Following the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces around 1200BC, the cultures of the Aegean suffered something of a period of unrest, most likely causing a large amount of migration and a mixing of cultures before these refugees resettled. These scattered settlements would often nucleate over time into larger settlements, for security or for economc reasons. However, areas of Euboea do not seem to have endured such unrest, leading some to suggest that settlements such as Lefkandi, possibly the archaic site of Lelanton, did not suffer a “Dark Age” at all. Instead, this period sees the beginning of a Euboean koine, a lingua franca dialect, which had effect on the mainland as well as islands such as Naxos and Andros. Goods found in the so-called “heroon” building in the Toumba cemetery of Lefkandi also show strong links with the Near East and the mainland, especially Attica. The tenth century BC has been called a heyday for Lefkandi and indeed for Euboea, part of a flourishing period which lasted until the Lelantine War, but what caused this?
Euboea's koine, which seems to have come into use in the late Bronze Age but was strengthened or extended in the eleventh to ninth centuries BC, is partially responsible for Euboea's success during the early Iron Age. Evidence of close links in central Greece, Thessaly, Chalcidice, Boetia and Pieria, can be seen through the use of Euboean style pottery, either imported or copied, such as monochrome cups and skyphoi, as well as Euboean style decoration such as zigzag patterning, Black and Red Slip wares, and the commonly attested pendent semicircle design, commonly found on syphoi around the Aegean, Cyprus and the Levant, and also in the use of other items such as metal fibulae, such as those found in the goldsmith's hoard at Eretria, instead of iron or bronze pins, which are, for example, the most common offerings found at the Sanctuary of Artemis Enodia at Pheria.
The adoption of apsidal and oval buildings around the Aegean at this time is another clear indication of links and communication around the area, as is the emergence of peristyles, first seen in the Toumba building at Lefkandi. Similarly, outside influences are noticeable on Euboean pottery as well, after 950BC there is an increased Attic influence, combining with a Thessalian and Cypriot influence. It has been suggested that these strong links are a sign of a collective cultural identity, with the adoption of artistic styles as a reflection of identity, although it is not impossible that different cultures and colonies used the same artistic styles simply because they had been exposed to them and liked them. It is intriguing however, that during this period following the resettling after the 1200BC destructions many areas start to adopt new burial customs similar to those of other areas, as at Oropos, a city on the mainland on the boarder between Attica and Boetia coast facing Eretria, children are either buried in pithoi or shafts, as at Lefkandi, whilst adults are often inhumed sometimes with tumuli monuments similar to those found at Pithekoussai, while similar burial practices emerge at Chalcidice as well. Similar burial practices are a clear indication of direct contact, perhaps even colonization or cohabitation, as traditions, unlike goods, cannot be traded by a third party.
Close ties with a large number of settlements around the Aegean would have created greater security for the Euboeans when traveling, as it seems that they were particularly reliant on ships, from imagery on pottery and mentioning in texts, such as the Delian Hymn to Apollo which says they were “famous for their ships”. It is perhaps due to this security that Euboean influence, and influences on Euboean artifacts and sites themselves, can e found so far afield. As mentioned above typical Euboean pottery can be found in numerous quantities in Cyprus, southern Turkey, Egypt and the Syro-Palestine region. Similarly, influences from these regions can be found in Euboea itself. In the Toumba cemetery at Lefkandi a wide variety of Near Eastern grave goods can be found: Cypriot bronzes, including wheels and a macehead, as well as North Syrian bronze bowls engraved with the Near Eastern “tree of life” motif, a motif curiously used on local ceramics as well.
From Egypt there is a considerable quantity of faience and glass paste, including necklaces of beads representing Isis, 2 vases in the shape of bunches of grapes, and flasks, as well as a Phoenician copy of an Egyptian lion-headed goddess in faience, in fact 18000 discs of faience segmented beads have been found in the cemetery, a number unheard of throughout the rest of Greece. Other items include prism seals and scarabs, iron swords, gold jewelry and Cypriot flasks. Many of these forms and techniques, particularly in pottery and metal jewelry were copied locally. However, whether such products were trader directly between the Euboeans and these Eastern cultures is another matter. Lefkandi falls on a strategic point as a useful trading post and stopping point for merchants traveling between the east and the western end of the Mediterranean and it is not impossible that Phoenician merchants could have brought these exotic eastern items to the site, and the presence of Phoenician items as well supports this.
In discerning whether the Euboeans were actively trading or simply accepting imports carried by Phoenician ships, or even a combination of the two, we face something of a dilemma, as it seems that both societies were more than capable of this. In either case, Euboea seems to have been remarkably prosperous and successful during this time.
