What is the Helladic chronology system?

Helladic chronology is a relative dating system used in archaeology and art history to categorise Bronze Age artifacts from mainland Greece from approximately 3200 to 1050 BC. It complements similar schemes for Crete and the Aegean islands, functioning primarily by tracking changes in pottery styles. The system is divided into Early, Middle, and Late periods, with the Late Helladic often referred to as the Mycenaean Age.

What we know

• Helladic chronology is a relative dating system confined to mainland Greece during the Bronze Age, spanning roughly from c. 3200 to c. 1050 BC. [2]
• The dating systems for the Aegean rely primarily on changes in pottery styles to serve as a benchmark for dating associated tools and weapons. [2]
• The Late Helladic period, lasting from c. 1550 to c. 1050 BC, is sometimes called the Mycenaean Age because Mycenae was the dominant state in Greece at that time. [2]
• Archaeologist Colin Renfrew proposed alternative place name terms in 1972, such as Eutresis and Korakou cultures, to replace the Early Helladic periodizations, though both naming conventions remain in use. [3, 4]

Still open

• Some of the specific absolute dates believed by Arthur Evans have changed and others remain under discussion within fairly narrow ranges.

Where to go next

• compared withHow does Minoan chronology compare to Helladic dating?
• a case in pointWhat artifacts define the Cycladic culture?
• how it workedHow do pottery styles establish archaeological dates?
• what caused itWhat caused the decline of Aegean culture at the end of the Bronze Age?
• whoWho was Sir Arthur Evans?
• an unexpected connectionHow do Egyptian antiquities help date Greek prehistory?Pottery from the Greek Bronze Age can sometimes be dated with precision by cross-referencing associated Egyptian artifacts whose own historical chronologies are more certain.

Sources

• [1]Helladic period (Wikidata Q937774) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Helladic chronology · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Eutresis culture · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Korakou culture · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Cycladic culture · CC BY-SA 4.0