Models of Relatedness and Early Helladic Architecture

Unpacking the Early Helladic II Hearth Room

Abstract

This paper brings forward a particular architectural arrangement—the room with the central hearth—that becomes popular on the Greek mainland in Early Helladic II, in order to refocus analysis of the relationship between architecture and models of social organization proposed for this period. Shifting attention to the implications of the specific material configuration for the realization of particular forms of collective life, this room is revealed as a medium employed for the promotion of a new, historically specific theme of social integration centred around the consumption of collectively procured produce. It is argued that this insight may open up the way for subtler understandings of social organization and change in the Early Helladic period.