhyTroybecamesuchimportanta siteduringtheBronzeAge hasbeenfrequentlyexplainedbyitsgeocommercialpositioncontrollingaccesstotheBlackSea.One of thefirst scholarswho hold this view was W. Leaf in his book on "RomericGeography"whichwaspublishedin 1912.Sincethenit hasbeensupportedbyseveralscholars- mostrecentlyby M. KorfmannwhoparticularlyemphasizesTroy's rle asananchorageofshipswaitingfor favourablemeteorologicalconditionsin ordertopasstheDardanelles2.

If thisconclusionis correct,shipscomingfromandgoingto theBlack SeashouldhavestoppedatTroy fromthetime,atlatest,whenthetownwasfoundedsomewhenin theearly3rdmillenniumB.C., and they should,in increasingnumbers,have continuedto do so untilprehistoricTroy wasdestroyedin thelater12thcenturyB.C. It wouldbeverystrangeif noMycenaeanshipswould havebeenamongstthemsince,as is weIl known,a considerablequantityof Mycenaeanpotterywasfoundin theruinsof Troy VI, andMycenaeanvaseswerestillimitatedbypotteriesof Troy VII 3.

Althoughpotteryby itself cannotprovethenationalityof merchantswho broughtit,hardlyanyonewoulddenythatMycenaeansarethefirst tobecreditedtohavegonethere.Farlessconfident,however,many scholarswill beastotheconclusionthatTroy wasimportantfor

1 On the literary traditionof the land of Aia cf., a.o. K. MEULI, Odysee and Argonautika (1921); A.LESKY, "Aia", Wiener Studien63 (1948),p. 22-68;cf. also M. F. VIAN, "Posie et gographie: lesretoursdesArgonautes",CRAcInscr 87 (1987),p. 248-266.Skepticalremainedonly Demetriosof Skepsiswho holdtheopinionthattheArgonautsdid notcomefurtherthaninto thePropontis(ap.Strabo1.45).

2 Cf. W. LEAF, Troy, A Studyin Homeric Geography(1912),p. 26;M.P. NILS SON, HomerandMycenae(1933),p. 25f; B. HROUDA, AnadoluArastimalari(lahrbuchfr KleinnasiatischeForshungen)10(1986),p. 20lf; E.F. BLOEDOW, "The Trojan War andLH III C", PZ 63 (1988),p. 45, 51; M. KORFMANN,"Troy. Topographyand Navigation", in Troy and the Troyan war. A SymposiumHeld at Bryn MawrCollege,October1984(1986),p. 1-16;"AusgrabungenanderBuchtvorTroia", TbingerBlauer 1988,p.47-52;"SeefahrtzwischenSchwarzemMeerundgais im2. und3.Jahrtausendv.u.z.?",PapersreadattheVIth InternationalCongressofAegeanPrehistory,Athen1987(in print);cf. alsoJ. LATACZ, "NeuesvonTroja", Gymnasium95 (1988),p. 391,410.

3 For a summaryon theMycenaeanpouery found at Troy cf. E. FRENCH, "Ceramic RelationsbetweenTroy and Mycenae in theLB A", Papers read at the IVth lntern. Colloquium on AegeanPrehistory,Sheffield1977(unpublished);C.B. MEE, "AegeanTradeandSeulementin theSecondMillennium B.C.",Anatolian Studies23 (1978),p. 121-156,esp.146f.

208 StefanHILLER

Mycenaeansnotsomuchasbeingaterminalof Aegeantrafficbutratherasanintermediaryporton theirway to theBlack Sea.Herewecomeaboutthecrucialpoint.Whenlookingfor firmevidenceof Mycenaeanspenetratinginto theBlack Sea, it has to be admittedthatthis iscomparativelyspare.But it may be addedthatit hasincreasedduringthe last years- andalthoughmore questionsmay be raisedherebythancan be answeredso far, it may beworthwhiletoattempttosummarizeourpresentstateof knowledge.As thefollowingremarksmayshow,atleastavaguecontouris beginningtoemergeoutof a stillfoggyambiente.

Importsof MycenaeanpotteryarestillextremelyrarearoundtheBlackSea;sofarthereisonly one sitefrom which it hasbeenreported.This is Ma~atwhere,togetherwith Hittitevessels(andalsosorneCyprioteimports),five Mycenaeanflasks andone stirrupjar werefound(Pl. LIV, a-c);sornemorefragmentsof Mycenaeanvasesarementioned4. Theproblemis howtheyreachedthissite:Ma~atliesabout130kmoff theSouthernBlackSeacoast;but,nodoubt,accessto it fromtheBlackSeacoastwaspossible.ln anycaseit shouldhavebeenmoreeasy to carry potteryfrom the coastthanto haveit importedvia an inland route.SinceMycenaeanpotteryis, atleastuntilnow,totallyabsent,withinthecentralpartof Asia Minor,Hattusaincluded5, thereis indeeda reasonablechancethattheMa~atvesselscamevia theBlack Sea.

UnfortunatelyMycenaeansherdsfromAkalanwhichwerementionedbyFimmenin 1924havenotbeenconfirmedandwerepossiblymisidentifiedassuch6; likewisethemeaningof aclay ram statuettewhich is reportedto havebeenfoundat Samsunandto bearan Aegeaninscriptionremainsdoubtful7. No furtherAegeanfinds- thestill unpublishedSarkoyhoardfromtheNorthwestcoastof theSeaof Marmaraapart8 - arereportedfromtheregionsouthoftheBlackSea.

