Tholos Tombs of the Aegean

Antiquity ◽  
1960 ◽  
Vol 34 (135) ◽  
pp. 166-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. F. Hood
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Aegean Area ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Of Greece

Among the most impressive monuments of the earlier part of the Bronze Age in Crete are the great circular communal tombs which began to be built, notably in the Mesara plain but also in other parts of the island, before 2000 B.C., and flourished in use throughout the first half of the 2nd millennium. Similarly, the most magnificent surviving architectural creations of the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean area are the stupendous beehive or tholos tombs of the chief Mainland centres like Mycenae. Tombs of this type, with corbelled stone vaults sunk in the ground and approached by long entrance passages (dromoi), seem to appear for the first time in the Aegean about 1600 B.C., and reach their finest and grandest expression on the Mainland of Greece in the two centuries between 1500 and 1300 B.C. A map of the Aegean area showing the distribution of these two types of tombs accompanies this article (FIG. I).

Irish Bronze Age Horns and their relations with Northern Europe

1963 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 326-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Coles
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Wind Instruments ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The North ◽  
Actual Production ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Bronze Age

One of the features of the Irish Late Bronze Age is the appearance of wind instruments, commonly called ‘Trumpets’, often found in groups and only rarely in association with other material. Being conical and curved, these are therefore members of the horn family, to which the other large musical group of the Bronze Age, the north Europeanlurer, also belong.The Irish horns have attracted the attention of antiquarians for over 100 years, with the principal collection and listing of these beginning in 1860. Evans devoted a section of his 1881 book to the ‘trumpets’, and was followed by Day, Allen and Coffey. The latest treatment, which brought together most of the previous lists of horns, was by MacWhite in 1945. All of these later works were primarily concerned with the typology of the horns, and attention was paid neither to their actual production nor to their music. In the present study, all previously published horns have been examined where possible, as well as a number of unpublished finds, and an attempt will be made not only (i) to describe the typological variations and dating of the horns, but also (ii) to discuss their production as objects from Late Bronze Age workshops and (iii) to consider for the first time their musical potential.

Athens in the Late Bronze Age

Antiquity ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 30 (117) ◽  
pp. 9-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Broneer
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Of Greece

The Athenians of the classical era were deeply conscious of the fact that the history of their city was different from that of the rest of Greece. They were the autochthonous settlers of the land, and their orators and writers kept forever reminding them that Athens and Attica were not subdued when the Dorian invaders gained possession of most of the Peloponnesus at the end of the Bronze Age. Was this an empty boast, the kind of historical error that Thucydides (1, 20) attributes to a people's readiness to accept uncritically the old traditions about their own country or those of others? The historian (1, 2) makes it clear that he himself believed in the tradition that Attica was the original home of the Athenians of his day, and he found an explanation for this phenomenon in the poverty of the soil which made the conquerors pass by Attica for richer sections of the country. Archaeological research has confirmed Thucydides' conclusions.

THE ARCHAEOBOTANICAL EVIDENCE OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE AND PROTOGEOMETRIC OCCUPATION UNDER THE ROMAN VILLA DIONYSUS, KNOSSOS, CRETE, AND AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROTOGEOMETRIC DATA OF GREECE

2012 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 189-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Livarda
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Roman Villa ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Of Greece

Archaeobotanical material was collected from the Bronze Age fill and the Protogeometric phases underneath the Roman Villa Dionysus, Knossos, Crete. The Bronze Age assemblage was poor, representing only accidental intrusions to a tight fill of sherds and stones. The Protogeometric data were more plentiful, providing a rare glimpse into the everyday life of the period. Glume wheat, barley, legumes, fruits, nuts and several wild species were present across two Protogeometric floors. No significant differences were observed in their spatial and temporal distribution. The plant remains, along with other bio-archaeological classes of material, indicated a series of domestic activities, including cooking and consumption events, the remnants of which gradually accumulated in the habitation floors. The archaeobotanical evidence from Villa Dionysus was then compared with other Protogeometric Cretan and Greek mainland sites. An overview of these sites allowed some general trends to be observed, tentatively suggesting a picture more similar to Bronze Age than Iron Age archaeobotanical assemblages. It also highlighted differences, which would both dictate and be shaped by different socio-economic systems, and the need for more contextualised studies.

A Visit to Crete

1922 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 580-586
Author(s):  
M. C. Burkitt
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The West ◽  
Aegean Area ◽  
Classical Archaeology ◽  
The North ◽  
Return Journey ◽  
The Alps ◽  
Short Time ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Of Greece

Feeling that my own study of the cultures of Palæolithic and Neolithic Man would be helped by a glimpse into the Æean. Bronze Age as studied by classical archæologists, I took the opportunity of 3 months free time to visit a number of the Minoan (Bronze Age) sites in Crete, as well as the corresponding Helladic localities on the mainland of Greece. The return journey was made by Vienna and Buda-Pesth, in order to study for a short time in the museums there, and the dissimilarity between the Bronze Age cultures north of the Alps and those of the Ægean area, which I had been visiting, was extremely marked. The Bronze Age of the North comes very much into the purview of English Prehistorians and has its due place in our Proceedings. But the Ægean Bronze Age is included under classical archæology, and so it seemed to me that, having had the opportunity of studying in the field with such men as Evans and Wace, a few notes might not be out of place in our E. A. Journal. And more especially is this so when one considers that the Ægean area is on a direct road between the early cultures of what is now Persia and Asia Minor, and the west.

