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Resource Competition and Settlement Distribution in Bronze Age Greece

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Abstract

We apply the Ideal Free Distribution (IFD) and Ideal Despotic Distribution (IDD) models to two Bronze Age (ca. 3100–1050 BCE) mainland Greek regions with different local ecologies and culture histories: Messenia and the Argolid. Using existing settlement data, we show that regions within the same cultural system contemporaneously fit different settlement patterns, reflecting distinct environmental adaptations. Such differences help to understand regional variations in resource access and competition. Although the highest-ranked habitats were settled first in each region, large-scale expansion to lower-ranked habitats occurred more quickly in the Argolid, likely because highly productive agricultural land was limited, resulting in a competitive focus on the Argive Plain. This contrasts with Messenia, where access to agricultural resources is better distributed. Our results demonstrate that applying ideal distribution models at a regional scale provides valuable information about the development of social complexity and the conditions in which it occurs.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Acknowledgements

Duke University’s Faculty Research Grant partially supported this research. We would like to thank Brian Codding and Peter Yaworsky for advice on obtaining environmental data and making suitability calculations. We also appreciate the helpful comments of Daniel Bates, Ludomir Lozny, and three anonymous reviewers on this manuscript.

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Partial financial support was received from Duke University (KAJ).

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Jazwa, C.S., Jazwa, K.A. Resource Competition and Settlement Distribution in Bronze Age Greece. Hum Ecol 50, 399–418 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00324-6

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