 Archeology: the study of human culture through human made objects.

 Culture: study of human adaptation to their environments; the types of building,

clothes, food…
o Pottery, tools, weapons, actual human remains.
 The Greek dark ages: no written information or Written texts.
 Before the Greek dark ages as well as after there is evidence of writing. Why?
o Some theories about the Greek dark ages
o A civilization prior to the dark ages collapsed.
o Maybe writing did occur but was not discovered yet
o Disease? Everyone got wiped about.
 Democracy emerged in the 5th century BCE
o The idea of democracy emerged in the eastern
Mediterranean not in the west.

 Basic chronology:
o Mycenaean Greece:
 Cultural period of bronze age Greece
 1900 BCE- 1200 BCE
o Minoan civilization:
 Bronze age culture on the island of Crete.
 3600 BCE- 1200 BCE
o Greek dark ages:
 Period In which there is a lack of inscriptional
evidence
 Transition from bronze to iron age
 1200 BCE- 800 BCE.

 Mycenean gold masks (excavated : Heinrich Schliemann) : gold death masks were found
in a tomb in Mycenae, was melted on the face of the dead and buried with the body.
o A sign of wealth
o But not everyone got them (kings and rulers)
o Sign of respect
o Religious reasons.
o Most famous is the gold death mask of Agamemnon
 In term of civilization Mycenae seems like it was very civilized, sophisticated and
organized with systems such as taxation (not likely well controlled)
 13th century krater (bowl) from Mycenae.
o Bull and egret represented
o High quality craftsmanship
o Shows how sophisticated Mycenae was.
 o People were highly skilled in different fields such as
pottery: this shows the development of this civilization,
not only farming for subsistence.
 Mycenean sieve jug:
o Egret, bull and a human
o Probably used for beer
o Was excavated in Cyprus: trade?
o Bull leaping was a prominent activity in the Minoan
civilization this reinforce the theory of trade.

 Mycenean palace at Pylos: Homeric home of king Nestor.

o Highly complex palace with a big number of rooms. Very
well organized around a large central area.
o Porch entrance: fancy architecture, shows the importance
of the palace.
o Vestibule: a waiting room as well as a transition from the
outside world to the inside.
o Megaron or the throne room: large room where there are
4 pillars and a circle (fire hearth) in which the kings sit, it
gives him value and importance. He is hard to reach.
 Wall painting in the throne room
o A bard (a poet that sings ex: homer) playing a lyre.
o This fresco shows once again that this is a wealthy society
that can maintain this profession (painter and poet).
 Small archive room in the castle
o Shows that there are writings
o A sophisticated civilization with trade and different
occupations, keeping track. + the very high number of
rooms shows that officials working at the palace to
maintain the kingdom.
 Clay tablets records in archive with Mycenean language Linear B
o Symbols were not understood until 1952: Michael Ventris
decoded it
 Linear B suggest Linear A: Minoan language system
o Not deciphered yet because ppl in Crete did not speak
Greek and it is not related to modern language.
 Minoan freeze from Knossos palace in crete.
o Bull leaping
o Minotaur: mythical figure half man half bull
 Labyrinth: in Knossos, the minotaur was imprisoned Theseus helped him
escape using a string to trace his way. Also shows the complexity of the
castle.
 Karphi Crete: refuge settlement.
o Strategic location: defensible maybe there was a threat at
the time.
o Small and densely populated, rectangular rooms of
different sizes.
 There is NO palace
o Not very well organized.
o Minoan settlement.
o A lot of refuge settlement in Crete.
o Something happened approx in the 1250 BCE, as we move
forward, we see many palatial settlements on the coast of
Crete dissolve.
 New architecture on Greek turkey coast;
o Old Smyrna 1000-1100 BCE
o Oval house
o Settlements all over the region started to adopt this
standard house architecture

 Change in burial
 During the Mycenean period before 1200 BCE.
o 2 tomb types
o Chamber tomb and tholos tomb
o Rooms dug into hills with a tunnel.
 Communal burial: many people buried in the same chamber.
 1100 BCE: different tomb
o Kerameikos cemetery.
o Individual burial
o Cist tombs
o Supine burial: laying on their back
o Very simple burial no gold mask
 Cremation burial
o Athenian agora approx 850 BCE
o Grave goods: buried with the amphora sign of wealth and
help discern sex.

