The Treasury of Atreus

Antiquity ◽  
1940 ◽  
Vol 14 (55) ◽  
pp. 233-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Wace
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Striking Feature ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
The Third ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Bronze Age

The Treasury of Atreus is one of the most important monuments of the Bronze Age in Greece and is universally recognized as the supreme example of Mycenaean architecture. It is also the finest of all the many beehive or tholos tombs which are such a striking feature of Mycenaean culture. The beehive-tomb is essentially a creation of the architecture of the Greek mainland and of Mycenaean as opposed to Minoan building. In Crete so far three beehive-tombs of Bronze Age date are known, two of which—one at Hagios Theodoros and another just found at Knossos—date from late L.M. III, the very end of the Bronze Age. The third, found at Knossos in 1938, is not to be dated earlier than 1500 B.C. All three are small and poorly constructed. The Early Bronze Age circular ossuaries of Mesarà in Crete, often erroneously described as beehive-tombs, are, as Professor Marinatos has provel nothing of the kind. On the other hand, on the Greek Mainland and in the islands immediately adjacent to it, at least forty beehive-tombs are so far known. These figures are enough to indicate that the beehivetomb is a product of Mainland or Mycenaean rather than of Cretan or Minoan architecture. More accurate information about the date and construction of the Treasury of Atreus, the finest of all the beehivetombs, cannot fail to enlarge our knowledge of the history and art of the Mycenaean civilization.

VI. History of the City and Times

1938 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 134-141
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
The City ◽  
The Bronze Age

The period to which the occupation of Karphi belongs is clearly the dark age which follows the end of the Bronze Age. This period is often known indiscriminately as the Sub-Minoan or as the Proto-Geometric Period, that term being used which seems to fit best the results at the particular site to which it is applied. Neither term, however, is satisfactory when applied to the period as a whole.Sub-Minoan pottery is clearly contemporary with Proto-Geometric. It would be absurd to apply the term Proto-Geometric to a city like Karphi, where only one or two sherds of the true Proto-Geometric style have appeared. On the other hand, the term Sub-Minoan takes no account of the very considerable non-Minoan elements which have crept into the architecture and other manifestations of culture. In the same way, it would be absurd to apply the term Sub-Minoan to the Early Iron Age cemeteries of Knossos. Here the term Proto-Geometric is more excusable, though it still takes no account of the many Minoan features which survived there.

The Development of Embossed Goldwork in Bronze Age Europe

2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Needham
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Parallel Development ◽  
The Third ◽  
Third Millennium ◽  
Third Millennium Bc ◽  
Craft Skills

The discovery of a pair of armlets from Lockington and the re-dating of the Mold cape, add substance to a tradition of embossed goldworking in Early Bronze Age Britain. It is seen to be distinct in morphology, distribution and decoration from the other previously defined traditions of goldworking of the Copper and Early Bronze Ages, which are reviewed here. However, a case is made for its emergence from early objects employing ‘reversible relief to execute decoration and others with small-scale corrugated morphology. Emergence in the closing stages of the third millennium BC is related also to a parallel development in the embossing of occasional bronze ornaments. Subsequent developments in embossed goldwork and the spread of the technique to parts of the Continent are summarized. The conclusions address the problem of interpreting continuity of craft skills against a very sparse record of relevant finds through time and space.

Traditions of Metal-Working in the Later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age of Britain: Part I

1963 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 258-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Britton
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
The One

This paper is concerned with the earliest use in Britain of copper and bronze, from the first artifacts of copper in the later Neolithic until the transition from the Early to the Middle Bronze Age, as marked by palstaves and haft-flanged axes. It does not attempt to deal with all the material, but instead certain classes of evidence have been chosen to illustrate some of the main styles of workmanship. These groups have been considered both from the point of view of their archaeology, and of the technology they imply.Such an approach requires on the one hand that the artifacts are sorted into types, their associations in graves and hoards studied, their distributions plotted, and finally a consideration of the evidence for their affinities and chronology. On the other hand there are questions also of interest that need a different standpoint. Of what metals or alloys are the objects made? Can their sources be located? How did the smiths set about their work? Over what regions was production carried out? If we are to understand as much as we might of the life of prehistoric times, then surely we should look at material culture from as many view-points as possible—in this case, the manner and setting of its production as well as its classification.

