The Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age Transition on Kos: A preliminary report on “new” and old data from the “Serraglio”, Eleona, and Langada

Until recently, the Late Bronze Age (LBA) to Early Iron Age (EIA) transition on Kos and in the wider Southeast Aegean-Southwest Coastal Anatolian Region (SASCAR) remained poorly understood due to a general dearth of freshly excavated contexts. This fact prevented our ability to investigate important socio-cultural changes, such as those implied by the so-called early Greek “colonization" in the Eastern Aegean. While the quality and quantity of the data from these locations remain problematic, new research projects on Kos and at various spots in the SASCAR have gradually enriched our dataset and improved our knowledge of the area during the 11th and the 10th c. BC. In this article, an overall evaluation of “new” and old data from Kos in the context of the wider SASCAR is provided for the first time, based on the results of the “Serraglio, Eleona, and Langada Archaeological Project” (SELAP). SELAP’s study of previously unpublished materials from L. Morricone’s 1935 to 1946 excavations demonstrates that continued occupation existed at the “Serraglio” throughout Late Helladic (LH) IIIC Late and into the Early Protogeometric (EPG) period. SELAP’s work also indicates a possible contraction in settlement size at the “Serraglio” during the LBA to EIA transition and suggests that in the phases known as LH IIIC Late and EPG on the Greek mainland most Koan vessels were still manufactured in the Mycenaean style of LH IIIC Middle. Continuities in occupation, ceramic fabrics, and some aspects of potting technologies from LH IIIC Middle to the Late Protogeometric period tentatively imply that the increased level of new contacts between Kos and the Greek mainland visible from the Middle Protogeometric onwards did not result from a sudden and large influx of newcomers to the island but was rather the outcome of refreshed connectivity across the Aegean. Besides the “Serraglio”, recent work in the SASCAR indicates that cultural trends like those suggested from SELAP’s research on Kos may also have existed at other sites in this wider area