Abstract

Prosymna is the Mycenaean settlement which preceded the later sanctuary of Hera in the Argolid. The settlement has been excavated only in very limited areas because of the archaic and classical sanctuary remains, The majority of the Mycenaean material was recovered from the extensive necropolis in the hills to the north and north-west of the acropolis. The one known tholos tomb, just to the south of the Late Helladic road from the settlement at Prosymna to the nearby citadel at Mycenae was excavated in 1878 by Stamatakis. Two Mycenaean chamber tombs were discovered and excavated by Waldstein during his excavation of the Heraion from 1892 to 1895. The major excavation of the cemeteries at Prosymna was undertaken by Carl W. Blegen from 1925 to 1928. He uncovered fifty-one chamber tombs and a number of Middle Helladic graves, The material was extensively published in 1937. The publication incorporated photographs of almost all the material as well as detailed descriptions of the remains and chronological reconstructions of the tombs, based on the stratigraphy and the pottery dates of that era. Over 1000 Mycenaean vases were recovered from the tombs, providing a significant volume of pottery for study. Based on what was known about Mycenaean pottery at the time, Blegen dated the pottery with amazing accuracy into the three Late IIelladic periods (I, II, and III). The advances and refinements, however, in the dating of Mycenaean pottery over the years have made this extensive and potentially useful volume of ceramics difficult to work with as a comparative source.
  The present project was undertaken to redate the Late Helladic pottery from Prosymna in order for it to be utilized by the modern scholar in a simpler fashion, and perhaps to provide a clearer chronological picture of the cemeteries and the settlement. The project was designed to be used as a supplement to Blegen's publication.