The Palace of Nestor, Craft Production, and Mechanisms for the Transfer of Goods

Market exchange formed one aspect of a complex, mixed economy integrated into the political structures of Mycenaean Pylos. Palatial elites used a variety of strategies to obtain goods and services, and different individuals who represented a single craft often worked in different modes of production, as can be demonstrated for both the ceramic and the textile industries. Palatial elites did, however, establish predictable mechanisms for the remuneration of labor, forming an incipient labor market. They also, probably unintentionally, created conditions that favored the development of market-oriented systems through dispute management, infrastructure construction and maintenance, and the commoditization of goods.Join the discussion at http://www.ajaonline.org/forum/1554.