Architecture of Power or the Power of Architecture – the Late Bronze Age Fortified Settlement of Bresto, Bulgaria
The Balkan Heritage Foundation and the Department of Archaeology at New Bulgarian University organized the BEMA Online Seminar in Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology on Thursday, March 30, 2023. Guest lecturers Dr. Phillip W. Stockhammer and Bogdan Athanassov (Professor of prehistoric archaeology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University; Assistant prof. in Archaeology at New Bulgarian University;), presented on the following topic: “Architecture of Power or the Power of Architecture – the Late Bronze Age Fortified Settlement of Bresto, Bulgaria”
Abstract:
The Late Bronze Age site of Bresto is located on a small acropolis-like hill in the mountains of South-western Bulgaria, 125 km to the north of the Aegean coast. Despite its remote location, the site has yielded objects, as well as architectural features, that show it was far from isolated. In fact, it was probably well integrated into regional and over-regional networks as evidenced by the Aegean and other “foreign” objects that were appropriated and “translated” into the local context.
In this lecture, we will present the architectural remains and their significance in terms of power relationships. Furthermore, we will explore the role of architectural remains in the creation of socio-political realities at the end of the Late Bronze Age (1300-1200 BCE). This period is defined by the architectural heyday of the Mycenaean palaces, but also by the collapse of the most important polities in the entire Eastern Mediterranean.
