The Aegean Bronze Age

The
Aegean Bronze Age
is the period between ca. 3100-1075 BC in the geographical area which today constitutes
modernGreece
. This is a time after the
Neolithic period
but still long before the emergence of the
Ancient Greek Civilization
(ca. 1000BC). During the Aegean Bronze Age three major cultures flourished in the area: the
Cycladic
, which came into existence in thecore of the
Cyclades
; the
Minoan
, which developed on the island of
Crete
; and the
Helladic
culture (its latest phase is also knownas
Mycenaean
) which is connected with the Greek mainland, especially the
Peloponese
. In the period after 2000 BC large complexarchitectural structures, referred to as
palaces
, appeared in various parts of the Aegean and seemed to have played a central rolein the administration of regional economy. Concurrently, the first script systems in the Aegean were devised: the so called
CretanHieroglyphic
and the
Linear A
script. These are later followed by the introduction of
Linear B
, the only deciphered script of theAegean Bronze Age that encodes a proto-Greek language. The simultaneous emergence of palatial buildings and the technologyof script as well as the use of
seals for labelling and securing property
attest to complex social structures in the Bronze AgeAegean that required elaborate systems of control and administration.
Selected online resources about the Aegean Bronze Age (for seals, look
here
):
Jeremy B. Rutters Dartmouth College
lessons and illustrations
about Aegean Prehistoric Archaeology
ERT
documentary
about the Cycladic island of Keros that has been suggested to be the world's first marine sanctuary
Short
video presentation
about the excellently preserved Cycladic site of Akrotiri, Thera that was covered by ash after a fiercevolcanic eruption
Ian Swindale's
site 'Minoan Crete'
with information and photographs of major Minoan sites (here also links to several Minoanarchaeological projects)
Excavation
of a Minoan palace at Sissi, Crete (University of Louvain-la-Neuve)
Follow the excavation of the Minoan site of Zominthos
online
(Yannis/Efi Sakellarakis) at the site of the Archaeological Institute ofAmerica
Unlooted Mycenaean tomb (
Griffin Warrior Tomb
) that also included more than 50 seals and four gold signet rings (University ofCincinnati)
Presentation
of the Griffin Warrior Tomb by its excavators (e.g. 12, 2018 California)
Decipherment of Linear B (
BBC article
)
Digital edition of Linear B documents
LiBER
, Rome
Database of Mycenaean texts
Damos
, Oslo
Nestor Database
of Aegean Bronze Age bibliography, University of Cincinnati
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