Political Geographies of the Bronze Age Aegean

Political Geographies of the Bronze Age Aegean
Author: Jan Driessen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-05-04
Genre: Bronze age
ISBN: 9789042947320

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Even though the demise of the Minoan and Mycenaean palaces happened more than three millennia ago, opinions on the political geography of the Aegean during the Bronze Age (2500-1100 BC) have seen remarkable changes over the last century and discussions continue. Since the Early Bronze Age, both Crete and the Helladic Mainland witnessed the development of complex societies. The ways in which these were structured and how power was executed, however, remain debated. In this volume, which represents the proceedings of a three-day workshop that took place in Athens from May 29 to 31, 2018, leading scholars in the field of Aegean Archaeology continue these debates on the basis of theoretically informed views that incorporate the latest archaeological developments, derived from both surveys and excavations. The volume is structured around three themes: 1. Territories. Can political or other meaningful spatial organisations be recognised in our data? And how did territories relate to one another? What about boundaries? How can we integrate our data into a discussion of intra-and inter-territorial relationships. 2. Authority display. Can we recognise different levels or scales in visual representation of authority? Were Aegean societies faceless? 3. Forms of power. How was power exercised and how can we recognise this? What types of control (military, economic, religious, social, technologicalâe¦.) can be distinguished and to what extent was power individualised, concentrated, hereditary, institutionalised, corporateâe¦..?

Collapse and Transformation

Collapse and Transformation
Author: Guy D. Middleton
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2020-04-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789254280

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The years c. 1250 to 1150 BC in Greece and the Aegean are often characterised as a time of crisis and collapse. A critical period in the long history of the region and its people and culture, they witnessed the end of the Mycenaean kingdoms, with their palaces and Linear B records, and, through the Postpalatial period, the transition into the Early Iron Age. But, on closer examination, it has become increasingly clear that the period as a whole, across the region, defies simple characterisation – there was success and splendour, resilience and continuity, and novelty and innovation, actively driven by the people of these lands through this transformative century. The story of the Aegean at this time has frequently been incorporated into narratives focused on the wider eastern Mediterranean, and most infamously the ‘Sea Peoples’ of the Egyptian texts. In twenty-five chapters written by 25 specialists, Collapse and Transformation instead offers a tight focus on the Aegean itself, providing an up-to date picture of the archaeology ‘before’ and ‘after’ ‘the collapse’ of c. 1200 BC. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean regions, as well as providing data and a range of interpretations to those studying collapse and resilience more widely and engaging in comparative studies. Introductory chapters discuss notions of collapse, and provide overviews of the Minoan and Mycenaean collapses. These are followed by twelve chapters, which review the evidence from the major regions of the Aegean, including the Argolid, Messenia, and Boeotia, Crete, and the Aegean islands. Six chapters then address key themes: the economy, funerary practices, the Mycenaean pottery of the mainland and the wider Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region, religion, and the extent to which later Greek myth can be drawn upon as evidence or taken to reflect any historical reality. The final four chapters provide a wider context for the Aegean story, surveying the eastern Mediterranean, including Cyprus and the Levant, and the themes of subsistence and warfare.

The Role of the Ruler in the Prehistoric Aegean

The Role of the Ruler in the Prehistoric Aegean
Author: Archaeological Institute of America. General Meeting
Publisher: Peeters
Total Pages: 304
Release: 1995
Genre: Art
ISBN:

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Table of Contents - Ellen N. DAVIS, Art and Politics in the Aegean: The Missing Ruler - Robert B. KOEHL, The Nature of Minoan Kingship - Nanno MARINATOS, Divine Kingship in Minoan Crete - Kathleen KRATTENMAKER, Palace, Peak and Sceptre: The Iconography of Legitimacy - James C. WRIGHT, From Chief to King in Mycenaean Greece - Robert LAFFINEUR, Aspects of Rulership at Mycenae in the Shaft Grave Period - Paul REHAK, Enthroned Figures in Aegean Art and the Function of the Mycenaean Megaron - Thomas G. PALAIMA, The Nature of the Mycenaean Wanax: Non-Indo-European Origins and Priestly Functions - Eric H. CLINE, 'My Brother, My Son': Rulership and Trade between the Late Bronze Age Aegean, Egypt and the Near East John G. YOUNGER, The Iconography of Rulership in the Aegean: A Conspectus

The Ancient World Revisited: Material Dimensions of Written Artefacts

The Ancient World Revisited: Material Dimensions of Written Artefacts
Author: Marilina Betrò
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2024-03-04
Genre: Art
ISBN: 3111360806

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Written artefacts are traditionally studied because of their content. Material aspects of these artefacts enrich the study of ancient history in many ways. Eleven case studies in five sections on the ancient world, including the Near East, Egypt, the Mediterranean, China and India, demonstrate the impact of a holistic approach that considers materiality and content alike. Following an introductory sketch of relevant research, the first section, 'Methodological Considerations', critically examines the limitations the evidence available imposes on our understanding. 'Early Uses of Writing' addresses material and spatial aspects of inscriptions, and their communicative functions over the textual ones. The third section, 'Material Features', deals with clay, wooden and papyrus manuscripts and demonstrates the importance of an integrated approach. The contributions to 'Co-presence of Written Artefacts' take into account that written artefacts come in clusters. The final section, 'Cultural Encounters', presents studies on the interactions between social strata and ethnic groups, challenging previous ideas. The volume contributes to the comparative study of written artefacts in ancient history, stimulating cross-disciplinary and -cultural research.

Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age

Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age
Author: Daniel J. Pullen
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2010
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

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This volume brings together an international group of researchers to address how Mycenaean and Minoan states controlled the economy. The contributions, originally delivered at the 2007 Langford Conference at the Florida State University, examine the political economies of state (and pre-state) entities within the Aegean Bronze Age, including the issues of centralization and multiple scales of production, distribution, and consumption within a polity; importance of extraregional trade; craft specialization; the role of non-elite institutions, and the political economy before the emergence of the palaces. The contributors address these issues from an explicitly comparative perspective, both within and across Minoan and Mycenaean contexts. The conclusions reached in this volume shed new light on the essential differences between and among "Minoan" and "Mycenaean" states through their political economies.

Societies in Transition in Early Greece

Societies in Transition in Early Greece
Author: Alex R. Knodell
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2021-05-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520380533

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Situated at the disciplinary boundary between prehistory and history, this book presents a new synthesis of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Greece, from the rise and fall of Mycenaean civilization to the emergence of city-states in the Archaic period. These centuries saw the growth and decline of varied political systems and the development of networks across local, regional, and Mediterranean scales. As a groundbreaking study of landscape, interaction, and sociopolitical change, Societies in Transition in Early Greece systematically bridges the divide between the Mycenaean period and the Archaic Greek world to shed new light on an often-overlooked period of world history. “This book reconfigures our understanding of early Greece on a regional level, beyond Mycenaean 'palaces' and across temporal boundaries. Alex Knodell's sophisticated arguments enable a fresh reading of the emergence of early Greek polities, revealing the microregions that put to the test overarching 'Mediterranean' models. His detailed study makes a convincing return to a comparative framework, integrating a 'small world' network and its trajectory with the larger picture of ancient complex societies.” SARAH MORRIS, Steinmetz Professor of Classical Archaeology and Material Culture, University of California, Los Angeles “A comprehensive, thoughtful treatment of the time period before the crystallization of the ancient Greek city states.” WILLIAM A. PARKINSON, Curator and Professor, The Field Museum and University of Illinois at Chicago “An important and must-read account. The strength of this book lies in its close analysis of the important different regional characteristics and evolutionary trajectories of Greece as it transforms into the Archaic and, later, the Classical world.” DAVID B. SMALL, author Ancient Greece: Social Structure and Evolution.

Studies in Aegean Art and Culture

Studies in Aegean Art and Culture
Author: Robert B Koehl
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2016-02-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623034116

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The papers published here are dedicated to the memory of Ellen N. Davis, one of the most valued and beloved Aegean scholars of her generation. All of the articles are in some way inspired or influenced by Davis' own contributions to the field. In the area of metalwork, several papers investigate interconnections within and around the Aegean during the Early, Middle, and Late Bronze Ages (Betancourt, Ferrence, and Muhly, Weingarten, Kopcke), while others examine metal ware in its social context (Wiener). Papers on wall painting range from studies of pigments and optical illusions (Vlachopoulos), to representations of water (Shank). Anthropomorphic representations, or their absence, of goddesses or priestesses (Jones), rulers (Palaima), or initiates (Koehl) are also studied here with new eyes and fresh insights.

South by Southeast: The History and Archaeology of Southeast Crete from Myrtos to Kato Zakros

South by Southeast: The History and Archaeology of Southeast Crete from Myrtos to Kato Zakros
Author: Emilia Oddo
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2022-09-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1803271310

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Contributions investigate the settlement patterns, maritime connectivity, and material culture of the southeast of Crete in a diachronic fashion, in an attempt to define it as a region and trace its history. Papers focus primarily on the archaeology of the sites along the coastal strip spanning between the Myrtos Valley and Kato Zakros.

Bramiana

Bramiana
Author: Vili Apostolakou
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2022-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623034353

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The Minoan site at Bramiana in southeastern Crete provides evidence for a Bronze Age economy based on trade, agriculture, and craftwork. This publication uses a new system of organizing the pottery by petrography-sorting it by materials and workshop practices-revealing a trade network of cooking pots and other clay vessels and their contents.

Policies of Exchange

Policies of Exchange
Author: Birgitta Eder
Publisher: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre: Aegean Sea Region
ISBN: 9783700176619

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The Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean belongs to the most captivating chapters in the history of the Ancient World: Various cuneiform documents and archaeological sources illustrate the numerous contacts between different polities in the 2nd millennium BCE. Reciprocal gift exchange within the framework of diplomatic contacts and redistributive mobility of goods in asymmetric political relations shaped regional and supra-regional communication in different ways. Following the detailed discussions about modes of culture contacts and exchanges in previous research the contributions in the present volume address questions of the specific mechanisms and routes of exchange. How and by which means did material commodities and knowledge circulate among the Great Powers, lesser independent states and vassal kingdoms of the Aegean, Anatolia, Syria, the Levant, Mesopotamia and Egypt? Where did the different raw materials and finished products come from, and under which conditions and by whom were they negotiated? Is it possible to determine regions of production and direct and indirect channels of distribution? Which rules were applied in the supra-regional exchange? Which possibilities and which obligations did the vassal kingdoms of the Levant have towards the Great Powers of the Hittites, Assyrians and Egyptians? Which role did the Mycenaean palaces of the Aegean play within the international network of exchanges? Can we develop a model of political and economic interaction? During the symposium at Freiburg University archaeologists, philologists and historians discussed these issues on the basis of the current evaluation of the archaeological and written evidence within an interdisciplinary framework and developed perspectives on the specific forms of exchange (re)considering the interaction of political and economic forces.