This course will cover the diet and disease, eating and drinking habits, social and economic structures, trade and overseas contacts, domestic arrangements, funerary customs, worship, and bureaucracy of these cultures within the following ten units:
1. Welcome to the Greek Bronze Age
This unit looks at the evidence we have for these cultures, their geography, chronology and the Cycladic culture
- Before we begin
- What do we know and how do we know it?
- Establishing geographical knowledge of the Aegean region
- Establishing chronological knowledge of the Aegean region
- Study of the earliest (‘Cycladic’) Aegean culture
- Study of the Cycladic figurines
- Identifying the styles of the Cycladic figurines
2. Cretan myth and the ‘Palace of Minos’ at Knossos
This unit takes an in-depth at look at Arthur Evans’ excavations at Knossos
- Introduction to Minoan Crete
- Geographical orientation: Crete and the Aegean
- Cretan myth
- Arthur Evans and his discoveries at Knossos
- Pre-palatial culture on Crete
- Proto-palatial structures at Knossos
- Neo-palatial structures at Knossos
- The wider environment beyond the ‘Palace’ at Knossos
- The Knossos Complex: was it a palace, and was it ‘Minos’?
3. The Minoans beyond Knossos
In this unit we explore other sites on Crete, comparing and contrasting with the restorations at Knossos
- Crete away from Knossos
- Geographical orientation: Crete and the Aegean
- Phaistos
- Kato Zakros
- The country house at Myrtos-Pyrgos
- Minoan settlements: creating case files
4. Minoan culture: lifestyle, religion, art and writing
In this unit we examine the daily lives of the Minoan people and are introduced to the Linear A writing system
- Introducing the Minoans and their daily lives
- Geographical orientation: Crete
- Minoan lifestyle
- Minoan religion
- Minoan art – asking questions
- Minoan art – research and organisation: curating answers
- Minoan writing
- The Phaistos Disk
5. Akrotiri: The Pompeii of the Aegean
This unit examines the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri on Thera and discusses the Late Bronze Age volcanic eruption which destroyed the site and analyses the arguments that it was responsible for the demise of the entire Minoan civilisation and was perhaps the site of Plato’s Atlantis
- Geographical orientation: Santorini
- Akrotiri on Santorini
- The frescoes of Akrotiri
- The artefacts of Akrotiri
- The Late Bronze Age eruption of Santorini
- The beginning of the end for Minoan Crete, and Plato’s Atlantis
- The end of the Minoans?
6. The Mycenaeans: Myths, origins and discovery; the Citadel at Mycenae
In this unit the focus switches to the Greek mainland and examines the people and the Citadel of Mycenae. We take our first look at the Linear B writing system
- Geographical orientation: Mycenae
- Mycenae and myth
- Mycenae and history
- The citadel of Mycenae
- Linear B (Part 1)
- Mycenaean warrior culture
7. Mycenae ‘Rich in Gold’: Grave circles B & A; Tholos tombs
This unit continues with the exploration of the site at Mycenae, focusing in particular on burial practices and the discoveries made in the graves
- Geographical orientation: the site of Mycenae
- Death and the Mycenaeans
- Grave Circle B at Mycenae
- Grave Circle A at Mycenae
- Tholos tombs
- Mycenae ‘Rich in Gold’
8. Mycenaeans: Lifestyle, economy, religion, art and bureaucracy
In this unit we examine the daily lives of the Mycenaean people and learn more about the Linear B writing system
- Geographical orientation: Mycenae and the wider Greece area
- Mycenaean social structures
- The Mycenaean economy
- Mycenaean religion
- Mycenaean art and lifestyle
- Linear B (Part 2)
- Minoans and Mycenaeans
9. Mycenaean architecture and engineering
This unit moves away from Mycenae to focus on other Mycenaean sites – in particular Tiryns and Pylos – and we look at possible causes for the demise of the Mycenaean culture
- Geographical orientation: Mycenae
- ‘Well-walled’ Tiryns
- ‘Sandy’ Pylos and the Palace of Nestor
- Gla, Ithaka, Midea, Asine and Phylakopi
- Cyclopean masonry
- The end of Mycenaean culture
10. Troy
In this unit we look at the myth, history and archaeology of Troy and further explore the end of the Bronze Age and the start of the Dark Age
- Geographical orientation: Troy
- The myth of Troy
- The archaeology of Troy
- Hisarlık/Troy
- A walk through Troy
- (Re-)Evaluating our evidence
- Final revision
- Minoans, Mycenaeans, Trojans and the 21st century
We strongly recommend that you try to find a little time each week to engage in the online conversations (at times that are convenient to you) as the forums are an integral, and very rewarding, part of the course and the online learning experience.