Snodgrass, Anthony M. the Dark Age of Greece an Archaeological Survey of the 11th to 8th Centuries BC 1971

A.'' M. S N 0 D GRASS

The Dark Age of Greece AN ARCHAEO-

LOGICAL SURVEY

OF THE ELEVENTH

TO THE EIGHTH

CENTURIES

BC

at the University Press

EDINBURGH + + + + +

+

Preface + + +

+ + +

©A. M. Snodgrass 1971 EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS

22 George Square, Edinburgh 8)224 089 9 North America

ISBN 0

Aldine· Atherton, Inc. 529 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 70-10648o Printed in Great Britain by T. & A. Constable Ltd, Edinburgh and Alden & Mowbray Ltd, Oxford

Thei(1ethod of this work is emrkrical. Its field is by no

m~ans new:

the

peri~ of the early Iron Age is necessarily traversed more and more often by

studies of Greek history, literature, religion, language, art and architecture, as knowledge broadens of the Bronze Age civilizations before it, and their common features with the Classical Greek world afterwards. In most of these studies it forms an unsatisfactory interlude, interrupting any pattern of continuous development, yet not providing the positive evidence needed to demonstrate a fundamental change of direction. It is hard to reach concrete conclusions about such a period. The commonest course is to make inferences from later literature and oral traditions; it is a legitimate one, since the traditions may contain much truth, and the ·literature is in some cases not so much later. Indeed, by drawing a dividing-line across Greek history at the end of the eighth century B c- a procedure which the archaeological findings might seem to justify - it is possible to admit the earliest extant written literature of Greece, the Homeric poems and the works ascribed to Hesiod, as contemporary testimony for the preceding age, and to draw on Late Geometric art for the same purpose. But there is another possible approach: it is to examine the whole period in chronological sequence, scrutinizing the evidence as it comes, assembling the facts and endeavouring to face them. This sounds banal enough, but in this instance it involves abandoning the normal priorities of the historian, the literary scholar or the Classical archaeologist; for there is simply no direct answer to the questions that they would naturally, and rightly, consider most important. This method also entails an almost obsessional insistence on chronology. Much of the material that is available is trivial in itself and ambiguous as to the conclusions that can be drawn from it; yet this same material has some security as a basis for broader understanding of

Preface

Preface

the period, in a sense in which no inference or analogy from better-known periods or regions can be secure. Most scholars of this century have reached the conclusion that Greek civilization did pass through a true dark age, a time of some abjectness and gloom, during part or all of the period under consideration. That same conclusion is endorsed in this book, as my title suggests; it is based on the evidence presently available, and it is always theoretically possible that future discoveries will modify or radically detract from it. But it is, I think, a definite mistake to oppose such a conclusion on intuitive or even emotional grounds, from the conviction that the Greek genius was too strong to have suffered such a setback. To those who also believe in the underlying continuity of the Greek people, from Mycenaean times and before, down into the Classical period, as I do, it is if anything a greater tribute to their qualities to believe that catastrophe and recession on such a scale were endured and finally surmounted.

main work is in other fields of prehistory, and especially from my colleagues Professor Stuart Piggott and Mr David Ridgway; and I gratefully acknowledge the help I received from Mr Joseph Alsop of Washington, ne, in the formulation of hypotheses about the early spread of iron which are advanced in Chapter 5. Several scholars have kindly provided me with photographs used in their own publications: the late Mr J.K.Brock (nos. 10,39,4I, I2I, I22); Mr J. N. Coldstream (nos. I7,24,2),26,27, 3I, 36,37, 38,40,44,45,46,47); Mr V.R.d'A. Desborough (nos. I,22,23,30,35, )I, 53, I03); Dr L.H. Jeffery (no. III ); Professor Carlo Panseri (nos.72 and 73); Mr D. W. R. Ridgway (no.48); Dr C.-G.Styrenius (nos.2 and 28); and Mr R. T. Williams (no. I37). A number of others were generous enough to let me publish illustrations from their excavations: Professor P. Amandry (no. 128); Mr J. Boardman (nos. uo, I 32, I 33 and colour plate rr); Dott. G. Buchner (nos.49, 50,65, I09); Professor A. Cambitoglou (no. I34 ); Professor John L. Caskey (no. I I 8); Professor J. M. Cook and Mr R. V. Nicholls (nos. II4 and II7); Professor Paul Courbin (nos.85, 96, 126); Professor G. Kleiner (nos. 29 and I36); Professor L. Morricone (no. 34 ); Professor P.J.Riis and the Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen (nos. 54, 55); Mr Ph.Petsas (nos.33,6o,6I,62); Mr M.R.Popham (nos.9,32,IOI); Mrs M. Seiradhaki (no. I I); and Professor Evelyn L. Smithson (no. 52 and colour plater). I also owe much to Mr Ridgway and Mr J. Touratsoglou for their good offices in obtaining photographs; and I am delighted to thank Mrs Morna Simpson for drawing many of the text figures, and Mr Waiter Cairns of the Edinburgh University Press for much patience, tact and trouble. A.M.SNODGRASS

