page_title: Helladic chronology
section_title: Fortified settlements
hierarchical_section_title: Helladic chronology / Fortified settlements
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Treppe zum zweiten Stockwerk im Haus der Ziegel, einem frühhelladischen Palast in Lerna (Griechenland). English: Stairway to the second story in the House of the Tiles, an Early Helladic II palace in Lerna, Greece.
context_page_description: Helladic chronology is a relative dating system used in archaeology and art history. It complements the Minoan chronology scheme devised by Sir Arthur Evans for the categorisation of Bronze Age artefacts from the Minoan civilization within a historical framework. Whereas Minoan chronology is specific to Crete, the cultural and geographical scope of Helladic chronology is mainland Greece during the same timespan. Similarly, a Cycladic chronology system is used for artifacts found in the Aegean islands. Archaeological evidence has shown that, broadly, civilisation developed concurrently across the whole region and so the three schemes complement each other chronologically. They are grouped together as "Aegean" in terms such as Aegean civilization.
  The systems apply primarily to pottery, which is a benchmark for relative dating of associated artifacts such as tools and weapons. On the basis of style and technique, Evans divided his Cretan Bronze Age pottery finds into three main periods which he called Early, Middle and Late Minoan. These were sub-divided into phases and some of those into sub-phases.
context_section_description: During the Helladic period, a number of major advances were developed including fortified urban settlements with monumental buildings such as corridor houses, which may prove the existence of complex societies organized by an elite or at least achieving corporate, proto-city state form. One of these settlements was Manika, located in Euboea, dated to the Early Helladic period II (2800–2200 BC). The settlement covered an area of 70-80 hectares, was inhabited by 6,000–15,000 people, and was one of the largest settlements of the Bronze Age in Greece.
  Another settlement was Lerna in the Argolid region, which was perhaps the most important and wealthiest of Early Helladic sites. The settlement has a monumental building known as the House of the Tiles, a "corridor house", notable for several architectural features that were advanced for its time, such as its roof being covered by baked tiles, which gave the building its name. The structure dates to the Early Helladic II period (2500–2300 BC) and is sometimes interpreted as the dwelling of an elite member of the community, a proto-palace, or an administrative center. Alternatively, it has also been considered to be a communal structure or the common property of the townspeople. The exact functions of the building remain unknown due to a lack of small finds indicating the specific uses of the building. The house had a stairway leading to a second story, and was protected by a tiled roof. Debris found at the site contained thousands of terracotta tiles having fallen from the roof. Although such roofs were also found in the Early Helladic site of Akovitika, and later in the Mycenaean towns of Gla and Midea, they only became common in Greek architecture in the 7th century BC. The walls of the House of the Tiles were constructed with sun-dried bricks on stone socles.
  Other fortified settlements include Tiryns, which covered an area of 5.9 hectares sustaining 1,180–1,770 people, and had a large tiled two-storeyed "round house" (or Rundbau) with a diameter of 28 m on the upper citadel. It may have served as a palace or temple or perhaps it was a communal granary. Other sites include Ayia Irini, which covered an area of 1 hectare and had a population of perhaps up to 1,250, Eutresis covering 8 hectares with an estimated population of 1,600–2,400, Thebes covering 20 hectares with a population of 4,000–6,000, Lefkandi (unknown in size and population), and Kolonna (or Aegina), a densely populated settlement with impressive fortifications, monumental stone buildings and sophisticated town planning.
  Already before 2500–2400 BC, Kolonna experienced remarkable economic growth and had its own administrative "Corridor House", the so-called "Haus am Felsrand". During the phase Aegina III 2400–2300 BC, which corresponds to the transition phase Lefkandi I-Kastri, the evidence of the economic structure and administrative and social organization of the community become more clear. The "White House" (Weisses Haus; 165 square metres) constitutes the monumental community building that succeeds the "Haus am Felsrand", which had the same function. Kolonna may constitute the Aegean's first state as it appears to be the earliest ranked society in the area outside Minoan Crete and perhaps a political center in the Middle Helladic period where it achieved state-level after the Minoans but before the Mycenaeans.
caption: Remains of stairway in the proto-palace House of the Tiles, 2500–2300 BC.
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