Displaying Prestige and Negotiating Power on Kos: Factions and Warlords in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean around 1200 B.C.E.

In this article, we discuss the funerary landscape from the cemetery of Langada on Kos as an arena for the display of prestige and the negotiation of power at the end of the Mycenaean Palatial period. Specifically, we focus on five graves that were built and used during Late Helladic (LH) IIIB2 and reconsider their significance within their broader socio-political contexts. Due to their distinctive locations, spatial layouts, burial types, and/or associated items, these burials were a prominent feature of the Koan mortuary landscape. Among them, Tombs 21 and 46 stood out for their rich finds, especially their assemblage of bronze weapons and tools. Following recent research by J. Maran, we argue that the individuals buried in these two graves were distinguished warlords, who achieved a prominent position within the Koan community around 1200 B.C.E. Some of the deceased from the other LH IIIB2 tombs likely belonged to the same factions led by these warlords. These new ambitious leaders challenged the power of the local established elites and played an active role in the political turmoil and instability that characterized Kos and its wider region around the LH IIIB2-LH IIIC transition.