CLAS 3P24 Extra Info (weeks 1-2)

Bronze Age Greece

• Bronze Age: begins c. 3000 BCE.

• Bronze metallurgy – alloy of copper and tin.

  • The epicentre for the invention of bronze is likely Syria; then it spread.

• Rise of urbanism, trade, and complex societies.

• Invention of writing; the historical period begins in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

• Note: c. (Latin for circa) = about, around in dating.

Cycladic Culture

• Bronze Age: 3100-1000 BCE across Cycladic Islands in the Aegean Sea.

• Islands featured boatbuilding, trading, farming, and fishing communities.

• Many were rich in stone and marble resources.

  • Obsidian has been found on some of the islands, very good for making blades for weapons.

• For example, in Syros, the remains of a village were found.

• Cycladic = a circular group of islands where many migrated during the Neolithic.

• Between Attica and Crete.

• Representative artifact for culture/topic.

Cycladic Communities

• Small villages, for example, Chalandriai-Kastri on Syros.

  • Excavated at the end of the 19th century.

• Walled with horseshoe-shaped bastions; small, irregular-shaped houses with hearths.

• Almost inaccessible; were the inhabitants worried about defence?

Chalandriai-Kastri on Syros

• Houses built into bedrock of the hill.

• Some share walls; narrow streets.

• c. 2300 BCE; used for around 100 years.

• Much metallurgy evidence.

  • Metal tools found at the site.

• Own use or trade?

• Nearby cemeteries with grave goods.

Cycladic Art

• Ceramics: they had terracotta objects in cemeteries.

• For example, terracotta “Frying Pans”.

  • Function? Prestige items.

  • Incised decoration – or used wooden stamps.

  • Here: it is incised with a ship with a fish prow.

  • Spirals represent water.

  • Function is unknown, possibly a mirror or container?

    • Used for scrying?

  • Range from 20-28 cm wide.

  • Dated between c. 2700-2200 BCE; around 200 are known to date.

Minoan Crete

• Bronze Age “Palace” sites and towns (1700-1350 BCE).

• Knossos is the largest and best preserved palace.

• Historical period now: some writing, Minoan script, called Linear A; still undeciphered.

• Linear B: Mycenaean last c. 100 years of site.

• Myths, ideas from Later Greeks.

• Minoans were traders, especially to Egypt, mainland Greece, the Eastern Mediterranean.

  • Evidence: Phaistos disk (Linear A), likely religious text, 16 cm in diameter.

  • Evidence: Fresco from a tomb in Egypt, Thebes, c. 1450 BCE showing Minoans in Egypt.

Minoan Buildings

• Architecture can be discovered from plaques and terracotta models.

• Timber and stone; some Ashlar masonry (large blocks of cut stone); but stone infill is common.

• Evidence example: Decorative faience plaques of Minoan houses, c. 1700 BCE.

  • Possibly used as support beams with stone or timber filling in the space.

• Construction style that could hold up against volcanic activity nearby?

• The North entrance of Knossos was completely reconstructed by Evans in 1930, what is the impact of all of this?

Knossos Architecture

• Staircases and light wells allowing light and air to flow to lower levels.

• Columns represent upside down tree trunks, known from palace frescoes.

  • Taper downward (narrower at the bottom).

Knossos: Storage

• An estimated c. 1300 rooms in the complex = labyrinth myth?

• Many basement storage rooms with Pithoi, which are large storage jars for agricultural surplus.

• Workrooms for metalwork: gold, silver, and bronze; ivory; ceramics; stone and faience; indicating artisans.

• Especially weaving, dying cloth, and perfumed oils, indicating trade.

Knossos Art

• Much art from rings to figurines to paintings, including personal and ritual objects.

• Gold ring: two women raise arms towards a higher woman.

• Priestesses to a goddess?

• ‘Snake Goddess’ figurine.

Minoan Clothing

• Elite women costumes: flounced skirts, aprons, open bodice with fitted shirts.

• Daily or ceremonial outfit?

• Possibly wool or linen (no cotton in the ancient world yet).

Bull Games

• Bulls were hunted and sacrificed to gods from earliest times; potent symbols of fertility and power.

• Depicted on the Haghia Triadha sarcophagus in Crete, c. 1400 BCE; limestone plastered with frescoes.

  • Bull sacrifice.

• Bulls rounded up for sacrifices.

Bull Leaping Fresco Interpretations

• Initiation rite for elite youths.

• Display of political power.

• Simulated hunt.

• Blood sacrifice; animals and sometimes humans for gods.

• Pure entertainment.

• Allegory for the constellations.

Bull Fresco: Overall

• Intricate bull games with feats of courage and athleticism by performers.

• Ideal males: fit and ready for war?

• Elites or professional performers? But what if elites die?

• Likely during seasonal festivals.

• Bulls were often associated with fertility.

• Impact on myth?

  • Theseus (prince) and Ariadne (princess) = youthful elites.

  • Bull sacrifices for gods (ritual context).

  • Minotaur: intermixing of man and animal.

  • In labyrinth: grand, complex building.