Aegean Civilization

AEGEAN CIVILIZATION. of the Iliad was reminiscent of the Mycenaean. Schliemann got to work again at Hissarlik in 1878, and greatly increased our knowledge of the lower strata, but did not recognize the Aegean remains in his "Lydian" city of the 6th stratum, which were not to be fully revealed till Dorpfeld resumed the work at Hissarlik in 1892 after the first explorer's death. But by laying bare in 1884 the upper stratum of remains on the rock of Tiryns (q.v.), Schliemann made a contribution to our knowledge of prehistoric domestic life which was amplified two years later by Chr. Tsountas's discovery of a similar palace at Mycenae. Work at Tiryns was not ,resumed till 1905, when it was proved, as had long been suspected, that earlier strata dating back to the begin ning of the bronze age lie below the palace cleared by Schliemann. From 1877 dates the finding of Mycenaean sepulchres outside the Argolid, from which, and from the continuation of Tsountas's exploration of the buildings and lesser graves at Mycenae, a large treasure, independent of Schliemann's princely gift, has been gathered into the National museum at Athens.

Between this date and the end of the century many isolated tombs of the beehive type and cemeteries of rectangular rock-cut chamber tombs were explored in different districts of Greece. Chamber tombs were found in Attica, at Spata, Markopoulo and Alyke, and in Argolis at Nauplia, and near the Argive Heraeum, and some late graves in Salamis. Beehive tombs, already rifled, but retaining some of their furniture, were excavated at Dimeni in Thessaly, Menidi and Thoricus in Attica, Orchomenus in Boeotia, and Kampos in Laconia. The richest tomb of all was cleared at Vaphio in Laconia in 1889, and this produced, in addition to a fine series of engraved gems and miscellaneous goldsmith's work, two splendid golden cups chased with scenes of bull hunting, and fragments of large vases painted in a bold florid style. These latter, with similar fragments from the Argive Heraeum, Thoricus, and Mycenae itself, remained an enigma till the excavation of Cnossus revealed the "Palace" style. The exploration of famous classical sites showed too that many of these, with the notable exception of Olympia, had been important centres of culture in Aegean times. Thus the sanctuary at Delphi, the Heraeum by Argos and the Acropolis of Athens all yielded their quota of what were still called Mycenaean objects and the last site boasts a fortification wall similar in style to those of Mycenae and Tiryns with column bases and foundations of a "palace." A Cyclopean acropolis and "palace" were explored on the island of Goulas in Lake Copais, the prehistoric dykes of which were now surveyed. Mycenaean remains came to light in most parts of Greece, but except for Eleusis, Aegina and Thoricus, where little was done, no inhabited sites were touched. At these last three sites pottery of new types was found which we now know to be pre-Mycenaean; but this and the discovery by Wide in 1894 in a barrow at Aphidna of burials containing similar wares remained almost unnoticed. Similarly some early rock-cut tombs with peculiar hand-made pottery found in the American excavations at Corinth in 1896 did not fall into their right context till the discoveries at Korakou, near Corinth, almost 20 years later.

Excavation Outside Greece.