A different situationis encounteredat the West Coast. So far no single sherdofMycenaeanpotteryhasbeenfoundto theNorthof theRhodoperange.Thereare,however,sornerapiers,spearheadsand doubleaxes,which, beingeitherimportsor, mainly, localimitationsof Aegeanprototypes,proveLate BronzeAge contactsbetweenThraciaandtheAegean9.Butmostof themcomefrominlandsites- afactwhichdoesnotsupportthepresence

4 For the Mycenaeanpotteryat Ma~atcf. T. OZGZ, Masat Hyk (1978),colour pl. D, pl. 83f; L. RE,"Presencemiceneein anatolia",in TrafficiMicenei nelMediterraneo.Atti deiCongressodi Palermo1984,ed. by M. Marazzi, S. Tusa andL. Vagnetti(1986),p. 349,353 with note28 where"cinque frammentimiceneiappartenentiadunapissidetriansatadi fabbricafine" arementioned.D.H. FRENCH, "Mycenaeansin theBlack Sea ?", Thracia Pontica 1 (1982),p. 21ff, who finds thattheM~at material"may be sign-postinga directionin whichour thoughtscouldgo". Likewise for iLSimportationvia theBlack SeaarguesK. BlITEL, "Das zweite vorchristlicheJahrtausendim ostlichenMittelmeerund im VorderenOrient,Anatolien und gais", Gymnasium85 (1976),p. 528f;a contraryview is hoId by J.T. HOOKER, "BiosandIliad", WienerStudienNF 13(1979),p. 9 with n. 12.

5 This is also stressedby H.-G. BUCHHOLZ, "Doppelaxteund die Frage der BalkanbeziehungendesagaischenKulturkreises",in AncientBulgaria. Papers Presentedat the1nternationalSymposiumon theAncentHistory andArchaeologyofBulgaria, UniversityofNottingham1981,ed.by A.G. Poulter(1983),Part l, p. 43-134, esp.p. 54f, who arguesthatthe finds from Ma~at"lassen sich in ihrer exponiertenFundlagedurchdieSchwarzmeer-Seefahrterklaren,zumalderberlandwegdurchdasanatolischeHochland,waceer wirklich zumTransportdererwahntenObjektebenutztworden,auchBogazkoyhatteberhrenunddort entsprechendsllirkereSpurenhinterlassenmssen.ln Wirklichkeit sind mykenischeundkyprischeFundein derHethiterhauptstadtberraschendgeringanZahl".

6 Cf. MEE, op. cit. (n. 3), p. 24.7 H.T. BOSSERT, Alt-Kreta (19372), nr. 532;W.c. BRICE, Inscriptions in theMinoan Linear Script of

Class A (1961),p. 23 V 3, pl. 29; BUCHHOLZ, op. cil. (n. 5), p. 129n. 148.8 Cf. AJA 89 (1985),p. 558.9 On theseseeJ. PANAYOTOV, "Bronze Rapiers,Swordsand Double Axes from Bulgaria", Thracia 5

(1980),p. 173-198;"More aboutthe Thracian-AegeanContactsin theLate Bronze Age Metal Types",Pulpudeva5 (1986),p. 148-150;J. BOUZEK, TheAegean.AnatoliaandEurope:CulturalInterrelationsin

THE MYCENAEANS AND THE BLACK SEA 209

of Mycenaeanshipssailing alongthecoastandvisitingnearbylocatedsettlements.Only asingledoubleaxefoundatBulgarovonearBurgas10 hasafair chancetohavecometherebysea- to a lesserdegreepossiblyalsoa furtherdoubleaxewithanoval shaft-holewhichwasbroughtto lightatRojak in VarnaDistrict(Pl. UV, d) Il.

Againstthismainlynegativeevidencestandstheweightof sorne150stoneanchorswhichhavebeendetectedmainlyatCapeKaliakra,NessebarandSozopol,butalsootherplaces12.By theirshapeandfunctionaldevicetheyresemblethosewhichareknownfrommanycoastsoftheMediterranean,theAegeanincluded.GenerallytheyareconsideredtodatefromtheLateBronze Age - but also a later datecannotbe safely excluded13. Apart from that theirprovenienceremainsanopenquestion.Perhapsscientificanalysisof thestonesusedcanhelpherein future.For thepresenthowever,wehavetocontendourselvesby staringthatshapeanduseof theseanchorsclearlybetraysa Mediterraneanor, morestrictly,anAegeanimpact;thishowever,doesnotmeanthatall theseanchorswerelostby shipscomingfromSouth.Simpleandcheapin productionasthey were,theymayhavebeenlocally imitatedimmediatelyaftertheyhadbeenimportedbyforeignshipsfor thefirstrime.

Thereis yetonemorepointof evidencein favourforanAegeanpresenceattheBulgarianpartof theBlack Seacoast.This is providedby two (or more?) oxhideingotswhich werefoundsorneyearsagoatCapeKaliakra(Pl. LV, a)andatCerkovonearKarnobat(Burgas,Pl.LV, b) 14,theformeralongwithstoneanchorshavingthecharacteristictripleperforation;theonefromCapeKaliakrais saidtoconsistof 50% of copper,32 % of goldand18% of silver;it weightsabout1,5kg. The ingotfromCerkovo- it seemsto beof copper- bearsanincised

theSecondMillenniumB.C. (1985),p. 30ff(swords),41ff (spears,doubleaxes);A.F. HARDING, TheMycenaeansandEurope (1948),p. 127f(axes),152ff(swords),240f(MycenaeanobjectsfromBulgaria),262(generally).

10 HARDING, op. cit., p.238,fig.54andp.241;E.N.CERNYCH, Gornoedelo i metallurgiav drevnejsejBulgarii (1978),p.204,fig.41.7.

