The Greek Bronze Age, roughly 3000 to 1000 BC, 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.
Edited by:
Eric H. Cline
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 178mm,
Width: 251mm,
Spine: 51mm
Weight: 1.633kg
ISBN: 9780199873609
ISBN 10: 0199873607
Series: Oxford Handbooks
Publication Date: 23 February 2012
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
A / AS level
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
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 Forsen ; 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
Reviews for The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean
<br> An indispensable reference book for all serious libraries. Essential. --CHOICE>$><p><br> The authors . . . are leading experts and are well positioned to synthesize, summarize, and update their topics. The articles are well crafted, balanced, brief, and to the point. . . . This handbook is entirely suitable for any undergraduate and graduate library and would be a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any eastern Mediterranean historian or archaeologist. --Halford W. Haskell, American Journal of Archaeology<p><br> very useful --Bryn Mawr Classical Review<p><br>
