Mycenae : palaces and daily life

Who was the city run by ?

A King in the palace

What was the palace like compared to the city itself ?

They took up most of the city and were higher than the rest to show power

What did the palaces have ?

* areas for the royal family to relax
* rooms for official documents , shrines , pottery , armouries and storerooms for food

What was the palace used for ?

Feasts and entertainments like poetry recitations

What was the layout of the palaces ?

* similar to Greek temples
* rectangular in shape
* had an entrance porch with 2 columns
* room behind it was a vestibule
* they had one or more courtyards
* there was a hearth in the centre of the main room and a hole in the roof for the smoke to exit

What is the hearth used for in the middle of the main room ?

cooking and sacrifices

Why didn’t they farm animals ?

Most of Greece was not farmland so any fertile flat area was used to farm crops

What sort of animals did they hunt ?

Deer boar mostly animals that lived on mountainous land

Where do we get evidence for hunting for ?

Frescoes , pictures on daggers (lion hunt dagger) and carvings on rings

Where was the Lion hunt dagger found ?

Grave circle A

What was the lion hunt dagger made of ?

gold silver and niello ( used as an inlay for decoration

What was the lion hunt dagger used for ?

To intricate to be used for hunting and almost certainly belonged to a king as an ornamental object and status symbol ( would have been rare and expensive )

What does the lion hunt dagger suggest ?

Lion hunting is the most difficult challenge for a hunter - shown from a dead hunter

Shows 2 different styles of shields which shows that older styles are still in use

What weapons are being used in the lion hunt dagger ?

A bow and arrow as well as long spears

Who did Mycenaean cities trade with ?

The Mediterranean and beyond

How did the cities trade ?

By boat mostly as travel on land was slow and dangerous

Why was trade essential ?

they did not have a lot of natural metal and mineral resources that they used

What were the limitations of trading by boats ?

* it was very dangerous
* trips took weeks
* it was only safe to sail for half the year
* the sea was unpredictable

What did they do instead of using money ?

They used bartering

Where do we get evidence for the trade ?

Tablets and shipwrecks

What is the most famous import ?

Gold as many well known objects are made of it

What was the most important import ?

Copper in order to get bronze for wepons

What were the main exports from Mycenae ?

Pottery

Olive oil

Kraters

Mycenaean beads

wine

Where do we get evidence for clothes from ?

art like frescoes

What were clothes made out of ?

Mostly wool or linen and dyed with natural products the colour was sealed in with vinegar or urine

What colours of clothes were rare and expensive ?

Blue and purple

Where did the yellow dye come from ?

onion skins and saffron

Where did the red dye come from ?

Insect eggs and maddar

Where did the blue dye come from ?

indigo

Where did the purple dye come from ?

shellfish ink

What did women wear ?

* they wore a colourful wrap skirt with many thin layers creating a tiered effect
* wore a plain underskirt
* blouses were short sleeves and might not have covered the boobs
* wore robes, cloaks, shawls and fancy headbands

What did men wear ?

* braided short sleeve tunic with a robe and belt over top
* some wore a kilt skirt especially soldiers
* had a loincloth underneath
* either barefoot or wore leather boots

What did children’s hair look like ?

they had shaved heads except for a lock on the top and in puberty they grew it longer

What did women’s hair look like ?

Richer long hair elaborately tied

What did men’s hair look like ?

Long elaborate hair