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In writing of this period, at this time, several major disabilities and disadvantages must be acknowledged. A casual glance at the preliminary notices of archaeological discoveries, particularly in Greek periodicals of the last few years, will show that new evidence on this period is coming to light at a bewildering speed. Modern building-operations have very often been responsible for these discoveries; but since we may expect (and, up to a point, hope) that they will continue at the same pace, there is no real ground for thinking that the future will bring an opportune lull in which to take stock of the situation. An even more substantial objection is that pottery forms the basis of the archaeological material of this period, and that the most fruitful approach to i~,hasalwaysbeen that of the pottery-specialist, in whose field I am ill-qualified. Here I can only re-emphasize my obvious debt to the work of other scholars in this and other fields, and pay particular tribute to those colleagues who have generously imparted their wisdom in discussion as well as through their writings - Mr Vincent Desborough, Mr Nicolas Coldstream, Mr John Boardman, Professor E. L. Smithson, Professor John Cook and others; the enlightenment that I owe to them extends far beyond the field of pottery. Without their help, I could not have begun to write a work of this kind. I have also been perhaps too sparing in my acknowledgements to the only recent book which has taken this whole period as its central theme, Professor Chester G. Starr's perceptive and sympathetic work of 1961, The Origins ofGreek Civili1_ation, which has been a valuable guide throughout. I have learned much, too, from scholars whose

IX

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Contents

3·

Contents + + + + +

I

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List ofIllustrations p. xiv; List ofAhhreviations p. xxii

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THE CoNCEPT oF A DARK AGE The Literary Evidence Chronography Other Types of Evidence Notes

2.

I

4·

2 IO I6 22

THE REGIONAL PoTTERY-STYLES

24

Terminology The Latest Bronze Age Styles and the Problem of Submycenaean Qualities of the Submycenaean Style The Subminoan Style The Rise of Protogeometric and the Attic Series The Regional Groupipg of the Pottery Styles (i) The Early or 'Advanced' Styles The Argolid 56; Corinth 58; Thessaly 61; The Central Cyclades 63; Elis 65; Asia Minor 66 ( ii) The Later Derivative Styles Boeotia 69; Euhoea 7I; Phokis and Lokris 72; Macedonia 73; Dodecanese 75; N. Cyclades 78; Crete 79 (iii) The Independent Styles Ithaka 84; Achaea 86; Messenia 87; Laconia 87 The Remaining Regions Arcadia 90; E. Aegean Islands 90; Sicily: S. Italy 9I Hand-made Wares Notes

25

84 89 94 98

THE GRAVE Principles of Classification Interpretation of Grave-evidence Regional Developments Attica I47; The Argolid and Corinthia I )I; Thessaly I 54; Central Cyclades I 56; Elis I 57; Asia Minor I 57; Boeotia I 58; Euhoea, Northern Cyclades I 59; Phokis I 59; Macedonia I6o; The Dodecanese I63; Crete I64; Other Regions I7o; Epirus I72; Western Colonies I73 Conclusions (i) The Spread of Single Burial ( ii) Skeletal Evidence (iii) The Changes in Rite ( iv) Other Inferences Notes Appendix