 Changes in pottery after 1100

o More variety in pottery decoration style ex: octopus from
the Agean islands.
o Regional styles of pottery
 o Decline in quality compared to the Mycenean period
 Evidence for places like Pylos and Mycenae have been abandoned
 Loss of trade: usually happens in unstable situation. People become much more
regional

PERIOD 1100-1000 BCE.

 Huge decrease in population.

o Ex: Laconia
o 13th century BCE: 320 sites
o 12th century BCE: 130 sites
o 11th century BCE: 40 sites
 Little early iron age evidence
 Dramatic decline in population.
 Summary of some of the major changes
 Pre dark ages- Mycenaean Greece
o Palaces at the center of settlements
o Use of crafts skill
o Linear B writing
o Homogeneous pottery style
o Trade
o Collective burials in tholos tomb and chamber tombs
 Dark age Greece
o Regional pottery style, less competent
o Decline in population.
 Dark age Crete
o Refuge settlements
 Dark age mainland Greece
o Oval houses
o Individual burials cists or ashes in cremation urns.
 Invasion theory
o Vincent Desborough, study including remains from burial
spread across different regions of a type of dress pin
originating from the Dorian Greeks. Dorian invasion from
the northern regions beyond Greece. ---probably did not
happen as theorized.
 In Egypt: invasion of the sea peoples unclear if they are talking of the Greeks (Luxor,
Egypt)

 Some reasons for the demise of the Mycenean culture

o A Dorian invasion
 o The sea people: Pylos tablet refers to preparation against
attack
o Internal strife: internal unrest due to strict hierarchical
social system.
o Natural disaster
o System collapse.

Dark ages-settlements.

 1000 BCE- 800 BCE.

o Oxhide copper ingot from Cyprus. Found in the Ulu Burun
shipwreck near the coast of turkey.
o 317 copper ingots 20/30 kg each.
 Trade from Cyprus to Mycenae
 Military cremation burial
o Amphora
o Burial goods: pots, daggers.
 Iron material increase in the dark ages + decline in the use of bronze.
 Using iron requires knowledge of sophisticated processes: carburization- quenching-
tempering.
o Iron used as there was a shortage caused by the collapse
of trade after Mycenean collapse
o After 1100 BCE- SMALL IRON OBJECTS
o 900 BCE- larger objects, more widespread and used in
many regions.

 Nikhoria
Key site at the bottom of the Peloponnese peninsula.
o
Tholos tomb: pre dark age burial style
o
Contains semiprecious stones
o
Tells us there was a Mycenean culture settlement at this
o
location pre dark ages.
 As well as a Mycenean house
o Rectangular, compartmentalized, small but well organized.
o Socle foundation and walls could have been mud bricks.
o Area IV excavation
 o Parallel boxes for precision at the bottom of these boxes
were piles of stone.
o Apsidal house.
o 8/10 meters long
o Entry way; vestibule.
o Mudbricks wall and socle
o Wooden columns to hold the roof.
o Storage room at the apse
 Later in the dark ages (8th) size of apsidal houses reached 16m in length.
o Floor of these houses excavated
o Bits of pottery in the floor
o Poor quality and roughly painted.
o Found a super thin gold wire: only gold found in a dark age
settlement.
o Broke ass bitches
o Lack of material: no trade
o Also found animals bone, Mycenean period less
concentrated animal diet.
o These people were cattle farmers. --- low population--- not
enough labor for agriculture.
 LEEFKANDI: east side of Greece, on the island of Euboea.
o Farming settlement, bolted from outside world
o Loose collection of houses
o What is interesting is the Heron in Toumba, very
sophisticated construction.
o Has many individual graves with exotic goods
 Pottery imported from Attica
 Bronze and faience objects from Phoenicia and
Egypt turquoise color
 Gold ornaments in abundance.
 This shows abundance of trade to very far location
such as Egypt.
o The population of Lefkandi is wealthy.
o Subprotogeometric pottery distinctive style in Athens,
geometric design with compass.
o Rediscovery of pottery skills
 Engraved Phoenician bronze bowl.
o Mythical creatures and typical Phoenician symbols such as
palm tree
 Monumental apsidal building 30 meters.
o Much larger than typical apsidal dark age house
o Many rooms and large vestibules
 o Perastasis outer colonnade kind of veranda+porch- grand
appearance
 two pits in the middle of the large room: burial
o male cremation: weapons
o female: jewelry
o in the other pit the skull of 4 horses.
o The people buried here were important they are buried in
the middle of the room, facing front of the entrance.
 This building is a Heron
o The burial of an important leader
o This person was a warrior and an important place in
society.
o Suggests warrior-based society, warrior is the very heart of
society.
 Dark age settlement:
o Small and scattered
o Low populations
o Isolated from trade networks like Nikhoria but not
Lefkandi
o Wealth and statues acquired through martial
achievement.
o Inequalities in societies