The Excavation of Two Barrows, One of Saxon Date, at Ford, Laverstock, near Salisbury, Wiltshire

1969 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Musty
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Special Significance ◽  
Male Individual ◽  
The Bronze Age

SummaryCircular soil marks were shown by excavation to mark the line of the ditches of two ploughed-out barrows one of Early Bronze Age Wessex II date, the other Saxon. The grave of the Bronze Age barrow contained a cremation with a pair of bone tweezers. The ditch of the Saxon barrow was interrupted by a causeway and evidence is adduced for an external bank and a small internal mound similar to that of prehistoric disc barrows. The grave was very large and contained the skeleton of a male individual equipped with a hanging bowl containing onions and crab-apples, seax, a shield with sugar-loaf boss, two spears, a buckle, and a bone comb. The burial is of seventh-century date and the seax is of special significance because of the elaborate nature of its scabbard fittings.

Levantine Elements in the Sacred Architecture of the Aegean at the Close of the Bronze Age

1988 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 339-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ora Negbi
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Contextual Data ◽  
Sacred Architecture ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Lower Terrace ◽  
Adjacent Structures ◽  
The Town ◽  
The Bronze Age

Two cult structures from Mycenae and from a sanctuary recently discovered at Phylakopi, on the island of Melos, shed a new light on the sacred architecture of the Aegean at the close of the Bronze Age. This paper suggests that the edifices of both these sites should be classified as popular places of worship. This suggestion is based on their location, layout and size as well as on their foreign architectural affinities. The Phylakopi sanctuary, located against the fortification wall of the town, consists of a major temple to which a subsidiary shrine is attached. The pair of adjacent structures located on the lower terrace of the acropolis of Mycenae, are of approximately the same size, presumably possessing the same religious status. The three edifices bear several asymmetrical features, such as indirect entrances and corner platforms that have no parallels elsewhere in the Aegean. These features are diagnostic to a special type of Canaanite temples that prevailed in maritime posts and harbour sites. There are indications, however, that in spite of the foreign architectural affinities, the cult practised in the Mycenae structures and in the major temple of Phylakopi was distinctively Aegean. On the other hand, architectural and contextual data seem to support the assumption that the subsidiary shrine of Phylakopi was reserved for foreign cult, practised by Canaanite traders.

scholarly journals La Edad de Bronce en la Meseta, hoy

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amparo Hernando Grande ◽  
Catalina Galán Saulnier
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
The Other ◽  
Real Condition ◽  
Easy Task ◽  
The Real ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Bronze Age

Actualmente son numerosos los trabajos de investigación que tratan de sistematizar la Edad del Bronce en la Meseta, dando lugar a la identificación de diferentes facies u «horizontes» que ponen de manifiesto la personalidid propia y el bagaje cultural desarrollado por los habitantes de ese área geográfica. Pero este volumen de información, por otra parte, plantea problemas a la hora de analizar cual es realmente el estado de la investigación, qué aspectos son los más/menos conocidos. Sintetizar esa información que existe hoy sobre el tema, por los motivos que exponemos no es tarea fácil, por ello aportamos una serie de consideraciones que a nuestro modo de ver deben ser tenidas en cuenta en el futuro de las investigaciones.Now adays there are large works of investigation trying to systematize the Bronze Age in the Spanish Meseta giving place to the Identification of different facies or «horizons» which show the own personality and cultural background developped by the inhabitans of that geographic área. But, on the other hand, this amount of Information expounds problems when analyzing which is the real condition of the investigation, which aspects are the most/the less known. Summarize all the Information existing about this subject these days is not a easy task. That is why we contribute with a series of considerations, that in our opinión, should be kept in mind in further investigations.