11 PANAYOTOV, op. cit., p. 189map.3;BOUZEK, op. cil., p.44 nr. Il (Hermonestype);BUCHHOLZ,op. cit., p.79nr.54,fig.21f.

12 Thereis, as to myknowledge,so far no comprehensivestudyon theseanchors;theyare,however,mentionedby severalauthors,e.g. by M. LAZAROV, Thracia 3 (1974),p. 107-113;G. TONCEVA,Lekove (1973),p.3ff;"ThraciaPontica l'gedubronzercentetsesrapportsavecle mondeEgenetl'Asie Mineure",Papas read at the 5thIntan. Colloquium on Aegean Prehistory, Sheffield 1980(unpublished);cf.ThraciaPontica 1(1979),p.176-188;K. POROGEANOV,"NavigationetcommercedelapopulationdulittoraleuropendelaMerNoiredelaThraceancienneaveclespeuplesdelaMditerraneOrientale(XVI-XII s.av.n..)",inDritta InternationalerThrakologischerKongress,Wien1980(1984),II, p. 69-72;D.C. SAMSARIS, "Les influencesmycniennessur les Thraces",in Thracians andMycenaeans,Proceedingsof thefourth InternationalCongressof Thracology,Rotterdam1984,ed.l.G.P.BestandN.M.G.deVries(1989),p. 167-173;K. POROJANOV,"LesancresenpierredulittoralBulgaredelaMerNoire",Papas read at theVIth InternationalCongressof Aegeanprehistory,Athens1987(inprint).

13 Cf. a.o.H.FROST, "StoneAnchorsasIndicatorsof EarlyTradeRoutes",in Socitset compagniesdecommerceenOrientetdansl'OcanIndien,Actesdu huitimecolloqueinternationald'histoiremaritime,00.byM. Mollot,Paris1970,p.55-61;UndertheMediterranean(London1963);"StoneanchorsasduestoBronzeAgeTraderoutes",inThraciaPontica 1,1979(1982),p.280-289;there(p.280)H. FroststatesastotheBulgariananchorsthattheirweight"coupledwiththeindigenousshapesindicatesa flourishingsea-tradebasedonThracianships,probablyduringtheBronzeAge.Theperiodis,however,lesscertain,unlessweacceptthatstonesanchorsin theBlackSeawerecontemporaneouswithstoneanchorsin theMediterranean- anassumptionthatinvitesbathconsiderationandtesting".Cf. alsoD.E. McCASLIN,StoneAnchorsinAntiquity:CoastalSettlementsandMaritimeTrade-Routesin theEasternMediterraneanca 1600- 1050B.e. (1980).

14 Also forthesea thoroughpublicationisobviouslylacking,cf. PANAYOTOV, op. cil. (n.9),p.90n.13;HARDING op. cit. (n.9),p.49,52,241;BUCHHOLZ, op. cil. (n.5),p.54,128n.47,p. 104,fig. 11;G.TONCEVA, ThraciaPontica 1,1979(1982),p. 176withn. 11and12.

210 StefanHILLER

markcomparabletoAegeanLinearsigns(Pl. LV, b).Like stone-anchorsalsometalingotshaveappearedall aroundtheAegean15;theircentreof gravity clearlylies withintheAegeanandmostof themwerefoundnotfaroff-shore.Thusboththeknowledgeof stoneanchorsandofthe shapeof oxhide ingots shouldhavereachedtheWest Pontic areavia the searoute;superfluousto saythattheonlyoneexistingis thatfromtheAegeanthroughtheMarmaraSea,- which, however,doesnot necessarilymeanthattheexistingox-hide ingots from CapeKaliakraandCerkovoareimports.As A.F. Hardinghasobserved,theBulgarianingotscouldalsoindicatethetransportof Balkanore to the(East)Mediterranean;in anycasetheregionaroundBurgasis metalliferous16.And theso-called"Aegean"signstampedon theCerkovoingotdoesnotneedindicateanythingelsebutthatAegeanswereinvolvedin theirmanufactureatsornestage17.No materialsreflectinganAegeanconnectionhave,asto myknowledge,sofar beenreportedfrom theRoumanianandRussianpartof theBlack SeaWestcoast.Thispicturechanges,however,whenwecometo theNorth wheretwomainareasof Mycenaeanimpactcanbedistinguished- aWesternonecomprisingthemouthandhinterlandsof theriversof Dnjestr,Bug, DnjeprandDonec,includingtheKrim peninsula.Doubleaxesof basicallyAegeanshapeshavebeenfoundatKozorezovo18in theUkraine(Pl. LV, c) andatKerc 19ontheKrim peninsula,theformerof whichbelongsto theso-calledKilindir type,whereasthelatteris of theHermonesvariant.Theproductioncentreof theKilindir andHermonesaxesisstill underdiscussion;NorthernGreece20 as well as thelower Danubearea21 havebeensupposed;if the secondsuggestionis correct,theHermonestype axe from Kerc canberegardedonlyasanindicationof anindirectAegeaninfluence.Bothtypes,whichhavemoreorlessthesamedistribution,appeartobelongtotheLateBronzeAge.

Apartfrom theseobjectsthereareroughlytenmoredoubleaxesof thenormalAegeanvariety,Type B, which hasanoval shafthole; six of themwerefoundat Scetkovo,two atKozorezovo (Pl. LV, c) andoneatBerezanandJekaterinoslavrespectively22. As to thesespecimensc.F.C. Hawkesin his still valuablearticlepublishedin 1936nremarkedthat"inSouthRussiadoubleaxesappearin BronzeAge hoardsdirectlyrecalling'TreasureP' fromthesixthcity of Troy" 23. From Troy itself four doubleaxesandone mouldof correspondingshapeare reported,yet only two of which have beenpublished (Pl. LV, d-e) 24. Troyobviouslytookanactivepanin theproductionof andthecommercewiththesetools.The'same

15 H.-G. BUCHHOLZ, "KeftiubarrenundErzhandelim zweitenvorchristlichenJahrtausend",PZ 37 (1959),p. 1-40;T. STECH-WHEELER, R. MADDIN, J.D. MUHLY, "IngotsandtheBronzeAge CopperTradein theMediterranean:A ProgressReport",Expedilion 17(1975),31-39;"The CapeGelidoniaShipwreckandtheBronzeAge MetalsTradein theEasternMediterranean",Journal of Field Archaeology4 (1977),p.353-363;"The Copper Oxhide IngoLsand LheBronze Age Metals Trade", Iraq 39 (1977),p. 73-82;"MediterraneanTradein CopperandTin in theLaLeBronzeAge", Annali. ISlilutoIlaliano di Numismalica26 (1979),p. 139-152;HARDING, op. cil. (n. 9), p. 49ff; N.H. GALE andZ.A. STOS GALE, "OxhideCopperIngotsin CreteandCyprusandtheBronzeAge MetalsTrade",BSA 81 (1986),p. 81-100.

