Lefkandi is the best known archaeological site from Dark Age Greece (1200-750 BC). A village and associated cemeteries located near the modern village of Eretria on the southern shore of the island of Euboea, Lefkandi was occupied between approximately 1500 BC through 331 BC. Lefkandi is thought to have been one of the locations settled by the Mycenaeans after the fall of Knossos. The occupation is unusual in that is seemed to have carried on with the prevailing Mycenaean social structure while the rest of Greece fell into disarray.
Lefkandi was a scattered settlement, consisting of a loose cluster of houses and hamlets scattered over a wide area, with a fairly low population. There is a large apsidal structure on Toumba Hill in Lefkandi, measuring over 40 meters in length and constructed of dressed stone and mud brick. Found below the floor of the building was discovered a 'warrior grave' or 'hero's burial', consisting of an adult male cremation in a bronze urn, entombed with bronze weapons.
In the Toumba Cemetery in Lefkandi was found a large collection of imported objects including Egyptian faience and bronze jugs, Phoenician brown bowls, scarabs and seals, indicating that despite the 'dark age' aspect, the Euboeans still maintained their trade connections throughout the Levant. Burial 79, the "Euboean Warrior Trader", is particularly known for its wide range of pottery, iron and bronze artifacts, and a set of 16 trader's balance weights.
Sources
See the Vassar College exhibit on Lefkandi.
Kroll, John H. 2008 Early Iron Age balance weights at Lefkandi, Euboea. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 27(1):37-48.
Whitley, James. 2001. The Archaeology of Ancient Greece. Cambridge World Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