28 34 40 43 55 55

68

THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE EARLY IRON AGE IN GREECE Primary Dates and the Attic Series Other Evidence for Absolute Chronology First Category Second Category Third Category Absolute Dating The Attic Series I22; The Argolid I24; Corinth 124 Thessaly I25; Cyclades I25; Euhoea 126; East Greece I27; Crete 128; Laconia I3o; Ithaka I3I Rest of Greece I 3 I; Sicily: S. Italy I 33 Notes

5.

xi

I06 I07 113 II3 II7 I20 I22

I36 140 I4I 143 147

I77 177 I84 I87 I90 198 202

IRON AND OTHER METALS

2I3

Technical Factors The Initial Spread of Iron-working The Arrival of the Iron Age Protogeometric Attica The Argolid Thessaly and Asia Minor The Hypothesis of Bronze-shortage

2I3 2I7 228 23I 233 236 237

xii

6.

Contents

Contents

Other Regions of Greece Phokis Skyros Dodecanese The Ionian Islands: Achaea Other Areas Conclusions: Isolation and Stagnation Crete, Macedonia and Epirus Crete Macedonia Epirus The Earlier Geometric Period Attica The Argolid and Corinth Crete The Later Geometric Period Fibulae and Pins Defensive Armour Offensive Weapons The Finds from the Sanctuaries Stratigraphy Evidence from Pottery Analogous Metal Types Tripod Cauldrons Notes

239 240 242 242 243 24) 246 249 249 249 2)7 261 261 264 266 268 268 271 273 27) 276 276 277 281 287

EXTERNAL RELATIONS The Evidence of Dialect and Tradition The Great Destructions The Evidence for Foreign Invasion The Dorian Hypothesis Alternative Explanations The Second Wave of Disturbances The Evidence of the Cist-tomb The Evidence of Metal-types The Significance of Metalwork in General The Vardar Valley Invaders Retrospect Pottery

296 299 304 30) 311 312 313 314 317 321 322 323 324

:;.

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Metalwork Cremation The Advent of Protogeometric Hand-made Pottery The Revival of Communication The Final Emergence Notes

324 326 327 329 33° 336 353

THE INTERNAL SITUATION Decline: the 12th and earlier 1Ith Centuries Depopulation Isolation:the later 11th and earlier 1oth Centuries The Ionian Migration: Regional Diversity Agriculture Intimations of Poverty Political and Social Structure The Homeric World The Problem of Continuity in Religion and Art The Beginnings of Recovery: the late 1oth to early 8th Centuries Diffusion of Pottery-styles Attica Regional Limitations Architecture General Inferences The Greek Renaissance: the middle and later 8th Century Colonization Representational Art Regional Patterns Intercommunication Architecture Sacred Buildings 422; Domestic Architecture 423 Historical Consciousness in Poetry and Art Notes

360 360 36) 368 373 378 380 386 388 394

General Index

443 4)0

Site Index

402 403 404 406 408 413 416 416 417 419 419 421 429 437

I

Illustrations

Attic Protogeometric: high-footed skyphos from graven at the Kerameikos, Athens. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. Four vases- oenochoe, cup, two kantharoi-from Agora 1J grave X x V I I at Athens. Courtesy ofthe American School of Classical Studies. 18 Attic Middle Geometric: pyxis from Geometric grave 69 at the Kerameikos, Athens. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 19,20 Attic Late Geometric: two low-footed skyphoi from Geometric grave 50 at the Kerameikos. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 21 Attic Middle Geometric: pedestalled krater in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo. Metropolitan Museum. 22 Argive Protogeometric: belly-handled amphora from grave PG 601 at Mycenae. Courtesyofthe British School, Athens. Argive Early Geometric: neck-handled amphora from grave 23 G 607 at Mycenae. Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. Corinthian Middle Geometric: pedestalled krater from a 24 grave in the Agora at Corinth. Courtesy ofthe American School ofClassical Studies. 25 Corinthian Late Geometric: oenochoe from a well at Corinth. Courtesy ofthe American School ofClassical Studies. 26 Low-footed skyphos with pendent semicircles from a grave on the island of Rheneia. Thessalian Geometric: pedestalled krater of the local 2J school of Marmariani in northern Thessaly. 28 Elean Protogeometric: neck-handled amphora from a grave at Ancient Elis. Protogeometric at Miletus: two miniature oenochoai from 29 the settlement near the Temple of Athena. Boeotian Protogeometric: neck-handled amphora from a 30 grave mound at Vranesi Kopai:dos. Boeotian Early Geometric: oenochoe from a grave at 31 Orchomenos. Euboean Late Geometric: oenochoe from the settlement 32 at Lefkandi. Courtesyofthe British School, Athens. 33a,b ~acedonian imitation of Protogeometric; hand-made plthos from grave L x v A E at Vergina. A Protogeometric tomb-group from Kos, Serraglio tomb IO. 34 Rhodian, transition to Geometric: belly-handled amphora 35 from Marmaro grave 43 at Ialysos.

