ABSTRACT
Identities and boundaries were closely connected during the early phase of the Macedonian expansion from their original nucleus towards Pieria and Bottiaea. It is useful to make some preliminary comments, focusing on the special difficulties arising from the specific topic. Modern scholars, considering ancient population groups and trying to define ethnicity, tend to apply anachronistic and problematic criteria, such as a shared language. ‘Warrior graves’ are well-known phenomenon in Aegean archaeology. It is a practice encountered during the Late Bronze Age, with the most famous examples being the graves at Mycenae. The graves contained rich grave goods, gold lozenge-shaped sheets which covered the mouth of the deceased, silver and bronze jewellery of the so-called ‘Macedonian bronzes’, bronze and iron arms and weapons made locally, clay figurines and local and imported pottery. The topographical diversity one finds in central Macedonia and the subsequent Macedonian expansion toward the rich in waters and fertile land of Bottiaea seem to confirm this hypothesis.