Eighth century revolution and seventh century Orientalizing period

 Could be a political revolution but other revolution exists as well, for ex now
technological rev. revolutions are not always violent and political.
 Eighth century revolution end of the dark ages.
o Many areas change such as literature/ appearance of
writings and texts, trade and political change.
o Within all that we have the 7th century Orientalizing period
 Happens during the 8th century revolution
 A particular aspect of change
 Major developments
o Population increases
o Appearance of sanctuaries and votives: demarcated area
for religious purposes
 o Increasing contact with Mediterranean world beyond the
Agean sea
o Literature increase
o Rise of the polis
 Athens 804- late geometric belly handled amphora (female cremation).
o Usually, those amphoras were used for wine/water
o Specifically made for a burial. We know this from the
decoration; in the middle is a register (one long painted
scene) the middle is a bed and a figure laying on the bed
representing a funeral. -stylized representation of a
funeral
o The decoration is very detailed and elaborate even though
it is simple patterns.
o Actual made of the pot is very high quality so we can way
that post dark ages regained pottery quality.
o The skill to build such sophisticated amphora is a
consequence of the increased trade with Phoenicia and
Egypt maybe
o Sophisticated pottery, protocorinthian pottery from
Corinth. Based on line of decoration.
o The swastika pattern, originated in India as a religious
symbol, indirectly reached Greece, trade.
 Protocorinthian skyphos drinking cup 625 BCE:
o Very sophisticated art work
o Much more intricate than the geometric found in the dark
ages.
o Note the lions in the design which are not present in
Greece another sign of trade
o 2 headed mythical creature; near eastern mythology.
 Why are such artistic representation important.
o Shows more sophisticated artwork and pottery than the
dark ages. Visual design is inspired by trade, more
sophisticated culture.
o Also new colors not only black. Motifs are incised and not
painted.
 Protocorinthian Olpe:
o Water jug
o Depictions of bulls, lions, ibex and sphinx ( Egyptian
influence)
 Other Olpe:
o Single headed two bodied bird and a 2 headed panther
bird – more near eastern mythology.
 Protocorinthian aryballos:
 o Little pot for perfume
o Very elaborate design and decoration even though it is
tiny
o stylized palm tree in the middle.
 Changes in pottery:
 New chapes from Cyprus and near east
 Decoration: new motifs
 Oriental and Egyptian metal and stone work
 Decorative techniques:
 Figures painted in black
 Incision for outline
 Colors.
 North Syrian cauldron:
o Imported at a Greek sanctuary as offering
o Used to burn sacrifices.
o Often given as gifts by trader to sanctuaries.
 th
Bowl from 7 century Cyprus.
o Egyptian art shows trade with Egypt
 Phoenicians would trade with anyone for iron ore
 Because they were part of the Babylonian empire which demanded taxes
to be paid with iron ore.
 Their wooden ships would be used to travel, to Italy Spain and Sardinia
because they had a lot of iron ore, following the wind direction.
 The route they used often stopped at Cyprus and Greece
 They were both Greek and Phoenician colonies
 Greek colonies were kind of big migration settlements while Phoenicians
were trade posts.

