General Info - Test 1 Flashcards
Mycenae
Main Mycenaean cite, on the mainland
Defining Difference between Minoan & Mycenaean
Minoan = Island, Mycenaean = Land
Did the Mycenaean’s ever inhabit Minoan sites?
Yeah bb
Difference in Mycenaean & Minoan sites
Mycenaean = fortified, Minoan is not
What was fortified in Mycenaean places?
It wasn’t just the palace center/complex that was fortified, but the citadel as well
Who excavated Mycenae
Heinrich Schliemann
Who excavated Minoan Crete?
Sir Arthur Evans (although man fucked it up just a lil bit)
What are the two main aspects of Mycenaean civilization?
Palace centers & citadels
What were common elements to the palaces at Mycenae?
Central megaron unit w a throne, heath, and decorations & a citadel complex (large scale, monumental, entrance ramps & gates)
Were Mycenaean structures built the same?
No they were #not
Common Mycenaean themes
War, military strategy & hunting
Ruler after which Minoan people are named
King Minos
Most famous site on Crete
Palace of Knossos
Knossos is important as its foundational representation as a…
palace center
Why is Knossos important representation
“Palace” is used less frequently because we don’t know the exact function of these centers
Could be both public and private rooms
How many rooms does Knossos have?
1300 +
Common features in Minoan “Palaces”
Central court, west court, magazines (store rooms), residential quarters, banquet halls, public apartments, cult rooms, guest room suits, theater area
What is the name given to Minoan civilization and Knossos in particular?
The First European City
How do we gain an understanding of the artefacts & their usage?
Use archaeological findings in terms of artwork & artefacts in the palace centers to give us more info about the Minoans
Most abundant artefact in Ancient World?
Pottery
Megaron Pylos
Palace centre
Part of Citadel complex
Encased by a fortification wall
Key areas of Mycenaean architectural design
What do people suggest as having followed the Mycenaean designs
Greek temples
Were there ever signs of Mycenaean people having been influenced by Minoans?
Yes; some of the decoration in the frescoes look Minoan
What were the similarities between Minoan & Mycenaean people a result of?
Military conquest (at least, this is more likely than trade)
Citadel, Mycenae
Fortified complex around the palace center (includes more than just that)
Inside of the citadel reflects exterior architectural aspecs
Why were the walls of the Mycenaean palace center expanded?
Threat, high competition – around 13th century (LH III period)
What kind of masonry was used in Mycenaean civilization?
Cyclopean masonry
What is cyclopean masonry
Huge ass blocks that Greeks were like “omg how tf? Must be monsters” like besties, just bc it wasn’t white people (or that current ‘race’ of Greeks per se) doesn’t mean it was fictitious monsters
Can you compare the amount of artwork found from Mycenean’s as with Minoans?
Yes, yes you can
Why is the structure of Mycenae important?
Scale & relief decoration that can be found inside and around as well as in the tholos tombs/grave circles
Difference between Minoan & Mycenaean themes?
Minoan = peaceful, naturalistic, zoomorphic, emphasis on sea due to their control over it and their position as an island
Mycenaean = war, military conquest, rigid and strict
The themes match the palace centers as well (heavily fortified versus not at all? Enclosed spaces versus pier-and-door construction?)
Pier-and-door construction/partitions
Framed, wooden piers that could be opened and closed to allow more/less air & light to enter
A kind of ever expansion to the Minoan Palace of Knossos
Harriet Boy Hawes
Gornia excavator, dismissed the work of mini pottery as children’s toy
Petsophas
Peak (sanctuary is found)
John Meyers
Found pottery shards, figurines, and mini pots
Petsophas, Karphi
Peak sanctuary ___ where ___ were found
Juktas where mini pots were found
What does Mt. Juktas look like?
A face
Mini pots
Rooted in Classical Greece, used in ritual, became more evident, scholars didn’t know what to make of them
What are some names given to mini-pots?
“Grubby little pots”
“Mere freak of the potter’s art with no raison d’etre” - Ouch
Why should we not call mini-pots children’s toys?
Dismissive; connection does exist in the classical world
Brauron
Temple of Artemis = young girls would dance around and worship Artemis
Small scale
Rather than measuring by size (aka a fixed idea, bound to measurement) we look at scale (aka how things are measure in comparison to their prototype)
Defining a miniature
Size restrictions? Difficult to do this
Change of function – not necessarily defunctionalized (just because it isn’t utilitarian doesn’t mean that it isn’t functional)
How many objects did Rachel study?
504 different miniatures at 13 different settlement sites across Crete from the Proto and neopalatial periods
Protopalatial versus neopalatial types of vessels
Protopalatial = more open vessels, neopalatial = more closed vessels
How many vessels were found at ritual contexts?
5.53% - this in spite of the fact that many of the minis are said to be votive and ritual
Size of mini potterys
Some can be 1 cm and some can be 5 cm, tallest bowl is 18 cm (it varies)
Micro versus small miniatures
Micro = teeny-tiny with a different function & cannot be practical (ends up votive) Small = everything else, not necessarily ritual, seems more multi-faceted & can be used in different contexts
What mini artefacts were found in the Vat Room Deposit, Central Sanctuary at Knossos
Some jugs (Ugly ass ones) found with gold and other precious materials – what does this mean?
Where were many mini pottery things found?
Found them buried in foundations (cup in the wall!), filled with pumpus and then sealed in room (ritualistic deposits) intentionally placed upside down, etc
Ceramic in Minoan religion
Pots = everyday life & deeply used in religion
Connected to Minoan life = important & symbolic
Procession & dumping contents into pots
Women in centre is interpreted as a goddess
Art Historians & their mini-vibes
Gaston Bachelard, Levi-Strauss, Steward, Delong, Bailey, Davy
Miniature Dissonance
Davy - idea that smaller objects are more difficult to understand; difficult to interpret due to their small size
Clark
Suppress detail, highlight key features, relax temporal constrains
Day’s scaffolding
Mini’s allow the brain to off load activity to material
Transform abstract concepts into more palatable material forms
Pretty quote about minis :)
“Perhaps the small conjured up infinity more easily than the large.”
