Aegean Prehistoric Cultures Reference library
Neil Asher Silberman, Cyprian Broodbank, Alan Peatfield, Louise Hitchcock, James C. Wright, Kim S. Shelton, Elizabeth B. French, and Kim S. Shelton
The Oxford Companion To Archaeology (2 ed.)
... Prehistoric Cultures Introduction Cycladic Culture Minoan Culture Helladic (Mycenaean) Culture Mycenae Aegean Prehistoric Cultures: Introduction The Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean basin, rediscovered in the late nineteenth century by the pioneering excavations of Heinrich Schliemann at Troy and Mycenae and in the early twentieth century by Arthur Evans at Knossos, have offered scholars a unique perspective on the economic and cultural developments in the region that preceded the rise of the classical Greek world. From the evidence of...
Dorians
Minoan civilization
Dorians ([CP]) Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (3 ed.)
...as a group of prehistoric tribes who moved southwards towards the end of the 2nd millennium bc to take over the whole of Greece, many of the islands of the Aegean, Crete, and parts of Asia Minor. They are sometimes credited with overthrowing the Mycenaeans. Archaeologically, however, there is little or no evidence for the Dorians, and while it is recognized that their language went on to become a dialect spoken in the Peloponnese and southern Aegean islands, and that they probably made a contribution to the emergence of classical Greek culture, their origins...
Aegean Islands Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East
...floors (Israel) leave no doubt that Aegean influences traveled in the opposite direction. Aegean prehistorians work in a nearly “prehistoric” context with a very limited range of documentary evidence (Linear A and Linear B) at their disposal. This factor combined with the inherent chronological imprecision for Bronze Age Crete and the Cyclades (from 50 to 200 years) makes it difficult to provide reliable narrative accounts for much of the Bronze Age. Given the nature of the evidence, the best that Aegean prehistorians can do is to outline patterns of...
Iron Age Quick reference
A Dictionary of World History (3 ed.)
...Hittites in Anatolia between 1500 and 1200 bc , and spread to the Aegean, and thence to south-east and central Europe and Italy. The spread was slow across Europe, as it only gradually replaced bronze. In Africa the Iron Age immediately followed the Stone Age , bronze entering much later. In America, iron was not discovered before being introduced from Europe. The culture of the early European Iron Age ( c . 750–450 bc ) is known as Hallstatt culture, after the site of a prehistoric cemetery near the town of Hallstatt in Austria. At first cremation was...
Lemnos Reference library
The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture
.... Greek island in the north-eastern Aegean Sea. Owing to its geographical position, Lemnos played a quite prominent role in Aegean history and culture from the Early Bronze Age ( c. 3200–2000 bc ) onwards. Its involvement with the prehistoric exchange network may be discerned, for example, from a story in Homer’s Iliad ( c. 780–750 bc ; VIII 467–475 ), where the Lemnian King Euneos is seen to exchange metal ores from the Troad for the good quality wine produced on the island. Metallurgy was also closely connected with Lemnos in the mythical...
Cyclades Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome
...mainland at Lerna, suggesting cultural contact. Communication routes are also responsible for the wide distribution in the Aegean of obsidian, for which the island of Melos is the only source. In addition Cretan architectural and artistic influences at Akrotiri on Thera may signal a commercial connection, unless the later myth of a Cretan sea empire under King Minos has any validity. Much of what is known of prehistoric Cycladic cultures, however, comes from tombs. The largest excavated cemetery at Chalandriani on Syros, from circa 2000 bce , had more than...
Cypriot art Reference library
The Oxford Companion to Western Art
...solid-cast statuettes, such as the Enkomi Horned God (Nicosia, Cyprus Mus.), and bronze four-sided stands with figured decoration. The Bronze Age ends with the collapse of palatial Mediterranean societies and their arts, and Aegean peoples sought refuge in Cyprus, thus beginning the Hellenization of the island. Cypriot culture, however, continued to thrive during the 12th–11th centuries bc , as shown by the Kourion Sceptre: a golden shaft surmounted by a sphere on which are perched a pair of birds, all executed in skilful cloisonné enamelling (Nicosia,...
Mycenaean civilization Reference library
Oliver T. P. K. Dickinson
The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4 ed.)
...Death in Prehistoric Greece (1998), chs. 5–9; K. Lewartowski , Late Helladic Simple Graves (2000). Trade A. F. Harding , The Mycenaeans and Europe (1984); M. Marazzi , S. Tusa , and L. Vagnetti , Traffici micenei nel Mediterraneo (1986); papers in N. H. Gale (ed.), Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean (1991); O. Dickinson , The Aegean Bronze Age (1994), 251 ff.; Cullen , 353 ff. Religion C. Renfrew , The Archaeology of Cult (1985); B. Rutkowski , The Cult Places of the Aegean (1986), chs. 9–11; O. Dickinson , The Aegean Bronze Age ...
Melos Reference library
The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture
...at the south-western extremity of the Aegean Cyclades. Its importance in the Bronze Age is evident from the finds at the main prehistoric settlement of Phylakopi , which suggest that Melian culture was influential throughout the Cyclades and beyond. This influence was probably derived from the fact that Melos was the main Aegean source of obsidian—an opaque glassy stone of volcanic origin, which was used, like flint, to provide cutting edges for tools and weapons and is found on all prehistoric sites in the Aegean , as well as farther afield. Two...
Mediterranean, Historical Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology of the Reference library
Uzi Baram
The Oxford Companion To Archaeology (2 ed.)
