Bronze Age Flashcards
Where are the Cycladic islands?
When was the Cycladic culture present?
Cyclades — The Aegean Sea
3000-2000 BC
CYCLADIC
What was the main source of commerce on the islands?
Trading Posts — Sailing
CYCLADIC
What do we speculate is the purpose of the Cycladic Figurine (2500-2300 BC)?
Are the forms naturalistic or abstracted?
Are these figurines male or female?
Surrogates for the afterlife to possess.
Female, have fertility components.
Abstracted art; lack of facial features.
CYCLADIC
How were men represented in the Cycladic culture (hint: see Lyre Player, from Keros, ca. 2700 - 2500)?
What might this indicate about the culture’s differentiation of gender?
Men were represented as musicians while woman were seen as the ones to perform religious acts.
CYCLADIC
Who discovered the Palace of Minos, Knossos, (ca. 1700 – 1400 BC)? When did he discover it, and what country is he from?
What functions did the palace serve?
How is the space divided?
Arthur Evans — turn of the 20th century; 100 years ago — From England
Place of convention; silo or redistribution center; place of rituals.
Western Side = Public; Eastern Side = Apartment
MINOAN
What does the word “labyrinth” mean?
What is the myth behind the “labyrinth”?
Maze
Used to put victims in for the human-bull creature.
MINOAN
In the Toreador Fresco how do the Minoans visually differentiate between male and female figures?
Are there any other artifacts that suggest this scene was common?
Women are light skin; men are dark
Leaping over bull —> Bronze Bull Leaper
MINOAN
What was preserved on the interior walls of House Delta 2 in the village of Akortiri, Thera?
What does a gap in ash indicate?
What was found inside a gap in the ash in House Delta 2?
Fresco fragments
Means something organic was there
Poured in plaster to create a mold — it was a bed and wine under it.
MINOAN
What does the Springtime Fresco illustrate?
What does the variety of colors suggest?
Landscape
Different times of day
MINOAN
Are the Snake Goddesses, from Knossos, (ca. 1600 BC) figures original?
What is problematic about these figures?
No — they are reconstructed from pieces that Evans found.
One holding snakes up is less authentic; book says its original so be careful/problematic.
MINOAN
What is a Sarcophagus?
What does the imagery on the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus, (ca. 1450- 1400 BC) provide information about?
Coffin
Minoan cultural aspects; beliefs about the afterlife
MINOAN
Hagia Triada Sarcophagus - Side A:
How is the scene divided into two parts?
Who (what) do we believe the individual in the far right represents?
If this interpretation is correct, what does this indicate about Minoan religion?
Colored backgrounds
Said to be a deceased person — showing a belief in the afterlife
MINOAN
Hagia Triada Sarcophagus - Side B:
How are the men represented on both sides of the Sarcophagus?
Men are dark skin and musicians
MINOAN
What artistic convention is being used for the Harvester Vase, from Hagia Triada, (ca 1500 BC)?
Successful/happy harvesters.
Twister perspective
Sistrum — Musical intrument
MINOAN
Where is the Mycenaean word?
The Myceaneans are the first of what famous people?
What are the Mycenaean centers?
On Greece
Greek people
Argos, Pylos, Mycenae, and Tyrins
MYCENAEAN
What differences existed between the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures?
Minoan’s were peaceful while Mycenaean’s are not, they engaged in war often.
MYCENAEAN
Who is Heinrich Schliemann?
A non-academic rich man who discovered Troy.
MYCENAEAN
What is a citadel?
What was the primary purpose behind the construction of the Citadel, Mycenae, (ca. 1600-1200 BC)?
What is ‘cyclopean masonry’?
Citadel is basically a town that is surrounded by a huge wall.
Primary purpose was for protection and defense.
Cyclopean Masonry is huge blocks that build a thick wall — said to of been so big that they had to be carried by Cyclopes.
MYCENAEAN
Describe the two architectural constructions utilized in the Lion’s Gate.
What is corbelling?
What is a relieving triangle?
How does corbelling create a relieving triangle?
Lintel and post and corbelling.
Corbelling is a way to get the weight off the lintel/removing weight from the middle.
Relieving triangle is the hole left by corbelling.
Corbelling makes a triangle shape left in the middle.
MYCENAEAN
How is the relationship between the Minoans and Mycenaeans evidenced by what has been found in the Grave Circle A (Royal), 1600-1500 BC? (hint: the gold artifacts)
The gold artifacts had aspects of the minoan culture (horns of concecration, double axes, bulls, etc.)
MYCENAEAN
What is the technique used to make the Gold Funerary Mask?
Where was it discovered?
Whose mask was it claimed to be before dating disproved it?
Repousse technique — pushing out a design from the back
Discovered in the Grave Circle
Agememnon
MYCENAEAN
How is the style of the figures on the central dagger of the Inlaid Daggers different than the narrative?
The style is that of minoan culture; but they were known for being peaceful people and the picture shows a lion hunt.
No lions in Greece at that time — must have borrowed the idea from Egypt or Mesopotamia.
MYCENAEAN
If the ‘Treasury of Atreus’ (ca. 1300-1250 BC) is a tomb, why is it called a “treasury”?
Who is it named after?
What is a dromos, where did it lead? What is a tholos?
What is the architectural construction of the tholos?
Called that because H.S. already found his grave (Grave Circle) and didn’t want to know it the same thing.
Atreus — Father of Agamemmon
Dromos is a long passageway that leads to a tholos, which is a round tomb.
Used corbelling to build the tholos.
MYCENAEAN
How is the Citadel, Tiryns, (ca. 1400-1200 BC) similar to the Mycenaean Citadel?
Describe the plan of the Citadel. How was the Citadel organized (hint: choke points?
What is a Megaron?
Both had walls and defense and a megaron.
There was 4 chokepoints for defense.
Megaron — Center building (’great hall’)
- Administrative center
- Hearth and four columns and a throne.
- Casemate — Corridors with storage.
MYCENAEAN
What is the theme of both of the Vapheio Cups, ca. 1500 BC?
Describe the repoussé technique.
Bulls; one cup is peaceful and the other is violent though.
Repousse technique — pushing out a design from the back.
MYCENAEAN
Describe the narrative of the Warrior Vase, from Mycenae, ca. 1200 BC painting.
Showing a group of warriors being waved off by a woman.
MYCENAEAN
