Pylos: From princes to a palace in Messenia

The period from around 1450 BC to 1300 BC was a time of momentous change in Messenia. At the beginning of this era, a complex mosaic of independent settlements, led by powerful families, controlled the region. Back then, in the Late Bronze Age, Messenia formed a core part of the Mycenaean world. This was the time of the so-called warrior-princes, whose martial accoutrements and showy accessories are such a feature of the elite funerary record. Their era of dominance, though, was drawing to a close. A century and a half later, by around 1300 BC, if not much earlier, the authority of those leading families had been eclipsed by that of a single figure ruling over a vast territory – ultimately