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Illustrations + + + + + +

The 'Close Style' of the Argolid in Mycenaean IIIC: stirrup-jar from tomb 5 at Asine. Later Mycenaean IIIC: stirrup-jar from Deiras chamber 2 tomb x xI x at Argos. Submycenaean: amphoriskos from Submycenaean grave 47 3 at the Kerameikos, Athens. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 4,5 The degeneration of a characteristic Mycenaean shape: stirrup-jars from Submycenaean grave 8I and from Protogeometric grave I, at the Kerameikos, Athens. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 6,J Submycenaean: lekythos from grave 87 and oenochoe from grave I9, at the Kerameikos, Athens. Late Submycenaean bottle from grave 97 at the Kerameikos, 8 Athens. Later Mycenaean I I I c: bowl in the manner of the 9 'Granary Class' fro~ a grave at Lefkandi in Euboea. Courtesyofthe British School, Athens. Subminoan: krater and jar from tomb ll of the Fortetsa 10 cemetery, Knossos. Courtesyofthe British School, Athens. 'Transitional': kalathos in the peculiar local style of Karphi 11 in east central Crete. Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens Attic Protogeometric: belly-handled amphora from 12 Pro~ogeometric grave I8 at the Kerameikos, Athens. Photo. Hirmer Verlag. 13,14 Attic Late Protogeometric: lekythos from grave 40 and oenochoe from grave 48, at the Kerameikos, Athens. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. The pottery from the double grave, Submycenaean I 14, 15 at the Kerameikos, Athens. Dai Athen,lnst. Neg. 1

30 33 35

36 37 38

39 4I 42

45 46 47

49 50 5I 51

53 56 )8

59 6o 62 63 66 67 69 70 72 74 75 76

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Illustrations

lllus trations ~----------·

36 37 38 39

40 41

42-4

Coan Late Geometric: oenochoe from Serraglio tomb 14, Kos. Rhodian Middle Geometric: pedes tailed krater from a grave at Kameiros. Rhodian Late Geometric: kotyle from Sellada grave I7 on Thera. Cretan Protogeometric: stirrup-jar (with open spout) from Fortetsa tomb XI at Knossos. Courtesyofthe British

46 47 48 49

So 51 52

Laconian Protogeometric: oenochoe from the Hero on at Sparta. Laconian Late Geometric: fragmentary deep skyphos from the Chalkioikos at Sparta. Samian Late Geometric: skyphos from the Samian Heraeum. Imported Middle Geometric skyphos, perhaps of Cycladic origin, from grave GG I4-15 at Veii in Etruria. Imported Corinthian kotyle of the earlier, hemispherical shape; a sporadic find from Pithekoussai on Ischia. Four of the vases frd'm tomb 233 at Pithekoussai on Ischia. Hand-made oenochoe of plain ware from grave Gl at Mycenae. Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. Hand-made pointed pyxis of fine incised ware from the rich grave found in 1967 in the Athenian Agora. Courtesy ofthe American School ofClassical Studies.

53

Five sherds of an Attic Middle Geometric krater, found at Hama in Syria. Courtesy of Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen.

