Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Purpurae Florem Of Mitrou: Assessing The Role Of Purple Dye Manufacture In The Emergence Of A Political Elite, Rachel Lynn Vykukal

Masters Theses

Evidence suggests that purple dye was produced on the islet of Mitrou, a Bronze Age and Early Iron Age site in central Greece. The goal of this study is to determine the chronological and spatial patterning of Murex shells in order to better understand the emergence of dye manufacture. The research hypothesis is that Murex dye production was related to the rise of a visible political elite and that the scale of production was large enough at Mitrou to have exceeded the needs of the household, thus providing a cash crop for this elite to obtain imports from the Eastern …