ancient greek art/archaeology

Cycladic culture

First “Greek” culture, named of the Cycladic islands, metals were important, pottery and towns formed

Cycladic islands

Off the coast of Greece, very close together, form a circle

Bronze Age

3000-1000 BCE, Cycladic culture early Bronze Age

How much of Cycladic artifacts looted

80%, mostly when Greece formed in 19th century

Grotta-Pelos culture

Cemeteries with cist graves, handmade pottery, few settlements, marble figurines

Keros-Skyros culture

More settlements, new pottery shapes, more playful/innovative

Marble figurines

Very important/iconic, naked women with obvious breasts/private areas, simple and consistent, folded arms, did not stand, possible purposes religious funerary toys, def fertility related in some way

Fakes

Many Cycladic statues in museums are faked and undetectable, mostly in early 20th century (harpist)

Crete

Largest island in Aegean with a strategic location

Tholos

tomb from Crete

Minoan “palaces”

extravagant buildings that held/processed goods from other lands

Palace architecture

Large courtyards, stone facades, twisty passages

Minoan hall

Chamber with an outer porch

Pier and door partition

3 or 4 doorways separated by oblong piers

Lustral basins

Large swimming pool esque structures with unknown use

Horns of consecration

Symbols that look like bulls, unknown use

Rhyta

Elaborate funnels used to pour liquid, black pottery with sea creature motifs, or bulls head

Seals

Important way for Minoans to mark official identity

Minoan rings

Rings showing images of Minoan religion

True fresco

Paint applied to wet plaster, decorated walls and floors, with flowing lines and natural forms

Minoan religion

Mostly goddesses with a few masc figures

Bull game

Dangerous sport involving acrobats and bulls, common image, Minotaur inspo

Mycenean culture

Mainland Greece, very expansive, massive collapse

Epic Cycle

“golden age of heroes”, Trojan war, Homer, myth vs history, once considered real

lion gate

massive brick gate outside Myceanan city

Heinrich Schleiman

Obsessed w/finding mythological places, v. controversial, liar, colonialist, stole artifacts, bad excavations, tried to find Troy

“Mask of Agamemnon”

Schleiman claimed to find it, debate over legitimacy

Citadels

Huge palaces on hills, wealthy burials, militarism

shaft grave

big rectangular pit with stone/wood roof, multiple people with weapons (men) and jewelry.

Megaron

Ceremonial hall in palaces, 3 pronged rooms, large hearth, lots of decorations

Linear B tablets

syllabic script, represents syllables/words

Tau, Phi, Psi figurines

religious figurines, small, shows up in many contexts

Late Bronze Age

Lots of collapse in the Mediterranean

Iron Age/geometric age

1100-700 BCE

What disappeared

Palaces, Linear B, pottery

Developments

New alphabet, more complex pottery, city state, temples, chieftains house

Phoenicians

Society in Levant, multiple city states, set up cities/colonies in Mediterranean, brought alphabet, Nestor’s cup, kommos temple,