Notes from the Dodecanese II

1970 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 47-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hope Simpson ◽  
J. F. Lazenby
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Agricultural Resources ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Bronze Age

SummaryOur campaigns of 1967 and 1968 have confirmed and supplemented that of 1960, especially concerning the Late Bronze Age habitation of the Dodecanese. Pottery of Mycenaean type has been found for the first time on Patmos, Leros, and Syme, and further Mycenaean settlements have been identified in the northern part of Kos, at Asklúpi and Palaiópyli. On many sites it has not been possible to determine from the surface finds the exact period of prehistoric habitation, but pre-Mycenaean material has been noted for the first time on the islands of Patmos, Leros, Telos (?), Syme, and Kasos. A particularly interesting early phase is represented by the sherds from Troúlli on Kos. Among the finds from periods subsequent to the Bronze Age, the most interesting are perhaps the Geometric sherds from Kastélli on Patmos and from the Kástro at Pólin on Kasos. A remarkable phenomenon also is the size and strength of the Hellenistic fortifications on some of the smaller islands, namely Patmos, Telos, Syme, and Castellorizo. It would appear that these islands probably enjoyed at this time a prosperity disproportionate to their size and agricultural resources.

scholarly journals Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Iacono ◽  
Elisabetta Borgna ◽  
Maurizio Cattani ◽  
Claudio Cavazzuti ◽  
Helen Dawson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Mediterranean Europe ◽  
Northern Shore ◽  
Comparative Survey ◽  
The Bronze Age

AbstractThe Late Bronze Age (1700–900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioarchaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as different as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, ranging from the short to the long range, became a defining aspect of the “Middle Sea” during this time, influencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern boundaries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics.

Cosmic Deer as an Archaic Symbol in the Narratives and Rituals of the Tungus-Manchus

2020 ◽  
pp. 112-121
Author(s):  
Татьяна Юрьевна Сем
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Time Model ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Cosmic Scale ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Bronze Age

Статья посвящена мифологическому образу космического оленя в традиционной культуре тунгусо-маньчжуров. В работе рассматриваются материалы фольклора, шаманства, промысловых и календарных ритуалов, а также искусства. Впервые систематизированы материалы по всем тунгусо-маньчжурским народам. Образ космического оленя в фольклоре эвенов имеет наиболее близкие аналогии с амурскими народами, которые представляют его с рогами до небес. Он сохранился в сказочном фольклоре с мифологическими и эпическими элементами. В эвенском мифе образ оленя имеет космические масштабы: из тела его происходит земля и всё живущее на ней. У народов Амура образ оленя нашел отражение в космогенезе, отделении неба от земли. Своеобразие сюжета космической охоты характеризует общесибирскую мифологию, относящуюся к ранней истории. В ней наиболее ярко проявляется мотив смены старого и нового солнца, хода времени, смены времен года, календарь тунгусо-маньчжуров. В результате анализа автор пришел к выводу, что олень в тунгусо-маньчжурской традиции моделирует пространство и время Вселенной, характеризует образ солнца и хода времени. Космический олень является архетипичным символом культуры тунгусо-маньчжуров, сохранившим свое значение до настоящего времени в художественной культуре This article is devoted to the mythological image of cosmic deer in traditional Tungus-Manchu culture. It examines materials of folklore, shamanism, trade and calendar rituals as well as art and for the first time systematizes materials from all of the Tungus-Manchu peoples. The image of cosmic deer in the folklore of the Evens has its closest analogy in that of the Amur peoples, reflected in the image of a deer with horns reaching up to the sky. This image is preserved in fairytales with mythological and epic elements. In the Even myth, the image of a deer is on a cosmic scale, as the cosmos issues from its body. Among the Amur peoples, the image of a deer is also related to cosmogenesis, to the separation of the earth from the sky. The plot of a cosmic hunt is reflected in pan-Siberian mythology, dating back to the Bronze Age. It clearly illustrates the motif of the change of the old and new sun, the passage of time, the change of seasons, the Tungus-Manchu calendar. The author comes to the conclusion that deer in the Tungus-Manchu tradition, in depicting the image of the sun and the passage of time, model the space and time of the Universe. The cosmic deer is an archetypal symbol of Tungus-Manchu culture, which has retained its significance in artistic culture to the present day.

Bronze Age Mongolia

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Houle
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The Bronze Age

This article discusses the Bronze Age in Mongolia, a period when pastoralism, mobility, and interaction between regional communities increased dramatically. It also corresponds to the heyday of monumental construction and to the development of societal complexity in this region. After briefly discussing the local Bronze Age chronology, the discussion then turns to the topic of the transition to animal husbandry and to the development of mobile, equestrian pastoralism in particular—a phenomenon that seems to have taken place during the Late Bronze Age. Following this, I examine the monumental landscape as well as what is known from “settlements” before discussing the nature of Late Bronze Age social organization and societal complexity. The article ends with a brief exposé on bronze metallurgy before highlighting what are thought to be the critical issues that continue to challenge research on the Bronze Age in the region.

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