Minoans and Myceneans
E A Carvalho
8 points * 3 hours per week * Second semester * Clayton
The unit provides a sequel to ARY1020 in which the Bronze Age civilisations of the Aegean are studied in greater depth. The subject deals with the evolution and structure of Minoan and Mycenean society; religious and other cultural aspects of the two civilisations; Minoan hieroglyphics and the Linear A and Linear B scripts; the interaction between Crete and the Greek mainland which led to the domination of the former by the latter; the Trojan War; the still mysterious collapse of the Mycenean and other Bronze Age kingdoms; and the so-called dark age that followed their disintegration.
Assessment
Written (4000 words): 60% * Examinations (2 hours): 40%
Prescribed texts
Cadogan G Palaces of Minoan Crete Methuen, 1980
Hood S The arts in prehistoric Greece Penguin, 1978
Taylour Lord William The Mycenaeans Thames and Hudson, 1983