The comparative chronology presented in this volume correlates the
relative chronological phases of the Aegean and Italy for the time
period from ca. 1700/1600 to 1000 B.C. The time-frame has been
determined by the available contact finds; on one hand it covers the
entire Aegean Late Bronze Age from LH I/LM IA to Submycenaean/Subminoan,
and on the other, the Italian phases from MBA 1 to FBA 2. To establish
the comparative chronological system, various artefact categories have
been analysed: artefacts that originated in one of the two regions under
examination, but were exported to the other or produced there locally,
closely replicating the original forms. Of the artefacts found in Italy,
these include Mycenaean pottery; of those found in Greece, Handmade
Burnished Ware (HMB), bronze weapons, implements and clothing
accessories, and in some cases, wheel thrown grey ware. Only closed find
contexts and well-documented stratigraphic sequences have been compared.
Thus by means of cross-dating, a sure and uninterrupted connection
between Aegean and Italian chronological phases has been achieved.