Size and Distribution of the Population in Late Bronze Age Messenia: Some Statistical Approaches

Abstract

The region of Messenia in extreme SW Greece has recently received unusual attention not only from archaeologists but also from philologists, historians, and various social and natural scientists. This article represents an attempt to synthesize some of the data thus generated in order to explore the locational concerns of the inhabitants in the Late Bronze Age (1600-1100 B.C.). Some statistical techniques are used to generate a prediction of the regional population, to investigate the differential distribution of the population over the varied landscape, and to attempt to understand the significance of the population distribution in terms of the social and economic organization of the developed kingdom of Pylos (13th century B.C.).