Sanctuaries.

 Sanctuary: a defined holy, sacred place

 Altar: usually, a raised structure on which sacrifices are offered or incense burned in
worship to thew gods.
 Votives: gifts or offerings to the gods
 Temenos: the area sacred to a deity marked later by the perimeter boundary of the
sanctuary
 Temple: building for the god to reside in- a home for the god.
Whole power point no notes
 Sanctuary of apollo at Delphi:
 o In the mountains, some sort of pilgrimage.
 Categories of votives:
o 1- dedications of personal objects: dress pins and arms and
armor
o 2- purpose made objects: objects which could not be used
for any other purposes
o 3- gifts such as Phoenician bronze bowl and north Syrian
cauldron.
 Temple of apollo at Eretria
o Thinner walls on lower levels are older
o Diff buildings. Old apsidal building typical of the dark ages:
building L: similar to Lefkandi Heroon. But lacks external
veranda; maybe it means it was less important and grand.
o Oldest buildings are H and C date from the 8th century
o L: a bit younger end of the 8th beginning of the 7th
o Later in the 7th century: were all demolished and replaced
by a thin long rectangular building
o 6th century: replaced again by a bigger and larger
rectangular building.
 The thin rectangle was a kind of temple building and we can also assume
that L was a religious building as well
 H and C: houses? H could have been a religious building because of its
proximity to L
 Reconstruction of C: mud bricks and thatched straw roof not difference
between its appearance and that of old dark age apsidal houses.
 Model of Perachora temple in Corinth
o Made of terracotta
o Special building, found at a religious site
o Stylized model of an early temple, very similar to the
temples found in Eretria, apsidal buildings.
o Influence of kommos temple.
 Hekatompedon 1: Samion Heraion; temple of Hera.
o On island of Samos where Hera was supposedly born.
o 100 Greek ft long 1=29cm
o Wooden statue of goddess Hera life sized
o Design flaws: columns in the middle blocking the view of
the statue from the entrance but they needed it to hold
the roof.
o Proper construction of a building dedicated to housing a
goddess in a monumental way.
o Moving away from the form of apsidal that was typical
o Rise in monumental buildings.
 Hekatompedon 2
 o 7th century, they were not happy with the building, they
demolished it and replaced it with a larger and wider
building.
o Overcame the problem of columns by placing a row of
column outside
o More monumental, grander porch with columns within the
porch 4 columns holding the roof
 Longer building of to the side
o Called a stoa
o Interior and exterior colonnade
o Used for visitors/pilgrims they can sleep under cover from
the weather.
o Important: altar they grey bldg.
 First temple of Poseidon in Isthmia mainland Greece.
o Shift in material used for temples
o Has a stylobate: platform that temple stands on made of
stone.
o The foundation of the cella/ naos (main temple room) is
also made of stone
o Columns are still wood but now massive
o The roof covering was made of ceramic tile
 More durable
 Does not have to be replaced
 Ceramic is fairly cheap and light
 Arched roof because it rains
 Early Doric temple of Hera at Olympia 590 BCE.
o The use of columns
o Naos is very elaborate in term of plan; large rectangular
structure with columns inside near edge and bay against
the wall.
o The exterior colonnade is interesting because it is not
made of wood but stone: it gives the building more
monumental feel and last longer.
o These were originally wood but were changed one by one
as they decayed.
o Further evidence that they were originally wood is that the
Greek traveler Pausanios visited this temple and two of
the columns were still wood.
 Architecture is now more developed and more expensive. The material
used is more expensive and the monuments are greater.
 Sanctuary of apollo at Thermon 630 BCE.
o Long thin naos
o Back porch used to store votives
 oLong central colonnade like in Hekatompedon 1
oWe DO see an elaboration on the exterior decoration
oCeramic tile roof with ceramic decorative objects.
oCeramic tiles were made especially to line the edge of the
decorated façade called metope.
o Everything below the wooden roof is called entablature.
o Metope: Perseus running with medusas head.
 Development of architectural order
o Doric: simple shaft and a basic circular capital
o ionic: curved capitals called volute, plain metope
o Corinthian: elaborate carved stone capitals
 Bziza temple in Lebanon: ionic
 Typical Doric temple:
o Big outer colonnade, huge porch, big vestibule, back porch
of votives.