56

78 57

85 88

63

88 91

Two sherds of Cycladic Late Geometric pottery found in the same stratum at Hama as the earlier pieces shown in no. 54· Courtesy ofN ationalmuseet, Copenhagen. Embossed decoration on an imported bronze bowl in Geometric grave 42 at the Kerameikos cemetery, Athens. After Ker. 5, I, 202, figure 5. Cross-sections of an urn-cremation: the rich female burial of c. 850 BC, found in the Athenian Agora in I967. After Hesperia 37, plate 18. Courtesy ofthe American School of

Ill

116

I45

A typical cist tomb of the Kerameikos cemetery, Athens, Submycenaean grave 46 (a woman's). Dai Athen, Inst. Neg.

59

xvii

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Classical Studies.

58

Go 61 62

Cross-sections of the main tomb-types at the Kerameikos, Athens. After Da$/Neue Bild der Antike 1, ed. H. Berve, Abb. 6. A view of the tumulus cemetery at Vergina in Macedonia. An adult male pithos-burial at Vergina, tomb LXV AN. A closer view of a rich female burial in a 'boulder-cist' at Vergina, tomb LX V r. Plans of two of the tholoi or vaulted chamber-tombs at Karphi. After BSA 38, plate 12. Courtesyofthe British School, Athens.

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149 I6o 161 I62

I66

64

Plan of chamber-tomb XI at Fortetsa near Knossos. Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens.

167

92

65

92 93

66 67 68 69 70

Excavations in progress at the necropolis of San Montana at Pithekoussai on Ischia. Distribution map of cists, c. 1125-900 BC. Distribution map of cists, c. I 500-1125 B c. Distribution map of cremations, c. 1550-1125 BC Distribution map of cremations, c. IIoo-9oo BC. Terracotta model from Arkhanes in Crete.

I74 178 I8I I88 191

Photo. Hirmer Verlag.

193

95

95

Spouted jar of Philistine ware from Aim Shems, imitating earlier Mycenaean II 1 c pottery. Courtesy ofthe Israel Department ofAntiquities and Museums.

54

77

School, Athens. 8o East Cretan Geometric: krater from the settlement at Vrokastro. 81 Cretan 'Protogeometric B': projected scene of the decoration from a belly-handled amphora (no. 122) from Fortetsa tomb OD. Courtesyofthe British School, Athens. 83 Protogeometric lekythoi, from a grave at Medeon in Phokis and from the settlement at Aetas in Ithaka; and oenochoe from a grave at Derveni in eastern Achaea.

42, photo. Ecole franfaise d' Athenes; 43, courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. 45

55

76

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71

Attic Late Geometric pitcher in the collection of the British School at Athens, from a grave in the Kynosarges cemetery, Athens.

107

By permission ofthe British School, Athens.

110

Detail of an iron sword-blade from Vetulonia in Etruria. Restored cross-sections of sword from Vetulonia (no. 72 ). Distribution map ofiron objects, c. 1100-900 BC.

72 73 74

I96 215 217 2I8

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82 83

84 85

86 8:;

88 89

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Illustrations

Iron knife with bronze rivets from chamber-tomb VII of the Gypsades cemetery, Knossos. After BSA 53-4, 255, figure 32. Courtesyofthe British School, Athens. Iron dagger from tomb XXVIII at Tiryns. After A M 78, 13, Abb. 8. Bronze shield-boss from tomb XXVIII at Tiryns. After A M 78, 13, Abb. 6. Two bronze spearheads from grave A at the Kerameikos, Athens. After Ker. I, Tafel 31. Two iron swords from the Kerameikos, Athens. (a) from Pro to geometric grave 2 North, (b) from Geometric grave 13. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. Small finds from Submycenaean grave 108 at the Kerameikos, Athens. Five types of bronze pin, occurring in Greek graves from the late 12th century BC onwards. After Deiras, plate 24, 6, 3 and ;, and] di 77, 86-7, Abb. 4, 11 and ), 1. Iron pin with bronze globe from Protogeometric grave 38 at the Kerameikos, Athens. After] di 77, 99, Abb. 17, 2. Cross-section of a male urn-cremation, Agora grave XXVII. After Hesperia 21, 280, figure 2. Courtesy of the American School ofClassical Studies. Metal finds from the same grave as no. 83. After Hesperia 21, 281, figure 3· Iron weapons from Argos. (a) dagger from Protogeometric tomb 184, (b) spearhead from Late Geometric tomb 179· Photo. Ecole fran;aise d' Athenes. Bronze spearhead from tomb near the Museum, Delphi. After BCH 61, 49, figure 2. Bronze arched fibula and bracelet from a tomb-group now in Mainz and found in the 'northern Peloponnese'. After CVA Main'{ 1, 14-15, Abb. 3, 8. Two bronze spearheads from the Protogeometric level at Amyklai in Laconia. After A M )2, 34, Abb. 17, 1. Bronze tripod-stand and small cauldron from tomb XI at Fortetsa. After Fortetsa, plate 138. Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. Cross-sections and plan of the tumulus at Vodhine in Epirus. After BSA 62, 8o, figure 2A. CourtesyofProf. N. G. L. Hammond and the British School, Athens.

