Aegean Art and Architecture

by Preziosi, Donald; Hitchcock, Louise A.

• ISBN13: 9780192842084
• ISBN10: 0192842080
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-02-24
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The discoveries in Crete, Greece, and the Aegean islands that began a century ago were nothing less than stunning, and seemed to give shape and substance to tales of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth, of Theseus and Ariadne, of Minos and Icarus. Ancient Aegean Art is the first comprehensive historical introduction to the art and architecture Crete, mainland Greece, and the Cycladic islands in the Aegean, beginning with the Neolithic period, before 3000 BCE, and ending at the close of the Bronze Age and the transition to the Iron Age of Hellenic Greece (c.1000 BCE). Covering a broad range of objects and artefacts, from sealstones to pots to buildings and settlements, Preziosi and Hitchcock discuss both the historiography of the field of ancient art history and explain the artefacts original intentions and functions. In chronologically organized chapters, the authors emphasize the more widely known images and structures, with a glimpse at the lesser-known but important discoveries, explaining their design, uses, meanings, and formal developments. Ancient Aegean Art incorporates the latest archeological discoveries and theoretical and methodological developments, in the only volume to examine both Crete and the mainland.

Author Biography

Donald Preziosi is Professor of Art History at UCLA, where he developed and directs the art history critical theory program, as well as the UCLA museum studies program.
Louise Hitchcock is a Research Associate of the Institute of Archaeology at UCLA. She received the prestigious Edward A. Dickson Fellowship on several occasions prior to completing her Ph.D., and was a Fellow of the American School of Classical Studies, Athens.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: Aegean Art and Architecture	I
The environment	4	(3)
Discovering the Aegean world	7	(13)
Art and art history	20	(4)
Objectives of this book	24	(4)
Organization of the book	28	(5)
The Neolithic Period and the Prepalatial Early Bronze Age	33	(30)
Settlements	33	(20)
Burial practices	53	(10)
The First Palace Period	63	(26)
Middle Bronze Age palaces and villas	63	(14)
The vernacular tradition in Greece and Crete	77	(1)
Ritual practices	78	(9)
Summary	87	(2)
The Second Palace Period	89	(66)
Public art, private art, and the palatial architectural style	89	(3)
The Second Palaces: Knossos, Phaistos, Gournia, and Kato Zakro	92	(18)
Minoan villas: function and design	110	(10)
The terminology and typology of Minoan palatial buildings	120	(2)
The Minoan and Mycenaean spheres of influence	122	(13)
Religious practices	135	(13)
Burial practices	148	(7)
Mycenaean Domination and the Minoan Tradition	155	(38)
The Mycenaean palace at Pylos	155	(10)
The Mycenaean palace at Knossos	165	(6)
Haghia Triadha and Kommos	171	(2)
The continuation of Minoan building techniques in the Third Palace Period	173	(1)
Burial practices	174	(8)
The Mycenaean shrine at Phylakopi	182	(3)
The circuit walls at Mycenae and Tiryns	185	(8)
Conclusion: Disruptions, (Dis) Continuities, and the Bronze Age	193	(27)
The eastward migration of Aegean traditions	193	(5)
The international style	198	(2)
Cyprus, Palestine, and the Peoples of the Sea	200	(10)
Tradition and transformation	210	(4)
What goes around comes around: Daedalus returns to Crete	214	(6)
Notes	220	(7)
List of Illustrations	227	(5)
Bibliography	232	(10)
Timeline	242	(1)
Index	243