The rise of the polis.

 Archaic period from 8th to 6th century BCE

 This is when we get the rise of the polis
 The polis is an urban center a city like Athens or Corinth as well as the body of people
(politicians, citizens)
 A polis is not 1 definition but is a type of society in general.
 Like all complex ideas it develops gradually over time until we get the ultimate polis like
Athens
 Rise of the polis is related to rise in population
 Before the polis Greece had many different forms of organization
o Ex: west Greece: the ethnos; federal state made up of
group of villages or towns.
o Maybe one of the ethnos grew into a polis
 Things are different in other places, Sparta for example never had
a polis era.
 Polis archeology:
 8th century Eretria excavated.
o Smudge marks are broken pottery scattered around the
houses.
o Houses are not close – scattered no real organization, no
streets, uneven gaps between houses.
o This lack of organization indicates a lack of central
authority dictating how the city should be run, there was a
lot more autonomy on how and where to build things.
 o Black dots: burials.
 Quite close to the houses, no organized cemetery.
 Keeping the family close together in life and death
 Corinth
o 8th century archaic settlement.
o Corinthian pottery.
o The acropolis, a defendable hill in case of an invasion
o Small village each with a cemetery
o More organized than Eretria.
o The beginning of a polis.
 Settlement evolution 7 and 6th century
th

o Zagora on Andros
 Dates to the 7th century
 More organized
 Houses: wall are all attached three houses
completely glued together.
 Kind of look identical with a shared court yard,
multiple rooms 1 entrance
 Organized in a very linear way.
 Houses are not separated and scattered like in
Eretria they are all attached.
 Later temple also exists
o Vroulia on Rhodes 7th century
 Along the coastline with cliffs behind
 Linearly arranged nearly identical houses.
 Acropolis, big building on the left
 Defensive wall cutting right across the land houses
built against that wall
 Temple is far in the mountains.
o Megara hyblaea 8th century
 Greek colony in Sicily
 Very organized layout
 Very complex houses and 2 linear streets crossing
perpendicularly.
 Acropolis present too
 House evolution
o Apsidal oval houses
 8th century, replaced by rectilinear houses
 Old Smyrna
o Multiroomed house complexes
 Emerged at the end of the 8th century, common in
the 7th and 6th century
 Building F in Athens.
 o Zagora: big house near the temple: ruler’s house
 Big room most time spent and sleeping are
 Another room with a large bench probably storage
room
 Room with hearth probably kitchen
 Open courtyard.
o building F:
 large colonnade courtyard
 roofed colonnade: provide shade
 4 entrances
 Main entrance faces the main street leads to a very
wide corridor and huge door
 No windows: privacy
 Open area provide light without being exposed to
the public
 Lots of rooms many sizes.
o This house is one of the only buildings excavated
 Not all houses looked like this
 Tyrant owned
 Not the same definition of tyrant.
 th
Start of the 6 century we can see abandonment of two major small settlement types
o Row settlement and signle house settlement
 But why?
o Trade with levant lessens? Very unlikely
o Change in political structure
 More complex political structures start emerging in
mainland Greece like in Corinth and Athens and
people get attracted to the idea of being citizens
and having a say
 Settlements become larger
o Villages start to decrease in size but Athens grow and
population increase
o Public amenities being built
 Water supply: good for hygiene stops the spread of
diseases, good incentive for election and voting
 Burial sites are demarcated areas out of the city
 Increasing architectural design of sanctuaries,
fancier and more monumental.
o Agora is like a big empty space where people would
congregate
o Southeast fountain house: water supply for free
 Urban space created during the archaic period
o 8th century
  Individual house plots randomly distributed
 Only focus: a house
th
o 7 century
 Some attempt at organization on a general
principle; long axis
 Creation of small villages but most failed
o End of the 6th century
 Main settlements- the principle of urban design
 A city had
o Walls
o Temples
o Public supplies of water
o Space designated for the dead
o Became a center for trade and
specialized production.