The Mycenaean World

by Wardle, K. A.; Wardle, Diana

• ISBN13: 9781853993558
• ISBN10: 1853993557
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-01-01
• Publisher: Bristol Classical Pr

Summary

Little over one hundred years has passed since Schliemann first excavated at Mycenae and revealed the riches of its rulers, buried in the Shaft Graves three and a half thousand years ago. Continuing discoveries have demonstrated the achievements and connections of Mycenaean civilization. The decipherment of their script, Linear B, as an early form of Greek, has shown that the Mycenaeans were the ancestors of the Greeks of the Classical period and has revealed the complexity of the administration of their palaces. This introduction to the Mycenaean world brings together the latest research to provide a clear account of its history and of the real Bronze Age cities which lie behind the Homeric legends. Mycenaean economy and society, technology and trade, burials and buildings, warfare and religion are all explored in illustrating the character and achievements of this brilliant forerunner of Classical Greece. The final chapter is devoted to the no-longer-so Dark Age, during which Greek society was transformed and the Homeric epic reached its final form.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Preface to the Second Edition

Introduction

The rise and fall of Mycenaean civilization When

Early Mycenaean period

Minoan Crete

Buried town of Akrotiri on Thera

Mainland Greece

Expansion and maturity

Palatial period

Mycenaean Crete

Trojan War

Late Mycenaean period

Cities Argos

Athens

Ithaca

Iolkos

Knossos

Mycenae

Orchomenos

Pylos

Sparta

Thebes

Tiryns

Troy

Tombs and burial practices Tomb types

Burial customs

Grave-goods

Shaft Graves at Mycenae

5

Metalwork

Carving

Glass and faience

Economy and society Linear B archives

Agriculture and stockraising

Landscape and climate

Crops

Animals

Slaves and workers

Officials and administrators

Building and engineering Tholoi

Fortresses

Roads and waterworks

Palaces

Construction techniques

Houses

Weapons and warfare Greaves

Cuirass

Swords and daggers

Shield

Helmet

Spear/Lance

Bow

Chariot

Warfare

Military planning

Wall-paintings Origins and associations

Technique

Hands and artists

Composition and subject matter

Costume

Trade and contact Resources and the sea

Maritime trade

Sailing patterns

Trade and exchange

Kas and Gelidonya wrecks

Metals trade

Luxury goods

Perfume trade

Chariot kraters

Cloth

Manpower

Cyprus

Macedonia and the Black Sea

Italy and the Central Mediterranean

Religion Religious scenes

Shrines

Figurines and cult equipment

Homer and the Dark Age: myth or memory? Dorians

Palace destructions

Aftermath

Iron Age

Ionian Migration

Heroon at Lefkandi in Euboea

Renewed trade and expansion

Settlements

A new heroic age

Sanctuaries

Homer and the monuments

Suggestions for Further Study

Suggestions for Further Reading and brief bibliography for each chapter

Index

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