lllus trations 9l

219 92

220 220

93

223

94

223

95 96

22) 9:7

227 98

232 99

234

zoo

23)

zoz

236

102

240 Z03

244 104

246 zo5 zo6

2)2 ZO:J

2)8

XlX

(a) Large bronze fibula and (b) gilt iron pin, from Geometric grave 41 at the Kerameikos, Athens. After 262 j di 77, 106, Abb. 24. (a) Bronze pins and (b) bronze arched fibula, from grave G 603 at Mycenae. After B SA 49, 242-3, figures 2-3. 264 Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. Three iron spearheads from a single grave (XXIII) at 26) Tiryns. After A M 78, Beilage ;, 3· Two iron spearheads from tomb Pat Fortetsa. After 266 Fortetsa, plate 171. Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. Bronze panoply from tomb 45 (Late Geometric) at Argos. 272 Iron weapons from Late Geometric graves at Argos. (a) Arrowhead, (b) short sword or dirk. 273 Photo. Ecole fran;aise d' Athenes. Iron spear-butt ( sauroter) from the Potters' Quarter at Corinth. By permission ofthe American School of Classical Studies. 274 Four bronze spearheads dedicated at Olympia. 280 Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. Bronze tripod-cauldron (B1240) from Olympia. 282 Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. Clay copy of a tripod-cauldron from Protogeometric grave 4 at the Kerameikos, Athens. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 284 Fragments of two clay moulds, probably for casting tripod-legs, from the settlement at Lefkandi in Euboea. 28) Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. Two bronze swords of the 'Griffzungenschwert' type, from chamber-tombs Band A respectively, at Kallithea in western Achaea. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 306 Bronze spearhead with flame-shaped blade in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, said to have been found near Thebes. By courtesy ofthe Ashmolean Museum. 306 Bronze embossed helmet-attachment from grave XXVIII at Tiryns. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 318 Distribution map of cemeteries, c. 760-700 BC. 338 Bronze decorated shield-facing from the Idaean Cave, Crete. Dal Athen, Inst. Neg. 340 Two bands of thin gold foil, decorated with zig-zag patterns, from Geometric grave 13 at the Kerameikos, Athens. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 343