...of material culture within social context. As such, both are broadening anthropological understandings of the Mediterranean region, which scholars are employing to reveal the details of issues ranging from social relations and changes in foodways to the introduction of Westernization and the development of modernity. The development of ceramic typologies, new surveys of architecture, and explorations of the politics of the past suggest a promising future for historical archaeology across the Mediterranean. [ See also Aegean Prehistoric Cultures:...
Minoan civilization Reference library
John Bennet
The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4 ed.)
... J. W. Graham , The Palaces of Crete , rev. edn. (1987); J. W. Shaw , Minoan Architecture: Materials and Techniques (1971). Art and Iconography: P. Darcque and J.-C. Poursat (eds.), L'Iconographie minoenne (1985); S. Hood , The Arts in Prehistoric Greece (1978); S. A. Immerwahr , Aegean Painting in the Bronze Age (1990); F. Matz , H. Biesantz , and I. Pini (eds.), Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel 1– (1964– ); L. Morgan , The Miniature Wall Paintings of Thera (1987); D. Evely , Minoan Crafts 1 (1993), 2 (2000). John...
Diet, Reconstruction of Reference library
Patricia M. Lambert and John G. Younger
The Oxford Companion To Archaeology (2 ed.)
...taste, risk minimization). A model’s ability to explain prehistoric behavior can then be tested by comparing the predicted frequencies of different types of resources with those actually observed in the archaeological record. These models enable archaeologists to better understand the decision-making processes of the prehistoric people they study. Recently archaeologists have turned to human skeletal remains for answers to questions about the quality and quantity of different prehistoric diets. There are several different types of skeletal evidence...
Cyprus Reference library
Joseph A. Greene and Thomas W. Davis
The Oxford Companion To Archaeology (2 ed.)
...resources. The establishment of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) and the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus has increased the viability and visibility of Cypriot archaeology. [ See also Aegean Prehistoric Cultures: Helladic (Mycenaean) Culture ; Aegean Prehistoric Cultures: Mycenae ; Mediterranean Trade . ] Bagiskan, T. Ottoman, Islamic and Islamised Monuments in Cyprus , 2009. Gabrieli, R. S. Silent Witnesses: The Evidence of Domestic Wares of the 13th–19th Centuries in Paphos, Cyprus, for Local...
Anatolia Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome
...from the Aegean coast to the Euphrates, corresponding roughly to the Asian territory of modern Turkey. It is surrounded by the Black Sea on the north, by the Aegean on the west, and by the Mediterranean on the south. Anatolia consists of two main geographical zones: a barren and dry plateau in the interior, which is enclosed by the Pontic Mountains in the north and by the Taurus Mountains in the south, and the fertile areas on the western and southern coasts. In the Greco-Roman period Anatolia was divided into various regions, with different cultures,...
Helladic Reference library
The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture
...Protohistory , i of History of the Hellenic World (Athens, 1974) S. Hood : The Arts in Prehistoric Greece , Pelican Hist. A. (Harmondsworth, 1978) O. T. P. K. Dickinson : The Aegean Bronze Age , Cambridge World Archaeology (Cambridge, 1994) J. L. Fitton : The Discovery of the Greek Bronze Age (Cambridge, MA, 1996) D. Preziosi and L. Hitchcock : Aegean Art and Architecture (Oxford, 1999) S. C. German : Performance, Power and the Art of the Aegean Bronze Age (Oxford, 2005) 1. G eography and climate . Mainland Greece is the southern tip...
Amorgos Reference library
The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture
.... Greek island at the south-east extremity of the Aegean Cyclades. Survey work in the 1980s increased the number of known sites of all periods on the island. Most of the Bronze Age finds date from the Early Cycladic ( ec ) period ( c. 3500/3000– c. 2000 bc ) and come from cemeteries, although a settlement at Markiani is being excavated; there is also some Middle Cycladic ( mc ) and Late Cycladic ( lc ) pottery from graves at Arkesine, and Mycenaean vases were found at Xilokeratidi . The primary investigations were mainly the work of C. Tsountas ,...
Knossos Reference library
Colin F. Macdonald
The Oxford Companion To Archaeology (2 ed.)
...the central court, but the thirteenth century saw a decline in the town and cemeteries of Knossos. There may have been something of a revival in the settlement during the twelfth century BC, but no attempt was made to repair or occupy the deserted palace. [ See also Aegean Prehistoric Cultures . ] Brown, Ann . Arthur Evans and the Palace of Minos , 1994. Cadogan, Gerald , Eleni Hatzaki , and Adonis Vasilakis . Knossos: Palace, City, State , 2004. Evans, Arthur . Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan...
Cycladic Reference library
The Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture
...Age (Chicago, 1964, 5/1972) P. M. Warren : The Aegean Civilizations: From Ancient Crete to Mycenae (Oxford, 1975, 2/1989) C. Zervos : L’Art des Cyclades du début à la fin de l’âge du bronze: 2500–1100 avant notre ère (Paris, 1975) [excellent pls] Kunst und Kultur der Kykladeninseln im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. (exh. cat., ed. J. Thimme; Karlsruhe, Bad. Landesmus., 1976); Eng. trans. as Art and Culture of the Cyclades , ed. P. Getz-Preziosi (Karlsruhe, 1977) S. Hood : The Arts in Prehistoric Greece , Pelican Hist. A. (Harmondsworth, 1978) J. F....
