Archaeology Exam 1 - 9/25

field walking

non-invasive method of surveying an archaeological site and collegting without digging or altering the site

dendrochronology

materials/sites can be dated by tree ring growth

techniques of geophysical survey

magnetometry, ground-penetrating radar, earth electrical resistance, aerial photography, LiDAR (light detection and ranging)

what category of scientific dating is dendrochronology?

monumental

half-life

the time it takes for an element to reduce to half its original value

half-life of carbon-14

5730 ± 40 years

common phrase for radiocarbon dating

scientific dating

what category of scientific dating is carbon dating?

radiometric

principle of superposition

what is above is more recent than what is below and vice versa

stratigraphy

as debris accumulates over time, material laid down earlier will be underneath newer. layers of sediment build up over each other.

terminus post quem

• time after which

• event happed after “___”

terminus ante quem

• time before which

• event happened before “___”

heirloom effect

heirloom artifacts are kept long after their date of production and not deposited until long after

surface survey

mapping, geophysical prospection and remote sensing, field walking, settlement pattern survey

seriation

changes in proportions of types through time

typology

definition of types by shape and decoration

correlation and cross-dating

comparison of finds in one context with discovery having a continuous record, particularly written, or with a precise date

Joann Winckelmann

Renaissance classicist who came up with the periods of the ancient world

terminus ante quem for the appearance of true bronze in the Aegean

3000 BCE

changes in agriculture from Neolithic to the Bronze age

• domesticated animals (plowing, carts)

• secondary products (milk, wool, hair, blood)

• olive and grape cultivation

• copper tools

what do agricultural changes tell us about socio-economic development from the neolithic to the bronze age?

• suggests some people have more land

• indirect evidence of inequalities

corridor house

• ex. House of Tiles at Lerna

• administrative and economic centers

The House of Tiles

• Lerna, The Argolid

• EH II

• ca. 2700-2200 BCE

• most famous example of a corridor house

activities and practices taken place in a corridor house

feasting

• sauceboat

• Troy and Peloponnesos

• used for drinking

skeuomorph

• something meant to resemble something else

• decorative stone features

assemblage

• a collection or gathering of things

• ex. items buried with the dead

• cycladic frying pan

• spiral motif

• used in decoration and religious ceremonies

• made from stone and earthenware

how have looting and forgery made interpretation of FAFs difficult?

• smuggled out of country

• justified by claiming artistic heritage of Greek work

• folded arm figure (FAF)

• nude figure (usually female) with wedge-shaped heads and arms crossed over the chest

• painted to emphasize individual personhood

• most are fake

obsidian

glass-like volcanic rock

cyclades have abundant:

• limestone

• marble

• soapstone

• pumice

• emery

• obsidian

important line of evidence of different regional traditions (especially community values)

• differences in mortuary customs

• individual burials in north central crete

• house tombs in east crete

• tholos tombs in south crete

• vasiliki ware

• early minoan

• “tea pots” or “egg cups” meant to resemble egyptian stonework but made from wet wood

• first interregional style

• evidence of structured deposition

• koumasa figurine

• north crete

• resembles folded arm figure

• early Minoan tholos tomb

• circular building

• used for rite of passages

three courtyard complexes developed in EM III / MM I

• Knossos (central courtyard)

• Malia (staple foods and workshops)

• Phaistos (food storage)

how are minoan courtyards oriented?

• series of wings surrounding a central court

• includes a lustral basin and pillar crypt

what do minoan courtyards have in common with tholos tombs?