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108

109

110

111

112

113 114

1 1S

116

117

118

119

120-2

123

124

Illustrations

Illustrations

Ivory figurine of a girl from grave XIII of the Dipylon cemetery, Athens. Photo. Hirmer Verlag. 344 Two red serpentine seals of the 'Lyre-player' group, found in tombs 637 and 73, respectively, of the cemetery at Pithekoussai on Ischia. 346 Two bronze belt-handles of Anatolian type, dedicated in the Harbour Sanctuary at Emborio on Chios. Courtesy of the British School, Athens. 348 (a) Late Geometric skyphos of East Greek fabric, found in tomb 282 of the cemetery at Pithekoussai on Ischia, with an inscription in the Chalcidian alphabet. (h) The inscription transcribed. Dai Rom. Inst. Neg. 35 1 Plan of part of the rebuilt Mycenaean IIIC settlement at Lefkandi in Euboea. After Excavations at Lefkandi, figure 21. Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. 362 Distribution map of occupied sites, c. 1050-1000 B c. 366 Plan and restoration of oval house of c. 900 BC at Old Smyrna (R. V.Nicholls). 370 Plan of the settlement site at Vrokastro in East Crete. After Vrokastro, plate 18. 372 Terracotta chest and lid decorated with model granaries, from the rich grave found in the Athenian Agora in 1967. After Hesperia 37, plate 27. Courtesy ofthe American School ofClassical Studies. 379 Restored view of a circular structure, thought to be a granary, at Old Smyrna (R.V.Nicholls). 380 The temple at Agia Irini on Keos, seen from the north-west ( 1964 ). Courtesy ofthe American School ofClassical Studies. 396 Clay rhyton in the shape of a stag, from Protogeometric grave 39 at the Kerameikos, Athens. Photo. Hirmer Verlag. 400 Original and derivative, c. 85o-8oo BC. 120, Attic Middle Geometric amphora from Geometric grave 41 in the Kerameikos, Athens; 121, a quite close Cycladic adaptation, found in tomb L at Fortetsa; 122, a free Cretan version, Fortetsa tomb on. 120, Photo. Hirmer Verlag; 121-2, Courtesy of the British School, Athens. 405 Terracotta model of an apsidal temple or house, from Well Fat the Heraeum, Samos. Dai Athen,Inst. Neg. 410 Plan of the Heraeum at Samos during the lifetime of the earliest temple. After A M 55, 10, Ab b. 4· 411

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129 130

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136 137

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xxi

Restored section of the first fortification-wall at Old Smyrna. After B SA 53-4, 51, figure 7· Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. 413 Fragmentary Argive Late Geometric krater, from the settlement at Argos. Photo. Ecole Jranfaise d' Athenes. 414 Frontal and profile views of a male figurine from Olympia. Dai Athen, Inst. Neg. 418 Bronze warrior found at Delphi. Photo. Ecole Jranfaise d'Athenes. 418 Location map of sanctuaries, c. 760-700 BC. 420 Terracotta model of a rectangular temple from the Heraeum, near Argos. Photo. Hirmer Verlag. 422 Houses of Bench- and Megaron-types at Emborio, Chios. After Greek Emporia, figure 18. Courtesy ofthe British School, Athens. 424 Terracotta model of a house from the tholos tomb at Khaniale Tekke, near Knossos. After BSA 49, 221, figure 5· Courtesyofthe British School, Athens. 425 The Megaron Hall at Emborio on Chios, from the north. Courtesy of the British School, Athens. 426 Zagora on Andros. View, from the north, of the central room of a housing complex. 427 Plan of the settlement at Zagora on Andros, as excavated up to 1969. After Ergon 1967, figure 77, with additions. 428 Miletus: a drain of the Geometric period. 430 Fragments of an Attic Late Geometric krater, some of them now in Warsaw. 432 Detail of an Attic Late Geometric krater from the Dipylon cemetery, Athens (the Hirschfeld krater ). Photo. Hirmer Verlag. 433 COLOUR PLATES

11

Pair of gold earring-pendants from a female grave discovered in the Agora, Athens, in 1967 facing 262 Gold necklace from the tholos tomb at Khaniale Tekke near Knossos. facing 267

Ahhreviations

Abbreviations + + + + + +

A A Archaologischer Atqeiger ( suppl. to J di) A A A Athens Annals oj'Archaeology A AS 0 R Annual ofthe American Schools of Oriental Research Act.A Acta Archaeologica (Copenhagen) AD 'Apxaw>toytKov L1€ATLov A E 'Apxaw>toytKTJ 'EcpYJfk€pLs Agora ~he Athenian Agora.~· results ofexcavations conducted hy the Amerzcan School ofC!asstca! Studies at Athens, 1-11 ( 1953-65) A I RRS Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae A] A American journal ofArchaeology A] P AmericanjournalofPhilology A M Mitteilungen des deutschen archiiologischen Instituts Athenische Ahteilung ' Ann. Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene Ant. Antiquity Ant.] Antiquaries' Journal A R Archaeological Reports ( suppl. to j H S) AS Anatolian Studies BA S 0 R Bulletin ofthe American Schools of Oriental Research BC H Bulletin de Correspondance He/Unique BdA Bollettino d' Arte BICS Bulletin ofthe Institute ofClassical Studies, University ofLondon Bjh Bonner ]ahrhiicher B SA Annual ofthe British School at Athe~s CA H 2 Camhridge Ancient History, second edition CB MW H. W. Catling, Cypriot Bronr_ework in the Mycenaean World(1964)