16 HARDING, op. cil. (n.9), p. 45, fig. 7; for thedistributionof metaloresin theBurgasregion,op. Cil.,p.52, cf. also p. 261.

17 HARDING, op. cil. p. 52.18 BUCHHOLZ, op. cil. (n. 5), p. 94 nr. 30;BOUZEK, op. cil. (n.9), p. 44. n. 16.19 BUCHHOLZ, op. cil. (n. 5), p. 90 nr. 17;BOUZEK, op. cil. (n. 9), p. 45 nr 12.20 HARDING, op. cil. (n. 9), p. 192,242 with n. 67: "in BulgariaandMacedoniaKilindir-type axeswere

beingproduced."21 BUCHHOLZ, op. cil., (n. 5),p. 42.22 AccordingLoHARDING, "MycenaeanGreeceandEurope:The Evidenceof BronzeToolsandImplements",

PPS 41 (1975),p. 183-202,esp.p. 193;BOUZEK, op. cil. (n. 9), p. 46, nr. 5-14.23 C.F. HAWKES, "The DoubleAxe in PrehisLoricEurope",BSA 37 (1936),p. 141-159,esp.158.24 Cf. BUCHHOLZ, op. cil. (n.5),p. 78nr.41-45,wheretheolderliteratureis referredLO.

THE MYCENAEANS AND THE BLACK SEA 211

maybeconcludedfroma celtmouldwhichcornesfromTroy VII (Pl. LV, f) 25. It is of sorneinterestheresinceceltswereverypopularin theNorthPontic areaasweIl as in theBalkanregionwhereasin Greeceonlyfewexamplesof thattypeof toolhavebeendiscovered26.

Anothergroupof implementswhichis foundin GreeceandtheNorthernPonticareaisrepresentedby harnessingaccessories.Here two pairsof bonecheekpiecesfrom theShaftGravesatMycenaeareparalleledby morphologicallyandstructurallyidenticalpiecesfromTrachtemirovnear Kiev (Pl. LVI, a); this was recognizedfirst by A. Leskov who alsoidentifiedthemaspartsof horse-bits27. ThecriticismraisedagainstLeskov'sinterpretationbyJ. Crouwel andM.A. Littauer28 hasbeenconvincinglyrefutedby H.-G. Httel who alsodiscussedtheproblemof therelationbetweentheGreekandtheUkrainianexamples29. Since,ashethinks,thechariotasa meanof warfarewasnotreallyessentialfor thesteppetribestowhomhorse-ridingwasmoreadequate,theknowledgeof thistypeof equipmentreachedtheUkraine from somewhereelse; althougha Near Eastern source is possible the closerealationshipbetweentheMycenaeanandtheTrachtemirovbitsstronglyrecommendsMycenaeasmediator30.

This view is supportedby a bonedisc fromIljitevka (Krasnolimansk,Donecarea)theornamentof which is closelyrelatedto thatof a Mycenaeangolddisc (Pl. LVI, b) 31. Thehigherquality of theMycenaeanpiecepointsagainto MycenaeanGreeceas supplyingthemodel.ln thisconnectionthespiralornamenton thepin-headfromtheBorodinoTreasure32(foundnearOdessa)maybementioned:it canbecomparedtosimilardesignsonbroochesfromMycenae(Pl. LVI, c); yetdescentfromabroaderBalkanbackgroundremainsnolesspossible;apartfromthat,nounanimityhasbeenachievedsofar amongtheexpertsasto thedateof thehoard 33. That South Russia was reachedby influencesfrom the Balkan areacarrying'Mycenaean'elementswith themis demonstratedby a"Stangen-Knebel"fromBelz (Pl. LVI,d) nearSokal(Ukraine)34 whichexhibitsthewide-spreadcircle-andloopomament,themain

25 W. DRPFELD,Troja und/lion (1902),p.405;H. MLLER-KARPE, Handbuchder Vorgeschichte,Bd.IV (1980),pl.. 182.45.

26 For celts in the NorthernPontic Area cf. V.S. BOCKAREv and A.M. LESKOv, Jung- undspatbronzezeitlicheGuJ3formenim nordlichen Schwarzmeergebiet,Prahistorische BronzefundeXiX.1(1980),p.5Hf; T. SULIMIRSKI, "AegeanTradewithEasternEuropeandilSConsequences",inMlangesdeprhistoire,d'archocivilisationetd'ethnologieofferts Andr Varagnac(1971),p.707ff,723fig.6.For GreeceseeBOUZEK op. cit. (n.9),p.46fig. 15,nr.6-8,p. 150fig. 175andp. 151section4.2.3,wherealsotheTrojanmouldisdiscussedandBalkanparallelsarelisted.

27 A.M. LESKOV, "AncientcircularcheekpiecesfromTrakhtimirova",Sov.Arch. 1964,p.298ff;hewasfollowedin thisinterpretationby T.G. MOvSHA, "Archaicroundcheekpieceswithstuds",Vovoe vSovetskoiArkheologii.Materialy i Issledovanjypo Arkheologii SSR 130(1965),p.20Hf.

28 M.A. LITTAUER, J. CROUWEL, "Evidencefor HorseBits fromShaftGraveVI atMycenae,PZ 48(1973),p.207-213.

29 H.G. HTIEL, BronzezeitlicheTrensenin Mittel- und Osteuropa,Grundzgein ihrer Entwicklung,PrahistorischeBronzefundeXVI.2 (1981),p.43ff.

