Test Two Classical Art & Archeology Key Terms

Faience

A type of ceramic

Mycenaean

The last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece. Late Helladic period of mainland Greece, Peloponnese and Athens. Takes its name for an important city, Mycenae.

Megalithic

Mega is large, lithos is stone. Building with large stones.

Relieving Triangle

An empty, triangular space above a lintel (the horizontal beam over an opening) designed to prevent the lintel from cracking under heavy weight.

Cyclopean Masonry

Analogous to megalithic. Massive, unworked or roughly dressed stone boulders stacked tightly together without mortar.

Ashlar Masonry

Cutting the stones into shape.

Tholos Tomb

Sometimes called the beehive tomb due to its shape. A conical tomb that is round in its plan. Built by the Mycenaean.

Tumulus

Earthen mound, usually covers a burial site.

Dromos

The entrance to the tomb. A long, open-air, stone-lined or earth-cut walkway leading straight to the front entrance.

Corbel/corbelling

Masonry construction that makes beehive shape. Building technique of stacking stones or bricks so that each layer sticks out slightly further than the one beneath it, creating a stepped shelf or arch.

Megaron

Refers to the main hall a Mycenaean palace complex.

Centaur

Mythological creature half human and half horse (male). Body of a horse, head and torso of a man/human. Sometimes they have human arms and sometimes they have horse front legs.

Connoisseurship

Practice of evaluating, authenticating, and attributing works of art based on a deep visual and stylistic analysis of technique, form, and material

Pausanias

2nd Century CE Greek traveler, geographer, and author whose ten-volume work, the Description of Greece. Heinrich Schliemann literally used Pausanias's writings as a map to discover long-lost sites, including the monumental excavations at Olympia, Delphi, and Mycenae.

Attic

Refers to the distinct cultural, material, and artistic styles that originated in Athens and the surrounding region of Attica in ancient Greece

Amphora

An ancient two-handled ceramic or terracotta jar with a narrow neck, an oval body, and a pointed or tapered base used for storing and transporting goods like wine, olive oil, and grain

Krater

A large, wide-mouthed ancient Greek vessel used for diluting wine with water