Art and Archeology

Lecture Slides

Importance of pottery

durable, survives most conditions

dateable

used by many groups of people

demonstrates lifeways

can be sourced through chemical petrography

importance of coins

often have dates, people, and events

inscriptions of people and events

regions of greece

Argolis/Argolid

Laconia

Attica → Athens

Thessaly

Maceondia

Greek islands

Crete, Rhodes, Dodecanese, Cyclades

Epistemology

How do we know what we know? How is archaeological knowledge created? How can we evaluate the quality of our knowledge?

Methods of archaeology

not just excavation, often less invasive methodssuch as survey, remote sensing, and analysis of artifacts.

Who did the first classical excavation?

Heinrich Schliemann

What are some methods for identifying sites?

Oral tradition, textual accounts, local memory

walkover survey

LiDAR, satellite imagery

LiDAR

Light Detection and Ranging, a remote sensing method that uses laser pulses to measure distances and create high-resolution maps of the Earth's surface.

Magnetometry

A geophysical surveying technique that measures variations in the Earth's magnetic field to identify archaeological features and structures.

Issues with underwater archaeology

no stratigraphy possible, poor preservation

Key Archaeological features of Pre-Palatial Crete

handmade pottery (Vasiliki Ware), limited trade, first built tombs, development of hierarchy

Palatial Minoan Culture

2000-1500BCE

Primarily on Crete

de-centralized population

palaces (shared storage, religious ceremonies, political activities)

Palatial minoan writing system

Linear A

Palace at Knossos

Mediterranean Bronze Age

3000-1000BCE

Hittites, Minoans, Mycenaean

Minoan power structure

Thalassocracy. Gives Minoans control of the sea, not land. Settlements in port cities

Cycladic Islands

Above Crete

Cycladic Art

3000-1100 BCE

Folded arm figurines

Frying pan pottery

Akrotiri

Minoan Pompeii, located on the island of Santorini

Key features of Akrotiri

Houses, streets, paintings, pottery

Akrotiri frescoes (Minoan)

Blue monkeys, boxing, plant harvesting, horror vacui

Tholos tomb

tombs found in Minoan Crete. They were round, used for storing bones

Minoan Palace defining feature

large central courtyard

What were large central courtyards in Minoan palaces used for?

multifunctional, staging assemblies, feasts, rituals, and economic activities

Palace at Knossos (Minoan) Late Minoan

Minoan Hall

a feature of many important buildings that consisted of a chamber with an outer porch opening onto an air shaft. Associated with archives with carved seals. Administrative?

Minoan Hall at Knossos

Lustral basins

resemble time indoor swimming pools, but could not hold water.

Late Bronze Age pottery styles

Floral, Kamares, Marine

Floral style

Kamares style

marine style

OK flashing back forward to Akrotiri

What do frescos in Akrotiri tell us?

Insites about domestic contexts like sport, as well as trade with Egypt and India. They show possible migration of artisans and maybe religious connections with plant harvesting.

What is Minoan art characterized by?

fluidity, interest in the natural environment, and horror vacui

Kolonna

Early Helladic, on the island of Aegina

What is a key difference in Kolonna compared to Minoans?

houses are built against each other vs being free standing

Kolonna

Middle Helladic pottery

Minyan ware

Minyan ware

dark, burnished

Copies of metalwork

Minyan Ware

Late Helladic

Mycenaean (idfk)

Palace complex has role in religious rituals

Centralized economies (factories for oils, pottery)

Grave circles

Mystery destruction

Key part in Mycenaean palaces

Megaron

Megaron

large rectangular hall with a porch. Ceremonal hall

megaron, Pylos

Minoan vs Mycenaean palaces

Mycenaean were not labyrinth-like. They were clearly articulated into concentric rings, each separated by a courtyard. At the core, was the megaron, and from this core additional units could be added.

Linear B

Updated linear A.

Mycenaean Walls

some Mycenaean centers invested in fortifications, aka big ass walls, which the Greeks called Cyclopean because they thought cyclopes built them.

Mycenae Walls and Lion Gate. 1250 BCE

Relieving triangle

Feldman’s International Style

Arises out of transnational elites groups that creates its own culture from local cultures

Mycenae, Treasury of Atreus (Tholos tomb)

Influenced by Minoan masonry and eastern sculpture techniques

Distinction from Minoan: hillside built over it for increased stability

Key features in Iron Age Greece

development of the Polis (city)

Organization/standardization of Greek religion

Connection with the past

Return of writing

colonization

Iron age burial practices

cremation, grave markers

The Nestor Cup

first clear Greek writing

Found in Magna Graecia (Italy)

shows writing as a technology

Apollo Daphnephoros at Eretria

One of the earliest sanctuaries

Standardization of Greek Deities

Hero cults

Some Bronze Age ruins were still visible, this caused ritual veneration of these earlier remains and the creation of myths.

Hirschfeld krater

Example of narrative art that tells a story

Geometric period (1100-700 BCE)

Period of major conceptual and technological innovations. Beginnings of states and identities. Death is a key part of society

Colonization in the Greek Iron Age

Areas like Sicily, Magna Graecia, Ionia

New cities could have parent-child relationship with the founding city

Paestum / Poseidonia

Founded in 600 PC

Major shipping center

Bouleuterion

Plan of Miletus

Preserves a Hippodamean plan (grid plan)

Panhellenism

Idea that Greek language, religion, and culture unify people across Polis. Develops as early as the 8th century. Shared sanctuaries

Panhellenic sanctuary locations

Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, Isthmia

Daedalic style

Earliest examples of Greek free-standing sculpture

Triangular shape of hair, narrow face with sharp features, flat volumes of body and clothing

Terracotta statuette from Syracuse

Wild Goat Style

cycladic

bands of wild animals with filling ornaments

Iconography

a set of defined types and scenes used to depict particular characters and stories

Standardization

Temple of Hera at Olympia

Peristyle (columns all around)

Shrine

Temple E at Selinum, Sicily

Hera or Aphrodite

Peripteral, hexastyle

Amphiprostyle

porches on both sides

Early Black figure pottery

This one depicts Herakles and Geryon

Attic Kouros from 590 BCE

Example of Archaic Kouroi

Idealized young man without much variation

Nudity

Archaic smile

Kleobis and Biton Kouroi

Argive treasury at Delphi by Polymedes of Argos 580BCE

Shows regional variation

Heroic nudity, but wearing boots

depiction of mythological characters (regional identity)

Anavysos Kouros (540-515 BCE)

Grave marker

development towards more naturalistic style

Korai

Depictions of young women

Richness of drapery and hair

Votives or grave markers

Kerameikos cemetery

used from Bronze Age, rise of elite family burials

Olympia

dedicated to Zeus

know important city states

severe style

transition from the Archaic period to the Classical period. More realistic and natural

Centaurmachy

mythical battle between centaurs and Lapiths

West pediment of Temple of
Olympian Zeus

Temple of Olympian Zeus

472-456BC by Libon

Big ass statue of Zeus in it

Severe style metopes

Siphnian Treasury

530-525 BC

Early example of Ionic

Key features of Ionic

continuous narrative for frieze, bases for columns

caryatids

columns but instead of being boring they’re women

Temple of Apollo in Delphi

Recessed area under temple

Pediments

Riace Bronzes

460 BCE

Red figure pottery

allows for finer detail, more exploration of narrative structure

OK slides done review parthenon stuff tho

Lefkandi

Iron Age, had important burials with imported items