30 HTTEL, op. cit., p.47f.31 J. vLADAR, "ZurProblematikosteuropaischerundsdostlicherEinflssein derKulturentwicklungder

lterenBronzezeitim Gebietder Siowakei",Slov. Arch. 29 (1981),p. 224, fig.11; immediatelycomparableis agolddiscfromMycenae,H. SCHLIEMANN, Mykenae(1978)p.303,fig.405,407,412;G.KARO, Die SchachtgrabervonMykenai(1930),pl.LX, 320andLXII, 685.

32 OntheBorodino-Treasurecf.M. GIMBUTAS,BronzeAgeCulturesin CentralandEasternEurope(1965),p. 65ff;HARDING, op. cit. (n.9),p.20ff;MLLER-KARPE, op. cit. (n.25),348ff,533f,pl. 532;T.SULIMIRSKI, "BarrowGrave6 atKomarow",Bulletinof theInstituteof Archaeology4 (1964),p. 17H,esp.182;HTTEL, op. cit. (n.29),28n.7a.

33 On thediscussioncf.alsoBOUZEK, op. cit. (n.9),p.84,TheSpears,withnote4;H1TEL, op. cit. (n.29),p.29f.

34 HTTEL, op. cil. (n. 29), p. 83f, nr. 70; SULIMIRSKI, op. cil. (n. 26),p. 707ff,712fig. 4.2;BOUZEK, op. cit. (n.9),p.64,fig.27.6.

212 StefanHILLER

concentrationof whichis in TransylvaniaandHungary;neverthelessit shouldberegardedasbeingoriginallyMycenaean35.Regardingits widerdistributionwemayspeakof a "Myceno-Balkanian koine" 36. For comparisona similar boneobjectfrom the IVth shaftgraveatMycenaemaybereferredto,theconcretefunctionof whichis howeverenigmatic37.

Into a broaderhorizonof culturalcontacts,too,belongstheappearanceof faiencebeadsin SouthRussiaas weIl asin theKaukasusarea;J. Bouzekhascalledit a "marginalareaofdistribution"38,leavingopen,however,'marginal'to whichcentre;aNearEasternoneshould,at leastin my opinion,notbeexcluded39, whereasJ. Sulimirski,who refersto 157faiencebeadsfoundatTroy VI ("in thelayerof ca.1425RC.") thinksthat"faiencebeadswereoneofthecommoditiesexportedbytheTrojanstoCentralEurope".And: "TheyattestweIl totherleof a Mycenaeanagentplayedby thecity andof thedistributorof beadsandotherMycenaeangoodsin thecountriesaccessibleby thePonticroute"40.The questionof thefaiencebeadsis,however,toovexedaproblemastobedealtwithinthisconnection.

Progressingfurtherto theEastwecometotheKaukasusarea,thelastoneto bebrieflydiscussed.Hereweencounterasituationdifferentagainfromtheprecedingone.RelationswiththeBronzeAge Aegeanarerecognizedprimarilyin twokindsof weapons:rapiersandspearheads;theycomefromtombsof theso-calledTrialeticulturewhichspreadthroughoutGeorgiato thesouthof theKaukasusrange41. At aIl nineswords(cf. Pl. LVII, a) havebeenlistedbyJ. Bouzekwhodistinguishesbetweenexamplesconstitutingonetype(A) of longswordwithpronouncedcentralrib andlongtang(5examples:fromHovil, Vari, Khodja-Daoud,SamtavroandLib), andanotherone(B) with triangularbutt (4 specimens:from Miston, Chir-Dir 3,Samtavro,Andrjukovskaja)42; by theirgeneralshapetheyarerelativesto MycenaeantypeArapiers respectivelyto their Balkan offspring. Since long swords are exceptional in theKaukasusregionanultimatelyAegeanancestryis mostlikely.ThesameCanbeattestedtosorneextraordinaryspearheadswithangularshouldersandafineridgedmidrib:theycorrespondtoAegeanspecimensof groupG in O. Hockmann'sclassificationsystem(cf. Pl. LVII, b) 43.AsM. Gimbutashasseenmanyyearsagothereis acloserelationshipwith twospearheadsfromProsymna44. But, as to my knowledge,no list assemblingtheexistingspecimenshasbeen

35 Ontheoriginof thiswide-spreadtechniqueanditsdistributioncf.J. BOUZEK,"ZudenaltbronzezeitlichenGoldfunden",JahresberichtdesInstitutsfrVorgeschichteder Univ.Frankfurta.M. 1977,p.112ff.

36 HTIEL, op. cit. (n. 29),p. 87:"die im Karpato-mykenischenStil verziertenKnebelvonBeleundBudapest-Lagymanyos";cf.alsop.75.

37 SCHLIEMANN, op. cit. (n.31),p. 376;KARO, op. cit. (n.31),p. 146,fig.62.38 BOUZEK, op. cit. (n.9),p.58.39 Thisviewis alsoheldbyHARDING, op. cit. (n.9),p.262;heremarksastolheCaucasusfaiencebeads:

"ThefaienceindustrywasweIlestablishedthere,loo,in lhelalersecondMillennium,butthisprobablyreflectstheindustryof MesopotamiaratherthananyconnectionswiththeAegean".

40 SULIMIRSKI, op. cit. (n. 26),p. 715map3, andp. no,wherefaiencebeadsarecountedamong'Mycenaean'objects.

41 OnthefindsfromtheTrialeticultureregardedasrelatedtoAegeanobjectscf. SULIMIRSKl, op. cit. (n.26),p.720;O.M. JAPARIDZE, "TheTrialeculturein thelightof thelalesldiscoveriesanditsrelationtaAnteriorAsiaandtheAegeanSea",inActesdu VIlle CongrsInternationaldesSciencesPrhistoriqueset Protohistoriques. Belgrade 1971(1974),Vol. Ill, p.39-43;GIMBUTAS, op. cit. (n.32),p.89ff;MLLER-KARPE, op.cit. (n.25),p.358f.

