Warrior Burials and the Elevation of a Military Elite in LHIIIC Achaia

The collapse of Mycenaean civilization around 1200 B.C.E. left in its wake not only displaced and vulnerable settlements, but also a kind of ‘structural vacuum’ which forced populations to re-establish settlement patterns without the strict guidance of what had been a highly stratified and hierarchical authority under the Mycenaean palace centers. In a remote north-western region of ancient Hellas, the evidence of the so-called ‘warrior graves’ suggests that Achaian communities sought a decidedly military solution to the problems of re-organization and definition which confronted the reeling post-palatial population. In this article I will argue that the Achaian warriors, entombed so respectfully with the tools of their trade, were representative of a newly elevated military elite. *