Terms - Introduction to the Archeology of Classical Antiquity

Study definition -> term

Linear B

Mycenaean syllabic script on clay tablets. An early form of Greek

Tholos

A beehive-shaped stone tomb roofed with a corbel vault

Aniconic

Non-figurative, characterizes the decoration of Protogeometric pottery

Pregnant moment

The instant of greatest tension, frozen in a statue such as the Artemision god

Kouros

Statue of a standing nude youth, set up as a votive or a grave marker

Peristyle

A ring of columns around the core of a temple

Contrapposto

Pose in which one leg carries the weight and the other is relaxed

Ostracism

Annual vote by which the Athenians could exile a citizen for ten years, with names scratched on potsherds

Triglyph

A grooved block of the frieze

Metope

A square panel of the frieze

Architrave

The plain beam directly above the capitals

Echinus

The cushion-shaped lower part of the capital

Stylobate

The top step on which the columns stand

Volute

A scroll-like decoration on the column capital

Abacus

A slab that sits on top of the column capital

Cornice

A decorative or protective horizontal molding that crowns a temple

Frieze

A long band of painted or sculpted art

Protome

Three-dimensional heads of griffins, bulls or lions attached to bronze cauldrons

Altis

The sacred precinct of the sanctuary at Olympia

Early Bronze Age

3100-2100

Middle Bronze Age

2100-1600

Late Bronze Age

1600-1070

Submycenean

1070-1025

Protogeometric

1025-900

Early Geometric

900-850

Middle Geometric

850-760

Late Geometric

760-700

Early Archaic/Orientalizing

700-600

Middle Archaic

600-520

Late Archaic

520-480

Early Classical

480-450

High Classical

450-400

Late Classical

400-323

Hellenistic

323-31

Techne

Art, craft, or skill.

Dipinti

Inscriptions or writing applied in paint.

Liturgy

A public financial duty assigned to wealthy citizens, especially in democratic Athens.

Heroon

A shrine dedicated to a hero.

Terminus ante quem

A date before which an event must have happened

Megaron

A Mycenaean building’s main room, typically with a central hearth, an anteroom, and a porch with two columns.

Wanax

A Mycenaean term for a ruler or king.

Antae

The projecting ends of walls, often at a building entrance.

In antis

A building arrangement in which columns stand between the ends of walls.

In situ

In the original place or position.

Dromos

A constructed approach or passage leading to a structure, such as a tomb.

Kylix

A drinking cup, usually broad and shallow.

Emporion

A settlement established outside Greece as a place for trade.

Apoikiai

Greek colonies or settlements founded away from the mother city.

Oinochoe

A wine jug with a trefoil shaped mouth.

Sauroter

A metal fitting at the butt of a spear, ending in a spike.

Temenos

A sacred precinct or sanctuary.

Prostyle

Describes a building with columns in front of a wall or entrance.

Hekatompedon

Literally “hundred footer”; a building measuring one hundred ancient feet in length.

Stoa

A covered walkway or portico.

Poloi

Cylindrical headdresses often worn by goddesses.

Sphyrelaton

A bronze statue made from sheets of metal fastened together with rivets.

Eschara

A hearth.

Sekos

The enclosed central part of a Greek temple.

Peplos

A heavy woollen garment, generally worn by women and fastened with a belt.

Kore

A maiden or young unmarried woman; also used for a type of ancient Greek female statue.

Agalma

A votive offering intended to please a deity.

Ganosis

A wax-and-olive-oil mixture applied to marble and polished as a finish.

Kouros

A young man; also used for a type of ancient Greek male statue.

Agora

A central public space serving as a marketplace and often a centre for civic and religious activities.

Louterion

A large bowl.

Prothesis

The laying out of a dead person before burial.

Symposion

An elite drinking gathering involving conversation, poetry, music, and songs.

Adyton

A restricted access room in a temple, situated behind the cella.

Entasis

A slight swelling in the middle of a column.

Peripteros

A temple surrounded by an external colonnade.

Akroteria

Sculptural ornaments placed on a building’s roof, particularly at the ends or peak of a pediment.

Dipteral

Describes a temple with a double row of columns around it.

Hypaethral

Open to the sky, without a roof.

Anathyrosis

A stone-working method that smooths the edges of adjoining blocks while leaving the central contact surface rough.

Chiton

A light linen garment, sometimes pleated.

Himation

A long, heavy outer garment, often worn over a chiton.

Kantharos

A drinking cup with long handles, often associated with Dionysos.

Loutrophoros

A tall, narrow-necked vessel associated particularly with weddings and funerals.

Omphalos

Literally “navel”; a central point or navel-shaped object.

Tondo

The circular decorated interior surface of a kylix.

Kline

A couch used for reclining at a symposion.

Psychopompos

“Leader of souls”; an epithet commonly applied to Hermes.

Oikemata

Small buildings or rooms, literally “little houses.”

Tamiai

Treasurers or officials responsible for funds.

Hoplitodromos

A footrace in which competitors ran wearing armour and carrying weapons.

Pyrrhic

A warlike dance performed at festivals, including the Panathenaia.

Stadion

A running track or footrace of one stade, approximately 180 metres.

Boule

A governing council in a Greek city-state.

Demos

A deme: a local administrative unit or district.

Prytaneion

A civic building used by officials and often associated with the sacred flame of Hestia.

Bouleuterion

The building where the boule, or governing council, met.

Synoikismos

The political unification of separate regions or demes.

Palladion

A cult image of Athena; in myth, the safety of Troy depended on its possession.

Contrapposto

A pose in which the body’s weight rests mainly on one leg while the other is relaxed.

Hetaira

A female companion or courtesan who could provide entertainment at symposia.

Kourotrophos

A child-nurturer, nurse, or nanny.

Stoic

A follower of Stoicism, a school of philosophy associated with the Hellenistic period and named after an Athenian stoa.

Agon

A contest or competition.

Tainia

A ribbon or band.

Tropaia

Military trophies made from captured enemy equipment; the term originally referred to markers at places where an enemy had turned and fled.