42 BOUZEK, op. cit. (n.9),p.35;1supposethalthesenineswordsareidenticalwiththosemenonedbyJ.LATACZ, op. cit. (n.2),p.41Of.

43 0HOCKMANN, "LanzeundSpeerim SpalminoischenundMykenischenGriechenland",JbRGZM 27(1980),p. 13-158,esp.p.47ff.

44 GIMBUTAS, op. cit., (n.32),p.93,fig.51.

THE MYCENAEANS AND THE BLACK SEA 213

publishedandnocloseranalysishasbeenmade45. JudgingmerelyfromdrawingstheTrialetipiecesmight be takento be true imports46. Mycenaeaninfluence is also shown by animpressive,stillunpublishedsilvervesselfromKirovakanin Armeniawhichrepresentsakindof over-dimensionedVapheiocup47.

ln conclusionasto thematerialevidenceain rnanyregardsdistinctpicturearises:clayvesselsbelongingto thelaterMycenaeanperiod(LH III A/B) arefoundin theSouth;stoneanchors,difficult to date,andmetalingotsin theWest,wherealsosornedoubleaxesoccur;moredoubleaxes,sorneof whichareratherlate(Kilindir andHermonestypes)while othersmaybeearlier,occurin theNorthWest,alongwithcheekpiecesof horsebitsandrelatedbonecarvingswhichhaveEarly Mycenaeanparallels;and,finally,offensiveweaponswhichagaindependfromEarly Mycenaeanmodels,in theNorth-East.That thefindsfrom theSouthandWest coastcan reasonablybe takenas indicativeof a Late Bronze Age penetrationofMycenaeansintotheBlackSeahasbeenstatedabove;asaconsequenceit wouldbeperversetoarguefor a landroutein thecaseof theNorthernandEasternobjectswhichshowanAegeanaffection.This bringsus backto theunquestionablymostwell-knownshipwhichmayeverhavecrossedtheBlackSeaandalsoto itscrew:theshipArgoandtheArgonauts.

Can we, afteraIl, find sornepointsin favourof a Mycenaeanorigin of this legend- inanalogytoM.P. Nilsson'sbasicbookonthe"MycenaeanOrigin of GreekMythology"? ThatthereexistedanearlyArgonautpoemis attestedby thefamouspassagein theOdysseywhereshipArgo is called"caredfor byaIl", thisbeingoneof theearliestclearlyintendedquotationsof Greekpoetrywithinpoetry48. It can,moreover,beshownthatthelegendarylandof Aiawas,eversince,conceivedasbeinglocatedsomewherefar-off in theEast.Yet A. Leskywhohasconvincinglyarguedthiswasof theopinionthatanat firststill undefinedandimaginarycountryfar-offin theEastwasidentifiedwithColchisonlyafterGreekcolonizationhadfoundafirm footin theBlack Seaarea49.But hereinheignoreswhatM.P. Nilssonhasirnpressivelyshown: Iolkos which is the startingplaceof theArgonautshas a clear geographicalandhistorical setting.As he observed,"here the famouscycle of myths correspondsto theMycenaeanrernains,for Jolcus wasthenorthernmostMycenaeantown"50.If thereeverwasaMycenaeanexcursioncomparableto thatof the Argonauts,Iolkos was indeedthe rnostconvenientplaceto leavefrom.Apartfromthat,it hasbeensuggestedthatHomer'sknowledge

45 1know of threeor four examples,but furtheronesmayexist;theexamplesknown to meare(a)Trialeti,barrowgraveXV: GIMBUTAS, op. cil. (n. 32), p. 93 fig. 51. 2; MLLER-KARPE, op. cil. (n. 25),pl.547. 15;SULIMIRSKI, op. cit. (n. 26),p. 720with n. 6; - (b) Kirovakan(Transkaukasia):SULIMIRSKI,op. cil. (n. 26),p. 720with n. 6; - (c) Pervomajskoe-GalaskinearGroznyi: SULlMIRSKI, op. cit. (n. 26),p. 720with n. 6; - (d) Meskheti:JAPARIDZE, op. cil. (n.41),p. 43. As reLatedmayberegardedthespearheads from Amarat and Tachkopr, accessibleto me only in the unsufficient drawings of e.F.A.SCHAEFFER, Stratigraphiecompareetchronologiede l'Asie Occidentale,Ille etIle millnaires(1948),fig. 226.2and 228, which also resembleHockmann'sType F; comparabLeto H6ckmann'stype C is afurtherspearhead,fromChir-Dir, SCHAEFFER, op. cil., fig. 224F.

46 As a wamingagainsttoo greatan optimism1may,however,refer to HARDING, op. cit. (n. 9), p. 262:"thereis nothingin theCaucasuswhichcanbeLakenasa Mycenaeanproduct,andviceversa".Meanwhile,however,theKaukasianfootringsfoundatTroy (cf.AA 1986)maychangethisview.

47 Still unpublishedas to myknowledge,cf. P. LEVEQUE, "La Colchidedu VIle au IVe sicleav.n. .", IVSymposiumde Tsxoltubo, Gorgie,RA 1986,p. 398f; cf. also M. MELLlNK, "Archaeology in AsiaMinor", AJA 92 (1988),p. 116:"excavatedby B.B. Pietrowski in 1948.It datesto the 15thor 16thcenturyB.e. andis a largetwo-handledvessel;but theVapheio-typespoolhandlesaresmalLandservefortheattachmentof abaskethandle".

48 Cf. A. LESKY, GeschichtedergriechischenLileratur (19572), p. 60: "Die AnfhrungdiesesArgonauten-Epos durchKirke (Od. 12,70)steLLtsichaIsein literar-historichbedeulSamesZeugnisdar".

49 Cf. n. 1.50 M.P. NILSSON, TheMycenaeanOrigin of GreekMythology(1932)p. 137.

214 StefanHILLER

of thePropontisregionwhich is containedin theso-calledCatalogueof theTrojans mayoriginallyhavebelongedtoanearlyArgonautepos51.