xxiii

CRh Clara Rhodos CVA Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Deiras J.Deshayes, Argos, les Fouilles de la Deiras (Etudes Peloponnesiennes 4, 1966) E G A A.M.Snodgrass, Early Greek Armour and Weapons ( 1964) EM F P.Alin, Das Ende der Mykenischen Fundstatten aufdem Griechischen Festland (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 1, 1962) E P Etudes Peloponnesiennes Ergon To "Epyov Tijs 'Apxaw>toytKfjs 'ETatpdas FA Fasti Archaeologici F G 0 Chr. Blinkenberg, Fihules grecques et orientales ( I 926) Fortetsa J. K. Brock, Fortetsa ( I957) GB A E.T.Vermeule, Greece in the Bronze Age ( I964) G G A Gottingische Gelehrte Anr_eigen G GP J. N. Coldstream, Greek Geometric Pottery ( I 968) G 0 J .Boardman, The Greeks Overseas (I 964) GP P.Jacobsthal, Greek Pins and their connections with Europe and Asia (I956) G R B S Greek, Roman and Byr_antine Studies Hesp. Hesperia H M H.L.Lorimer, Homer and the Monuments ( I950) I M !stanhuler Mitteilungen j d! Jarhuch des deutschen archaologischen Instituts J EA journal ofEgyptian Archaeology J H S journal ofHellenic Studies ]RS journalofRomanStudies ·· Ker. W.Kraiker, K.Kiibler, Kerameikos, Ergehnisse der Ausgrahungen, I-6, 2 (1939-70) LA A A Liverpool Annals ofArchaeology and Anthropology LMS V.R.d'A.Desborough, The Last Mycenaeans and their Successors ( I964) M A M onumenti Antichi ( Reale Accademia dei Lincei) Marh. WPr Marhurger Winckelmannsprogramm ME F R Ecole franm, setf~om and slavery, or of the ownership of the land, may have been far from straightforward in contemporary eyes. Much more prominent in the extant evidence are the verticalgiyisions: Greek society at the beginning of the historical period was formed of units, in many ways independent of each other, each headed by an aristocratic family of greater or lesser eminence. Because these units were small, the system was both durable and flexible: it could be combined with a t!i])al st!l1C:,ture of society such as is clea~ly present in the background of e~.ly ~re~ce; it could provide a focus fo~ JTiigration, and must indeed have been the instrument for the lau~ching.of the Ionian migration in the dark days of the eleventh century; it could even to a great extent survive the growth of the city-state, and dominate the activities of its early days. -' Recent research has suggested that this pattern of 'pyramidal' groups was systematized, perhaps at a time tg-wards the er1d ,af the dark age, around 8oo BC, by the creation of a recognized social unit, the phratry,

438) The Internal Situation

Political and Social Structure

( 438

which could operate in military as well as in civilian life. It may have originated as a pure kinship-unit, but by historical times it extends far 1 .· more broadly and deeply through the social scale ;27 we may see a reflection '/ of it in the tendency to adopt family grave-plots during the eighth century (p. 1?6). Before then, we havero!imigine the situation developing de facto.!!::_ monarch can survive the destruction of his capital,. but h: ca?not continue to rule his subjects if they uproot themselves and tplgrate m dlffer'V"/ 'ent direction_3 The descendants ofthe Mycenaean kings ~Ulchroooubt maintain their power for a time in those cases where the population remained in their homeland (as traditionally happened in Athens), or where they migrated en bloc (as with Tisamenos who was believed to have led his people from the Argolid into Achae