Towards an Absolute Chronology for the Aegean Iron Age: New Radiocarbon Dates from Lefkandi, Kalapodi and Corinth

International audienceThe relative chronology of the Aegean Iron Age is robust. It is based on minute stylistic changes in the Submycenaean,Protogeometric and Geometric styles and their sub-phases. Yet, the absolute chronology of the time-span between the finalstages of Late Helladic IIIC in the late second millennium BCE and the archaic colonization of Italy and Sicily toward the endof the 8th century BCE lacks archaeological contexts that can be directly related to events carrying absolute dates mentionedin Egyptian/Near Eastern historical sources, or to well-dated Egyptian/Near Eastern rulers. The small number of radiocarbondates available for this time span is not sufficient to establish an absolute chronological sequence. Here we present a newset of short-lived radiocarbon dates from the sites of Lefkandi, Kalapodi and Corinth in Greece. We focus on the crucialtransition from the Submycenaean to the Protogeometric periods. This transition is placed in the late 11th century BCEaccording to the Conventional Aegean Chronology and in the late 12th century BCE according to the High AegeanChronology. Our results place it in the second half of the 11th century BCE