• tombs

  • thick walls

  • domed roof

  • located in cemeteries or burial grounds

• courtyard

  • multipurpose spaces

  • located in palace complexes

• kouloura

• subsurface pit with stone

• Phaistos, Knossos, Malia

• store excess harvest

• ashlar masonry

• building block carved into a rectangular shape

• ex. tholos tombs

two types of Minoan ritual sites

• cave sanctuaries & peak sanctuaries

• rhytons, ceramic body parts as votive offerings

• snake goddess

• Knossos

• 1600 BCE, New Palace Period

• structured deposition, destroyed and buried with seashells

• forgeries developed in 20th century

• fresco painting

• painting while plaster is wet with details added later

• ex. “Ladies in Blue” at Knossos

• chrystelephantine

• gold and ivory

• votive/cult statues

ceremonial architecture

• tripartite facades

• pillar crypts

• pier-and-door partitions

• horns of consecration

minoan religious symbols and motifs

• bulls

• double axes

• women

purpose of pier-and-door partitions

• flow of traffic

• ceremonial

• ventilation

Xeste 3

• red streaks represent saffron, flowers, or menstrual blood

• goddess represented by monkey and griffin

• haircut reflects social status

• coming of age ceremony

• walls are like a big instruction manual

• example of courtyard building/complex

• ashlar masonry & horns of consecration

4.2 ka BP event

• Late 3rd Millennium Mega-drought

• supra-reigonal rapid climatic change occurring between 2200 and 2000 BCE

changes after mega drought

• sites destroyed by fires or abandoned

• rebuilt on top of

example of monumentalizing during EH

• EH II

• Lerna, Kolonna

• ex. corridor houses, tholos tombs

• intentional

Middle Helladic Period

• 2000-1700/1600 BCE

• regrowth of population

• beginning of shaft grave era

• minyan ware

• fine gray burnished ware

• pithos

• storage jar

• tumulus

• artificial mound

warrior’s shaft

• ex. Griffin Warrior

  • bronze vessels and weapons

  • gemstone

  • gold signet ring

• cyclopean masonry

• MH Kolonna on Aegina

• shaft grave

• grave at the bottom of deep shaft

Late Helladic tholos tomb

settlement nucleation

• creating a communal area instead of individual houses

• apsidal houses

• matt-painted ware

• lustrous

• depicts scenes of sailing and armed persons

were Mycenae’s trade connections more or less than Kolonna?

More because of it’s central location and palace-controlled economy

examples of wealth in Mycenaen grave circles

• Grave Circle B

  • poorer

  • 35 persons in 26 graves

  • quartz crystal, Baltic amber, death mask

• Grave Circle A

  • richer

  • 19 persons in 6 shafts

  • gold jewelry for women

  • death masks, breast plates, and weapons for men

sources of wealth in Mycenae

• pottery

• gems, jewelry, glass

• metalworks

_

• Mask of Agamemnon

• Heinrich Schliemann

• fake

filigree

ornamental work of fine gold or silver wire

niello

engraved designs in black sulfur

pyxis

wooden box for death mask

• rhyton

• bull’s head, lion’s head, stag

• stela

• upright slab of stone

inlays of Grave Circle A swords & daggers

• hunting

• abstract waves

• Nilotic landscapes

during heyday of House of Tiles, what else was happening?

• Keros-Syros and FAFs in Cyclades

• Pyramids in Old Kingdom

• House graves and tholos tombs in Crete

three Mycenaean palaces

• Mycenae

  • lion’s gate

  • linear b

• Tiryns

  • lion’s gate

  • linear b

• Pylos

  • linear b

kind of masonry in Mycenaean sites

cyclopean

how is corbeling used?

stacking progressively smaller rings of stone on top of one another and trimming the inner corners to create a smooth, beehive-like dome

how do LH tholos tombs differ from EM?

• Mainland

  • vaulted roofs

  • buried under mounds

  • sophisticated construction

  • only for ruling elite

• Minoan

  • above ground

  • smaller w/ rough masonry

  • communal

• kylix

• drinking cup

• stirrup jar

• stirrup like handles

• used for holding oil

megaron

• large rectangular room with a hearth at center

• contains porch, vestibule, and throne/hearth room

• __

dromos

avenue leading into a temple or tomb

stomion

deep doorway of post and lintel construction (under a relieving triangle)

relieving triangle

triangular space above lintel to transfer weight

Cretan influence on Mycenean material culture

• procession fresco

• gold signet rings

• frescoes of warfare

Knossos

center of political power on Crete after eruption of Thera

evidence of Greek-speaking administration

Linear B texts

• Prince of Lilies

• modern reconstruction at Knossos

• arms and legs and headdress mismatch

lustral basin

indoor sunken area resembling a walk in pool