Mediterranean Bronze Age: Syllabus

Class Summary:

This class is designed as in introduction to the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures of the Aegean Bronze Age – their art, religion, architecture, social organization, administration, trade networks, burial practices. During the course, in addition to site-specific and chronological discussions, we will also cover topics and readings designed to inspire critical approaches to the material culture of the Bronze Age Aegean.

Expectations:

Your grade will be based on two exams – a midterm (20%) and a final (40%) – and a short paper (30%), 8-10 pages in length. The mid-term and final exams will consist of a combination of slide identifications and essays. The paper will be based on a topic agreed upon with me and should demonstrate a detailed examination of some aspect of Aegean Bronze Age material culture. The paper will be due at the final review session before the final, and it is essential to hand in your paper by the deadline. For every day that your paper is late, possible credit will go down one letter grade. The remaining 10% of your grade will be based on participation in discussions. I expect you to do the readings every week, and to come to class prepared to discuss them in an informed manner.

Required Readings:

The following two books are available at the Brown University bookstore. These books are intended primarily as visual aides for study. Weekly readings will be articles or selections from books that will available on reserve in the Institute and on the class wiki under Course Readings

D. Preziosi and L. Hitchcock, 1999. Aegean Art and Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

R. Higgins, 1981. Minoan and Mycenaean Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Many of the topics in this class are usefully covered by Professor Ruttter of Dartmouth College on his website: The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean

I expect everyone to have done the readings for Friday, and to come to class prepared to discuss both the individual readings and how they relate to the topics we cover in that week’s classes.

Other publications:

Cullen, T. ed. 2001. Aegean Prehistory: A Review. American Journal of Archaeology Supplement 1. Boston: Archaeological Institute of America.

Provisional Class schedule and readings

Week 1: Introduction

(History of the Discipline)

Week 2: The Early Bronze Age – Mainland Greece and Cycladic Islands

T. van Andel and C. Runnels. 1988. “An Essay on the ‘Emergence of Civilization’ in the Aegean World.” Antiquity 62: 234-47.

Pullen, D. 2008. “The Early Bronze Age in Greece.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by C. Shelmerdine.

Broodbank, C. 2008. “The Early Bronze Age in the Cyclades.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by C. Shelmerdine.

Week 3: The Early Bronze Age on Crete

Wilson, D. 2008. “Early Prepalatial Crete.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by C. Shelmerdine

Whitelaw, T. 1983. “The Settlement at Fournou Korifi Myrtos and Aspects of Early Minoan Social Organization.” In Minoan Society, edited by O. Krzyskowska and L. Nixon, 323-345. Bristol: University of Bristol.

Week 4: Palatial Society on Crete

Manning S. 2008. “Protopalatial Crete: Formation of the Palaces.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by C. Shelmerdine.

Knappett, C. 2008. “Protopalatial Crete: The Material Culture.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by C. Shelmerdine.

Younger, J. and P. Rehak. 2008. “The Material Culture of Neopalatial Crete.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by C. Shelmerdine.

Week 5: Minoan Religion

Warren, P. 1988. Minoan Religion as Ritual Action. Göteberg.

Briault, C. 2007. “Making Mountains out of Molehills in the Bronze Age Aegean: Visibility, Ritual Kits, and the Idea of a Peak Sanctuary.” World Archaeology 39(1): 122-41.

Morris, C. 2004. "'Art makes visible'" an archaeology of the senses in Minoan elite art." In Material Engagements: studies in honour of Colin Renfrew, edited by N. Brodie and C. Hills, 31-44. McDonald Institute Monographs. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Week 6: Minoan Art and Architecture

Koehl, R. 1986. “The Chieftain Cup and a Minoan Rite of Passage.” JHS 106: 99-100.

Schoep, I. 2004. “Assessing the Role of Architecture in Conspicuous Consumption in the Middle Minoan I-II Periods.” OJA 23(3): 243-69.

Preziosi, D. and L. Hitchcock. 1999. "The Second Palace Period." In Aegean Art and Architecture, 89-152. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Week 7: Akrotiri on Thera and the Eruption

Study for Mid-term!!!

MID-TERM EXAM: In class: Friday, March 7th

Week 8: The Mycenaean Shaft Graves

Wright, J. 1997. “Thugs or Heroes?: The Early Mycenaeans and Their Graves of Gold.” In Mycenaean Treasures of the Aegean Bronze Age Repatriated, edited by R. Howland, 5-18.

Vermeule, E. 1975. The Art of the Shaft Graves of Mycenae. [Lectures in Memory of Louise Taft Semple]. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati.

optional Demakopoulou, K. ed. 1996. The Aidonia Treasure: Seals and Jewellery of the Aegean Late Bronze Age. Athens: Ministry of Culture.

Week 9: The Mycenaean Palaces

Blegen, C. et al. 2001. A Guide to the Palace of Nestor, Mycenaean Sites and it Environs and the Chora Museum. Princeton: American School of Classical Studies.

Preziosi, D. and L. Hitchcock. 1999. "Mycenaean Domination and the Minoan Tradition," In Aegean Art and Architecture, 155-90. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Stocker, S. and J. Davis. 2004. “Animal Sacrifice, Archives, and Feasting at the Palace of Nestor.” In The Mycenaean Feast, edited by J. Wright, 59-76. Hesperia Suppl. 73. Princeton: American School of Classical Studies.

SPRING BREAK!

Week 10: Mycenaean Administration and Linear B

Shelmerdine, C. and J. Bennett. 2008. “Mycenaean States: Economy and Administration.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, edited by C. Shelmerdine.

Chadwick, J. 1987. Reading the Past: Linear B and Related Scripts. London: British Museum Publications.

Week 11: Mycenaean Trade and Exchange

Cline, E. 1995. “’My Brother, My Son’: Rulership and Trade between the Late Bronze Age Aegean, Egypt, and the Near East.” In The Role of the Ruler in the Prehistoric Aegean, edited by P. Rehak, 143-150. Aegaeum 11.

Excerpts from: The Amarna Letters, edited and translated by W. Moran. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Bronze Age Shipwreck Excavation at Uluburun: <<http://ina.tamu.edu/ub_main.htm>>

Week 12: The Trojan War

Manning, S. 1992. “Archaeology and the World of Homer.” In Homer: Readings and Images. London: Duckworth.

Sherratt, A. 1990. “‘Reading the texts’: archaeology and the Homeric Question.” Antiquity 64: 807-24.

Week 13: The Collapse of Mycenaean culture and the end of the Bronze Age

Preziosi, D. and L. Hitchcock. 1999. "Conclusion: Disruptions, (Dis)Continuities, and the Bronze Age Legacy." In Aegean Art and Architecture, 193-219. Oxford: Oxford University Press.