But how earlyis it ? We don't simplyknow.That it could go backto theMycenaeanperiodmaybeconcludedfromthefactthatthereis astrikingcorrespondencebetweennamesinMycenaean,aboveaIl Pylian,textsin LinearB. This is illustratedbythefollowinglist:

Aiaia (theislandof Aia)Aiates(theLordof Aia)Athamas(fatherof Phrixos)Kretheus(brotherof Athamas)Amythaon(sonof Kretheus)Iason(leaderof Argonauts)Mopsos(seerof Argonauts)Lynkeus(spyof Argonauts)

cf. a3-wa-ja:PY En 74etc.cf. a3-wa-ta: KN Vc 7612cf. a-ta-ma-ne-u: PY Cn 655cf. ke-re-te-u:Py Ea 59etc.cf. a-mu-ta-wo:PY N 831;KN V 756;TH Ug 9cf. i-wa-so:PY Cn 655cf. mo-qo-so: KN Dc 1381cf. ru-ke-wo(-wo-wi-ja) :PY Nc 1053

Thesenames(for sorneof whichit hasto beadmittedthattheycanbetransliteratedalsoin otherways)cannot,of course,proveanythingelsebuttheirmereexistencealreadyin theMycenaeanperiod.It could,however,beof sorneimportancethatfor thegreaterparttheyareattestedin thePylos tablets.The ArgonautsaretraditionallyregardedasMinyanswhowereathomein SouthernThessalyandNorthernBoeotia;thesameis truefor thePylianNeleides.Ashas beenrecognizedlong ago, thereis a remarkablecoincidenceof river namesbothinThessalyand in theThessalianoffspringof theNeleid dynasty52.For thesamereasonaclusteringof heroicpersonalnames,originally at homein Thessaly,could beexpectedtoreappearin MycenaeanPylos. That this is reaUythecase,lendsfurtherconfidenceto theassumptionof aMycenaeanoriginof theArgonautepos.

Whether,finally,theMycenaeannameko-ki-daanditsderivationko-ki-de-jorepresentsKoXi&xresp.Koxteohastobeleftopensinceothertranscriptioncannotstrictlybeexcluded- althoughKoxia is by no meansunlikelyor impossibleaccordingto Mycenaeanscribalrules 53.

The Pylos textsfaU into theLate Mycenaeanperiod.Within Greek mythologytheArgonautsareplacedbeforetheTrojanwar;thatmeansthattheyshouldbelong,accordingtoancienttradition,to an earlierchronologicalhorizon.From theperspectiveof archeologyMycenaeancontactswiththeBlackSeareflectabroaderrangeof time.Thereseems,however,to be sorneconcentrationin theearlierMycenaeanperiodinto which theUkrainiancheekpieces,theTrialeti weapons,and- possibly- theBorodinohoardfaU. This is in a generalcorrespondencetotheoveraUpictureof MycenaeancontactswiththeNorthwhichwereclearlystrongerin theearlierratherthanin thelaterMycenaeanperiod.ln sornewayit seemsthatin thesixteenthcenturytheserelationswereviceversa.Severalauthorsfehthatsornesteppeinfluencecanbedetectedin theEarly Mycenaeanart,e.g.in thewell knowngold sheetsfromtheVth

51 T.W. ALLEN, The Homeric Catalogue of Ships (1921),p. 147ff;R. HOPE SIMPSON andJ.F.LAZENBY, The Catalogueof theShipsin Homer's /lias (1970),p. 181.

52 ForThessaliangeographicalnamesin theWesternPeloponnesoscf.S.HILLER, Studienzur Geographiedes Reiches um Pylos nach den mykenischenund homerischenTexten(1972),p. 186ff,withearlierbibliography.

53 The interpretationasKO.xiliac;hasbeenproposedby O. LANDAU, Mykenisch-GriechischePersonen-namen(1958),p.72;M. GUIDI, "OsservazionisumoduliformularidellaserieF di Cnossos",Aevum61(1987),p.63;otherinterpretaonswhichhavebeenproposedareropyiOac;andKoniOac;. Forko-ki-de-joasbeingderivedfromko-ki-dacf.J.T. KILLEN, "MyceneanPossessiveAdjectivesin -e-jo",Transactionsof thePhilological Society1983,p.73.

THE MYCENAEANS AND THE BLACK SEA 215

Shaft Grave showing wild animaIs in repoussetechnique54. This remindsus of thesuggestionthatalsotheboartuskshelmetis supposedto haveoriginatedin SouthRussiaasitmaybeconcludedfromcorrespondingfindsin severalgravesatMariupol55.Likewisetheso-calledarrowsmoothenerswhich appearin Greecefor thefirst timeduringthelatermiddleHelladicperiodhavebeenreferredto parallelsin thePonticarea56.This is alsothecaseforhorseburials;asS.Foltinyhaspointedout,acharacteristicfeatureof theculturesin theVolga-Ural areais thedoubleburialof horseswhichis alsoknownformMycenaeanGreece57.ln thisrelationspecialattentionshouldbepaidtoanunusualkindof spiralornamentwhichis commonto both a spearhead from Cjurupinsk near Herson (Ukraine) and several shaft graveimplements(Pl. LVII, c) 58. This ornamentwhichis a newcomertotheShaftGraveperiodhasno immediateAegeandescent;couldit havecomefromtheregionunderdiscussion?1thinkthereis no needto go asfar as1.Muhly who arguedin favourof an immigrationof steppepeopletoGreeceatthebeginningof theShaftGraveperiod59.But afteraIl, it mightbelegaltowonder,asalsoJ. Mulhy does60, whetherthegoldfromtheShaftGravesdoesnothavereallysomethingto dowithearlyMycenaeancontactsto thePonticareawhichis well-knowntoberich in gold; this is to bekeptin considerationwhena possibleclue is lookedfor as to thelegendaryGoldenFleece61.

