Late Bronze Age

Question 1

Identification

Answer 1

Palace Style Amphora
* Late minoan pottery, produced at Knossos
* Has a marine theme (Octopus)
* Presents a new shape: amphora with wide shoulders, short handles, narrow base
* Contains registers: bilaterally symmetrical octopus in central panel, more abstract design

Question 2

Identification

Answer 2

Hagia Triada Sarcophagus
* Found in tomb on hilltop cemetery of Hagia Triada, from Late Minoan
* Made of limestone and painted plaster
* True fresco of a public funerary ritual
* Males have brown skin, carrying animals
* Women holding vessels

Question 3

Describe the Myceneans

Answer 3

• Located in Mainland Greece
• First “Greek” culture
• Several palatial states that aren’t unified
• Named after city of Mycenae (found by Perseus, home of mythological King Agaemnon)
• By 1390 BCE, dominant power in Aegean

Question 4

Who is Heinrich Scliemann

Answer 4

• 19th century archaelogist
• Guided by Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
• Excavated Troy and Mycenae

Question 5

Descibe Linear B Script

Answer 5

• Deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1950s
• Adapted from Linear A, shares some linear script symbols
• Each character stands for an entire syllable (syllabary)
• Proved Myceneans spoke Greek
• Strictly for admin purposes
• No records of myth, day to day life
• Only meant to be temp., but accidently preserved through being burned

Question 6

What are shaft graves?

Answer 6

• Burial ground for elite families, 2-5 each grave
• Marked with stelai with carbed relief

Question 7

Identiifcation

Answer 7

Lion Hunt Dagger
* One of several daggers found at Grave IV of Grave Circle A
* From Late Helladic period
* Inlaid with gold, silver, and niello (sulfur compound made into paste
* Flying gallop
* Combination of Helladic, Minoan, and Near Eastern elements

Question 8

Define tholos

Answer 8

• Round tombs
• Found in SW Peloponnese, Messenia
• Cut into hillside
• Limestone and cyclopean masonry
• Entered by a long corridor (dromos)
• Hsa a relieving triangle that relieves weight
• Corbeled chamer: type of vaulting that projects progressively inward until it meets sloping ceiling from other side
• From Late Helladic period

Question 9

Identification

Answer 9

Lion’s Gate
* Gate into Mycenae from Late Helladic period
* Massive stone fortifications made of Cyclopean (massive and rough stones, uneven courses) masonry
* Limestone boulders
* Heraldic composition of near Eastern influence, Minoan style column
* Post and lintel

Question 10

Describe Mycenean Palaces

Answer 10

• Major palace sites: Pylos, Mycenae, Tiryns
• Has a Megaron (Rectangular central hall w/ hearth in center)
• Burned in late Helladic period, but preserved 1,100 Linear B clay tablets

Question 11

Identification

Answer 11

Warrior Vase
* Found in Mycenae from Late Helladic period
* Krater
* Gragmentary and pieced together by Schliemann
* Scene is men marching of to war in full armor and supply stacks on spears, women wear robes with hands raised to indicate gesture

Question 12

Identification

Answer 12

Mycenaean Fresco
* True fresco from Mycenean cult centre and Late Helladic period
* True fresco
* Room with the fresco had bench, hearth, and altar
* Room was repeaired after an earthquake
* Colours of red, blue, yellow, black

Question 13

Identification

Answer 13

Psi, Tau, Phi Figurines
* Teracotta female figurines from Late Helladic period
* Painted
* Three types, based on Greek letters
* Found in shrines
* Domestic and grave contexts
* Could be same or different figures of women roles