The Greek Bronze Age, roughly 3000 to 1000 BCE, witnessed the flourishing of the Minoan and Mycenean civilizations, the earliest expansion of trade in the Aegean and wider Mediterranean Sea, the development of artistic techniques in a variety of media, and the evolution of early Greek religious practices and mythology. The period also witnessed a violent conflict in Asia Minor between warring peoples in the region, a conflict commonly believed to be the historical basis for Homer's Trojan War.
The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean provides a detailed survey of these fascinating aspects of the period, and many others, in sixty-six newly commissioned articles.
Divided into four sections, the handbook begins with Background and Definitions, which contains articles establishing the discipline in its historical, geographical, and chronological settings and in its relation to other disciplines. The second section, Chronology and Geography, contains articles examining the Bronze Age Aegean by chronological period (Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age). Each of the periods are further subdivided geographically, so that individual articles are concerned with Mainland Greece during the Early Bronze Age, Crete during the Early Bronze Age, the Cycladic Islands during the Early Bronze Age, and the same for the Middle Bronze Age, followed by the Late Bronze Age. The third section, Thematic and Specific Topics, includes articles examining thematic topics that cannot be done justice in a strictly chronological/geographical treatment, including religion, state and society, trade, warfare, pottery, writing, and burial customs, as well as specific events, such as the eruption of Santorini and the Trojan War. The fourth section, Specific Sites and Areas, contains articles examining the most important regions and sites in the Bronze Age Aegean, including Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Knossos, Kommos, Rhodes, the northern Aegean, and the Uluburun shipwreck, as well as adjacent areas such as the Levant, Egypt, and the western Mediterranean.
Containing new work by an international team of experts, The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean represents the most comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date single-volume survey of the field. It will be indispensable for scholars and advanced students alike.
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Abbreviations
Preface, Eric H. Cline
Section I: Background and Definitions
1. History of Research, James D. Muhly
2. Chronology and Terminology, Sturt W. Manning
Section II: Chronology and Geography
3. Neolithic Antecedents, Peter Tomkins
Early Bronze Age
4. Mainland Greece, Jeannette Forsén
5. Crete, Peter Tomkins and Ilse Schoep
6. Cyclades, Colin Renfrew
Middle Bronze Age
7. Mainland Greece, Sofia Voutsaki
8. Crete, Ilse Schoep
9. Cyclades, Robin L. N. Barber
Late Bronze Age
10. Mainland Greece, Kim Shelton
11. Crete, Erik Hallager
12. Cyclades, Robin L. N. Barber
13. End of the Bronze Age, Reinhard Jung
Section III: Thematic Topics - Art and Architecture
14. Minoan Architecture, Louise Hitchcock
15. Mycenaean Architecture, Louise Hitchcock
16. Figurines, Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst
17. Frescoes, Anne P. Chapin
Society and Culture
18. State and Society, Dimitri Nakassis, Michael L. Galaty, and William A. Parkinson
19. Minoan Religion, Susan Lupack
20. Mycenaean Religion, Susan Lupack
21. Death and Burial, Christopher Mee
22. Trade, Bryan E. Burns
23. Weapons and Warfare, Ioannis Georganas
Seals and Writing/Administrative Systems
24. Minoan Seals and Sealings, Judith Weingarten
25. Mycenaean Seals and Sealings, John G. Younger
26. Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A, Helena Tomas
27. Linear B, Thomas G. Palaima
28. Cypro-Minoan, Nicolle Hirschfeld
Material Crafts
29. Materials and Industries, Doniert G. Evely
30. Minoan Pottery, Birgitta Hallager
31. Mycenaean Pottery, Jeremy B. Rutter
32. Textiles, Brendan Burke
33. Jewellery, Robert Laffineur
Events
34. Eruption of Thera/Santorini, Sturt W. Manning
35. Trojan War, Trevor Bryce
36. The Collapse at the End of the Bronze Age, Oliver Dickinson
Section IV: Specific Sites and Regions - Crete
37. Ayia Triada Vincenzo La Rosa
38. Kato Zakros Lefteris Platon
39. Khania (Kydonia), Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki
40. Knossos, Colin Macdonald
41. Kommos, Joseph and Maria Shaw
42. Malia, Jan Driessen
43. Palaikastro, J. Alexander MacGillivray and L. Hugh Sackett
44. Phaistos, Vincenzo La Rosa
Mainland Greece
45. Argolid, Sofia Voutsaki
46. Boeotia, Anastasia Dakouri-Hild
47. Central and Southern Peloponnese, William G. Cavanagh
48. Northern Aegean, Stelios Andreou
49. Lerna, Martha Wiencke
50. Mycenae, Elizabeth French
51. Pylos, Jack L. Davis
52. Thebes, Anastasia Dakouri-Hild
53. Thorikos, Robert Laffineur
54. Tiryns, Joseph Maran
Cyclades, Dodecanese, and Saronic Islands
55. Aegina Kolonna, Walter Gauss
56. Akrotiri, Christos Doumas
57. Dodecanese, Toula Marketou
58. Rhodes, Toula Marketou
Wider Mediterranean
59. Cape Gelidonya shipwreck, George F. Bass
60. Cyprus, Louise Steel
61. Egypt, Jacke Phillips
62. Levant, Assaf Yasur-Landau
63. Troy, Peter Jablonka
64. Uluburun shipwreck, Cemal Pulak
65. Western Anatolia, Alan M. Greaves
66. Western Mediterranean, Lucia Vagnetti