Abstract
The area of the NE Aegean and the West Anatolia is a special liminal zone that has experienced a surprisingly intensive mixing of cultures, which we only start fully understanding only now. Being originally profoundly connected with the NW Anatolian milieu, the area underwent a progressive interaction with the southern Aegean 'world', principally the Cretan one, during the MBA and Early LBA, as well as with the Greek Mainland throughout the whole of LBA.
One of the main problems of defining the Upper Interface in terms of cultural identities derives therefore from decoding phenomena comprised of multiple processes embracing the adoption, incorporation or rejection(!) of non-local cultures. Deriving from the analysis of material culture, this contribution will focus on long-terms dynamics of continuity and discontinuity that had an impact on various aspects of social practices.
The definition of identities of the local communities involved multi-processes of accepting or rejecting 'foreign' cultures, whereby local histories and circumstances must have conditioned both the "Minoan" or "Mycenaean" efforts. The paper thus aims to show that modes of the cultural transmission in the Upper Interface were mostly the result of local strategies according to traditional practices and/or innovative ones, as regards the adoption of pottery technology and consumption, jewellery and seals fashion, architectural choices and funerary practices.
It will be demonstrated that the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures have not as deeply impacted the Upper Interface, as opposed to let's say the SE Aegean, , with social identities being constructed by rejecting or only minimal adoption of new fashions and social practices. It was through continuity and connection with traditional social practices that the local communities meant to preserve social unity and cohesion.