Klazomenai, in the North Ionian region of the eastern Aegean, is an important site with a long occupation history that began in the 5th millennium BCE. Recent excavations have revealed diverse data from the domestic and the funerary spheres dating to the Early Iron Age. Large dwellings located on the southern outskirts of the prehistoric mound at Liman Tepe suggest continuous occupations during the transition from the end of the Late Bronze Age and throughout the Early Iron Age. Nineteen pottery samples were selected covering a chronological sequence from the late 12th through the late 6th century BCE for NAA. The results show Klazomenai’s involvement in pottery production during the 10th through the 6th centuries BCE and prove the site’s participation in long-distance maritime trade networks in the (northern) Aegean basin during the early first millennium BCE.

This chapter begins by synthesising the results of the previous modelling chapters, also considering how far one might go with conclusions in each case, given the limits and quality of the various datasets. Having synthesised these data, the models are tested against two ‘known’ networks, described in ancient literature: the Ionian League and the Kalaureian Amphiktyony. In highlighting the differences between the expected and the actual results, the case is made that literature and historical documents can project a greater degree of unity between communities than might have in reality been expressed or presented for reasons of their own political gain and unity.

The dataset discussed in this chapter is coinage, specifically the first coinage minted in the Aegean Basin. The start of this chapter considers to what extent coinage was first used as either an economic or a political tool, and, therefore, whether any patterns in the dataset will reveal more about political or economic networks. In presenting continuities of the dataset using a network analytical model, this chapter illustrates how the spread of coinage across the Aegean from Ionian innovators is indicative of a pattern in the spread of technology. This pattern is juxtaposed with the distribution of amphoras pattern, indicating that there is a qualitatively similar economic pattern, albeit separated with a large time-lag. This pattern is a useful reminder that different types of economic network laid the foundations for one another, and that material evidence may not always be contemporary with the formation of networks.

Relations between different regions of Anatolia and Etruria show main movements from east to west, but they also reveal some objects going the other way, from west to east. Exchange was made in several ways, including trade in goods and substances as well as immigration of skilled workers. The idea of a monumental funerary landscape developed in Etruria, probably influenced by North Syria or Anatolia. Tomb- and vase-painting show intense East Greek activity in Etruria, and East Greeks returning home brought goods from Etruria and gifted them as votive offerings to divinities: Bucchero – the national Etruscan pottery – has been found at Miletus and Samos, and Etruscan wine amphoras have been found at Miletus and Phocaea. Through East Greek cities (especially Miletus), Etruscan bucchero also arrived at the northern Black Sea coast. Such imports show that Etruscan goods were appreciated in East Greece and that some reflections of their knowledge may be identified in Greek and non-Greek handcraft. In Anatolia Etruscans also had connections with other non-Greek peoples, such as Lydians, and Lydian imports are known in Etruria.