StefanHILLER

54 E.T. VERMEULE, TheArt of theShaftGravesof Mycenae(1975),p. 23f, J.D. MU HL Y, "On theShaftGraves at Mycenae", Studiesin Honor of T.B. Jones, ed. by M.A. Powell and R.H. Sack (AOAT 203[1973]),p. 311-323,esp.p. 321.

55 Cf. L BORCHHARDT, HomerischeHe/me (1972),p. 28; in note153herelatesthisphenomenonto thethe spreading of the war-chariot at about 1650/1550 B.C.: "Die Richtung der festellbarenEinzelbewegungenzeigtwohl an,daBdieVolkerausdenostlichenGebietendesSchwarzenundKaspischenMeereskamen".

56 H.-G. BUCHHOLZ, "Der PfeilgHiuer aus dem VI. Schachtgrabvon Mykene und die helladischenPfeilspitzen", Jd1 77 (1962),p. 1-58,esp.p. 20; SULIMIRSK1, op. cit. (n. 26), p. 713 who, however,supposestheoppositedirection:"Furthermore,locally madeon the Aegeanmodelmighthavebeenthemany'arrow-straighteners'or 'arrow-shaftsmoothers',foundin theremains(mainlygraves)of severalEastEuropeanculturesin almostail partsof thecountry,i. e. in theNorthCaucasian,theCatacombandMiddleDneprculturesof theUkraine,theFatjanovoCultureof CentralRussia,andtheGorbunovoculturein theMiddle Urals". It is, however, this wide-spreaddistribution which may indicate a transferof thoseimplementsfromtheRussiansteppeareato theSouth-West.

57 S. FOLTINY, "The Ivory HorseBitsof HomerandtheBoneHorseBits of Reality",BonnerJarhbcher67(1987),p. 11-37,esp.p. 34.

58 The Cjurupinsk spear head is illustrated in SULIMIRSKI, op. cit. (n. 26), p. 712 fig. 2.1 and la;MLLER-KARPE, op. cil. (n.25),pl. LXXIII, 634/5.

59 MU HL Y, op. cit. (n. 54),p. 319.60 MU HL Y, op. cit. (n. 54),p. 321f.61 On the prob1emof the provenienceof the shaftgravegold cf., a.o. G.S. KORRES, "Ta 1tPO~.lljJ.U'to

xpuoo lCu't 'to 1tpcotjJ.co'ta'tou1tPCO'tOjJ.UlCllvutlCoxpovou", PraktArchEt 1976, p. 501ff; J.D.MU HL Y, "Metals and Metallurgy in Creteand theAegeanat the beginningof theLate Bronze Age",Temple University Aegean Symposium5 (1980),p. 25-36; more generalO.T.P.K. DICKINSON, TheOrigins ofMycenaeanCivilisation (1977),p. 53f.

216

Pl. LIV, a-c:Pl. LIV, d :Pl. LV, a-b:

Pl. LV, c :

Pl. LV, d-f:

Pl. LVI, a:

Pl. LVI, b :

Pl. LVI, c:

Pl. LVI, d:

Pl. LVII, a:

Pl. LVII, b:

Pl. LVII, c :

Pl. LVIII :

StefanHILLER

LIST OF ILLUS1RATIONS *

MycenaeanPotteryfromMa~tHyk(afterOZGZ,op.cit. [no4]).DoubleaxefromRojaknearVarna(afterBUCHHOLZ,op.cit. [no5],fig.21t).IngotfromCapeKaliakra(afterBUCHHOLZ,op. cit. [no5],fig. Il) andfromCerkovo(nearKarnobat/Burgas;afterIstorija naBulgaria1[1979]).DoubleaxesfromKozorezovoandStetkovo(afterMLLER-KARPE, op. cit. [no25],vol.IV.3,pl. 537B [a,b]andGIMBUTAS, op. cit. [no32],p.91,fig.49).Doubleaxesandmouldof a celtfromTroy (afterH.-G. BUCHHOLZ, Zur Herkunft derkretischenDoppelaxt[1959],pl. Il d,e.andMller-Karpe).BonecheekpiecesfromTrachtimirovandMycenae(afterHTIEL, op. cil. [no29],pl.2. 14,15;43.B).BonediskfromIljitevkaandgoldplatefromMycenae(afterVLADAR, op. cit. [no31],p.224,fig. 11,andSCHLIEMANN, op.cit. [no31],p.303,fig.405)SilverpinfromtheBorodino-hoardandgoldplatefromMycenae(afterMLLER-KARPE, op.cit. [no25],vol. IV.3,pl. 532.A. l, andSCHLIEMANN, op. cit. [no31],p.298,fig.378).BonecheekpiecefromBelzandboneobjectfromMycenae(afterSULIMIRSKI, op. cit. [no26],p.712,fig.2.4,andSCHLIEMANN, op. cil. [no31]p. 376,fig.525).RapiersfromMycenae,SarntavroandKhodja-Daoud-Kopr(afterDICKINSON, op. cit. [no61],p.69,fig. 8,SCHAEFFER, op. cit. [no45],fig. 222andGIMBUTAS, op. cit. [no32],p.95,fig. 1).SpearheadsfromTrialeti,Meskheti,Amarat,TachKopr,Prosymna,MycenaeandChir-Dir(afterGIMBUTAS, op. cit. [n 32],p.94, fig. 52.7; JAPARIDZE, op. cil. [no41],p. 43;SCHAEFFER, op. cit. [no45],pl. 224,226,228,andHOCKMANN, op. cil. [no43],p.20,fig.2.9.andp.48,fig.9.7).SpearheadfromCjurupinsk,sword-hiltfromMycenae(afterSULIMIRSKI, op.cit. [no26],p.712,fig.2. 1.,andMLLER-KARPE, op. cit. [no25],vol.IV.2,pl.225.5)Mapshowingdistributionof finds

* ThedrawingsforPl. LIV, a-c,LV, a(right),LV, c (left)andLVIII wereproducedbyDr.C. Reinhold(Rom),towhom1feeldeeplyindebtedforhisgeneroushelp.

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