Meanwhile prehistoric re search had begun to extend beyond the Greek mainland. Certain central Aegean islands, Antiparos, Ios, Amorgos, Syros and Siphnos, were all found to be singularly rich in evidence of the early Aegean period. The series of Syran-built graves, containing crouching corpses, is the most representative known in the Aegean. Exceptionally rich cemeteries of the same date have been explored in Naxos, and Paros has yielded in addition to early graves some remains of the middle period. Delos too has proved an unexpected source of early Aegean culture. Melos, long marked as a source of early objects, but not systematically excavated till taken in hand by the British school at Athens in 1896, yielded at Phylacope remains of all the Aegean periods, except the Neolithic. Numerous cemeteries with late Aegean pottery have been found in Rhodes. A map of Cyprus in the later Bronze Age (such as is given by J. L. Myres and M. 0. Richter in Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum) shows more than 25 settlements in and about the Mesaorea district alone, of which one, that at Enkomi, near the site of Salamis, has yielded the richest Aegean treasure in precious metal found outside Argolis. E. Gjerstad (Studies on Prehistoric Cyprus) has since added to the number of prehistoric sites in the island, the relationship of which to the general Aegean culture is gradually becoming clearer. In Asia Minor a cemetery at Yortan in Mysia and Korte's excavations at Gordium in Phrygia have yielded pottery similar to that from the early strata of Hissarlik. Exploration of south-western Asia Minor has also brought to light remains of the prehistoric age ; but though pottery of late Aegean style is found along the coast and ceramic speci mens of Aegean appearance have often been brought back from many districts of Anatolia, the connections of Asia Minor and of Hissarlik (Troy) still seem, so far as the early and middle Aegean periods are concerned, to lie outside the Aegean area proper (see TROAD). In Egypt in 1887 W. M. F. Petrie found painted sherds of Cretan style at Kahun in the Fayum, and farther up the Nile, at Tell el-Amarna, chanced on bits of no fewer than Boo Aegean vases in 1889. Much material from subsequent excavations has accumulated to demonstrate that Egypt and the Aegean were in contact from early dynastic times. There have now been recognized in the collections at Cairo, Florence, London, Paris and Bologna several Egyptian imitations of the Aegean style which can be set off against the many debts which the centres of Aegean culture owed to Egypt. Two Aegean vases were found at Sidon in 1885, and many fragments of Aegean and especially Cypriote pottery have been turned up during recent excavations of sites in Philistia and Palestine. Indeed the typical Philistine pottery is derived from the latest Aegean fabric. South eastern Sicily, ever since P. Orsi excavated the Sicel cemetery near Lentini in 1877, has proved a mine of early remains, among which appear in regular succession Aegean decorative motives from the period of the second stratum at Hissarlik. Vases of the last Aegean period have also been found. Aegean objects too have been reported from Sardinia, although the Aegean influence formerly thought to have been observed in Spain, is now dis credited or at least considered much overrated.

One land, however, has eclipsed all others in the Aegean by the wealth of its remains of all the prehistoric ages; viz., Crete, so much so that, for the present, we must regard it as the fountain-head of Aegean civilization, and probably for long its political and social centre. The island first attracted the notice of archaeologists by the remarkable archaic Greek bronzes found in a cave on Mt. Ida in 1885, as well as by epigraphic monuments such as the famous law of Gortyna ; but the first undoubted Aegean remains reported from it were a few objects extracted from Cnossus by Minos Kalokairinos of Candia in 1878. These were followed by important discoveries made in the southern plain (Messara) by F. Halbherr. W. J. Stillman and H. Schliemann both made unsuccessful attempts at Cnossus, and A. J. Evans, coming on the scene in 1893, travelled in succeeding years about the island picking up trifles of unconsidered evidence, which gradually convinced him that greater things would eventually be found. He obtained enough to enable him to forecast the discovery of written characters, till then not suspected in Aegean civilization. The revolution of 1897-98 opened the door to wider knowledge, and much exploration has ensued, for which see CRETE.

Further Mycenaean Investigations.

The success of the excavations in Crete naturally caused fresh attention to be paid to Mycenaean remains on the mainland. At Thebes the ruins of the "House of Cadmus" were found by Keramopoullos and yielded many fragments of brilliant frescoes and a store of inscribed vases of the latest period; while close to the city, chamber tombs, stored with vases and other funeral furniture, were excavated. At Orchomenos the Mycenaean stratum was explored by Furt wangler and the underlying strata, which reach down to the neo lithic deposits, began to reveal for the first time the pre-Myce naean history of the mainland. Wares of the early and middle Aegean periods were unearthed at Aegina and the later continu ance of the work there has much enlarged our knowledge and shown that the town was protected by a wall. Imported Cretan ware of the middle period has also come to light. At Tiryns many fragments of frescoes from the palace were found, and in the strata beneath the palace floor, reaching down to bed rock, remains of the middle and early periods appeared. Further beehive tombs were excavated at Kakovatos at the Messenian Pylos and at Tiryns, but the last had unfortunately been com pletely plundered at least by Roman times. More evidence for the last period came in from Argos, where the middle period also appeared, Achaea, A.:tolia, Locris, and Cephalonia showing that culture all over Greece in the late bronze age had been more or less uniform.

