AH 322. The Art and Archaeology
of the Greek Bronze Age
 
A survey of Greek prehistory, with a focus on Minoan and Mycenaean cultures.
 
This course is offered as part of a 2-year rotation of four archaeology and ancient art history courses, and is offered every other spring semester.  It was offered in SP 2001 and SP 2003, and will be offered next in SP 2005.
 

Spring 2001 Syllabus                                                                                          Spring 2003 syllabus is not on-line

 
All photographs were taken by Professors Anne Chapin and Robert Bauslaugh.
 
 
 
 This course examines a wide range of archaeological material, 
beginning with the first appearance of people in Greece, through 
the developing prehistoric societies of the Early Bronze Age, to 
the rise of the great Minoan and Mycenaean cultures of the Late 
Bronze Age. 
    Above is a photograph of Crete in the spring, with 
native flora in the foreground and snow-capped mountains in the 
distance. 
 
 
Above is a view of the Minoan palace at Knossos, where legend 
says that King Minos ruled.  Today its well-preserved archaeological 
remains are a popular tourist destination but on-going excavations 
continue to supply new discoveries. 
 
 
  A view of the storage magazines at Knossos, where excavations 
by Sir Arthur Evans uncovered numerous storage jars called pithoi. 
 
 
   Sir Arthur Evans also uncovered a Grand Staircase leading into 
areas of the palace he defined as living quarters.  Today the staircase 
with its reconstructed columns give today's visitor an opportunity 
to walk through palatial corridors more than 3000 years old! 
 
 
    The Minoan culture had a profound impact on the native populations 
of the nearby Cycladic Islands.  Above is a view of Santorini, known 
to archaeologists as Thera, where an enormous volcanic eruption in 
the Late Bronze Age created this dramatic caldera with its thousand-foot 
high cliffs.  The eruption buried the town of Akrotiri, located at the 
southern end of the island. 
 
 
A view across the mouth of the volcano 
toward the modern town of Thira. 
 
 
    Here is a view of houses from the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri, 
preserved for millennia by the Theran volcanic eruption.  Some call 
this site a "Bronze Age Pompeii." 
 
 
    The citadel of Mycenae, seen above, was the largest and most 
important Mycenaean site of the Late Bronze Age.  The Myceaneans 
were early Greek speakers, and the culture had its zenith after the 
demise of the Minoans. 
 
 
    The famous Lion Gate of Mycenae, built 
into the Cyclopean fortifications of the citadel 
and carved with heraldic lions. 
 
 
    This is "Grave Circle A" at Mycenae, where the controversial 
archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered shaft graves built 
for royal burials covered in gold.  Schliemann thought he had 
discovered the tombs of Agamemnon and family, known from 
Greek mythology as heroes of the Trojan War.  We know today 
that these burials are centuries too early to belong to the famous 
Homeric heroes, but they were royalty nonetheless. 
 
 
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