The Politics of Storage

The storage of staples and its importance for the functioning of Cretan Bronze Age society has become an active topic of debate. This study reassesses the intrinsic relationship between storage and sociopolitical complexity by combining testimonies on the storage of staples from palatial, nonpalatial elite, and ordinary domestic contexts dated to the LM I period. The main goals are (1) to examine a wide range of information concerned with the storage of staples; (2) to develop a comprehensive model to explain how storage strategies operate within LM I societies; and (3) to infer sociopolitical and socio-economic levels of interaction among the different social sectors operating within LM I societies (mainly LM IB societies).