Minos and Daidalos in Sicily

1948 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Dunbabin
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
The West ◽  
The Third ◽  
Common Heritage ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Two Sides

My subject in this paper is the familiar one of the impact of civilised on uncivilised in the widest extension of Minoan and Mycenaean civilisation. In dealing with the earliest relations between the Aegean and Italy, I do not propose to discuss the parallels which have been drawn between the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age pottery of the two sides of the Adriatic. The unquestioned likenesses may be due to sharing a common heritage, and do not prove direct contact between the two areas.Probably as early as the Middle Minoan I period, at the end of the third millennium, Minoan navigators occasionally reached Sicily. The earliest Cretan objects in the West are sporadic, and may have passed from hand to hand. But from the close of the Early Minoan period liparite is found regularly in Crete, and it is natural to suppose that the Cretans, went to the Lipari Islands to get it. It is suggested also that tin, which from the same period was increasingly used in alloying copper, was brought from the Western Mediterranean. On the other side, there are many Sicilian II swords and daggers which imitate L.M.I. types. Most of these cannot be so old as their prototypes. Though there are no weapons in Sicily which are certainly Minoan, it is clear that Minoan swords must have been imported, and served as models for a Siculan type which had a long currency.

Two Early Helladic II terracotta rollers from Asine and their glyptic context

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 81-96
Author(s):  
Michael Lindblom ◽  
Gullög Nordquist ◽  
Hans Mommsen
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Chemical Characterization ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
The Third ◽  
Archaeological Perspective

Two Early Helladic II terracotta rollers from the Third Terrace at Asine are presented. The objects, used to impress relief decoration on pithoi and hearths, are unique in that no other examples are known from the Early Bronze Age Aegean. Their origin is discussed based on chemical characterization and their depositional contexts are reviewed from an archaeological perspective. Although there are no known impressions from these rollers on pithoi and hearths at Asine, it is shown that their owners surrounded themselves with different objects featuring similar glyptic impressions. Two such impressions find identical parallels at Tiryns and the combined evidence strongly suggest that Asine was the home for one or several potters who produced Early Helladic impressed hearths and pithoi.

Dairy Queen. Churns and milk products in the Aegean Bronze Age

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 205-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah P. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Near East ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Specific Function ◽  
Milk Products ◽  
The Third ◽  
Household Processing

This article assembles examples of an unusual vessel found in domestic contexts of the Early Bronze Age around the Aegean and in the Eastern Mediterranean. Identified as a “barrel vessel” by the excavators of Troy, Lesbos (Thermi), Lemnos (Poliochni), and various sites in the Chalkidike, the shape finds its best parallels in containers identified as churns in the Chalcolithic Levant, and related vessels from the Eneolithic Balkans. Levantine parallels also exist in miniature form, as in the Aegean at Troy, Thermi, and Poliochni, and appear as part of votive figures in the Near East. My interpretation of their use and development will consider how they compare to similar shapes in the archaeological record, especially in Aegean prehistory, and what possible transregional relationships they may express along with their specific function as household processing vessels for dairy products during the third millennium BC.

The bronze headbands of Prehistoric Lofkënd and their Aegean and Balkan connections

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 33-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
John K. Papadopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
Young Females ◽  
The Many ◽  
Votive Offerings

This paper begins with an overview of the bronze headbands from the prehistoric (Late Bronze to Early Iron Age) burial tumulus of Lofkënd in Albania, which were found among the richest tombs of the cemetery, all of them of young females or children. It is argued that these individuals represent a class of the special dead, those who have not attained a critical rite de passage: marriage. In their funerary attire these individuals go to the grave as brides, married to death. The significance of the Lofkënd headbands is reviewed, as is their shape and decoration, but it is their context that contributes to a better understanding of Aegean examples, including the many bronze, gold, and silver headbands found in tombs from the Early Bronze Age through the Early Iron Age, as well as those dedicated as votive offerings in sanctuaries. In addition to discussing the evidence for headbands in the Aegean and much of southeast Europe, this paper also attempts to uncover the word used in this early period in Greece for these distinctive items of personal ornament. In memory of Berit Wells.

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