The Late Helladic IIIA period was a time of great internal growth and outward expansion for the Mycenaean Civilization. Most of our evidence for this period, as well as for the one before it (LH II), comes from funerary contexts and artifacts in foreign lands, rather than from the “living” contexts at home. Our best and most complete picture of the political economy and cultural make-up of Mycenae itself, as well as of other Mainland centers, comes from the LH IIIB period, and seems much removed in character and time (perhaps even space) from the people of shaft grave and tholos extravagance and competition. The period of change and development lies in LH IIIA, a period of ever-increasing interaction with the wider Mediterranean world and a time of centralized control on Crete. All the exposure and influence, near and far, may have impacted the way things were done at home.

Evidence from the on-going excavation of Petsas House at Mycenae is presented and discussed as a case study of industrial and economic activity during the Late Helladic IIIA period. The complex nature of the structure, its organization and use for ceramic production, storage and distribution on a large scale, may shed light on the political economy developing at Mycenae, provide interesting insight into possible changing relationships between settlement and citadel, itself being defined with the raising of walls in this period and foreshadow the structured and overwhelming palatial control of the economy in LH IIIB. The end of LH IIIA 2 brought on tremendous change in every aspect of the culture at Mycenae and the final events at Petsas House may well indicate both the seeds of change and its ultimate cause.