Meanwhile in Thessaly discoveries were being made which were to give a new aspect to the pre-history of Greece. Here rich deposits of painted neolithic pottery were found at Dimini and Sesklo by Tsountas, who cleared some small beehive tombs of the transitional period between the bronze and iron ages at Marmariane. Further systematic excavation of other sites in Thessaly by British archaeologists and researches by Soteriades in Boeotia and Phocis showed that the neolithic pottery of the Greek mainland was totally different from that of Crete and therefore that the underlying basis for the bronze age in these two main spheres of Aegean culture was by no means the same. This was supported by the results obtained by Dorpfeld in Leucas, where he found wares of all three periods (early, middle and late) and neolithic pottery with painted decoration closely akin to the Thessalian. Euboea produced tombs of the early bronze age, showing a striking likeness both to the wares of the Cyclades and to those of the mainland, and more tombs of the late period which indicate that the results obtained in this island coincide with those from elsewhere. Even before the war the American excavators had obtained hints that Corinth was likely to prove fertile in pre-historic remains, but not till 1915 was any great success won. Since that year the Americans under the leadership mainly of Blegen and Miss Walker have rewritten the early history of the mainland. A series of discoveries and excavations has shown that neolithic wares similar to those of Thessaly are to be found in the Peloponnese, where Corinth, Nemea, the Argive Heraeum and Arcadia have all yielded relics of this period. Further, largely as the result of the excavation of Korakou, a prehistoric port on the Gulf of Corinth near Lechaeum, supported by fruitful work at Zygouries (near Cleonae), Nemea and the Argive Heraeum, it has been possible to obtain a clear view of the three stages of the bronze age on the mainland.

The Aegean Area.

Traces of the early and middle bronze ages have also appeared in Laconia, and the German work at Amyclae has yielded many relics of the late period. At Asine, near Nauplia, a Swedish expedition under Persson has achieved brilliant results and recovered remains of all three periods. The same expedition at Dendra, near Midea, has excavated an unplundered beehive tomb which shows the burial ritual and found treasures richer than those of Vaphio. There is a splendid gold cup chased with a design of octopuses and dolphins, a gold and silver cup adorned with bulls' heads, silver cups, weapons of bronze, en graved sealstones of wondrous size, and pottery which dates the tomb to about 135c) B.C., the last period. Nearby is a chamber tomb, with a hoard of 33 bronze vessels, which, though empty of human remains, seems to have been a cenotaph and throws much light on the cult of the dead. At Mycenae the British work directed by Wace has found remains of all three periods of the bronze age, including a rich series of tombs of the last• period, and established the history of the shaft -graves found by Schlie mann. The palace has been re-explored and, with the Lion Gate and walls, been found to date from the latter part of the last period, from 1400 B.C. The beehive tombs, also re-examined, can be dated with some degree of probability, and the finest, such as the Treasury of Atreus are seen to be contemporary with the Lion Gate. These results are confirmed by the renewed work of the Germans at Tiryns under Karo and Kurt Muller, who find that the palace and the walls, with three stages at least, are approximately contemporary with those of Mycenae. The Swed ish finds at Dendra and in the beehive tombs of Bodia, in Messenia, agree with these conclusions, which all tend to show that after the fall of Cnossus, about 140o B.C., Mycenae as the chief strong hold of the mainland succeeded to the Aegean empire and spread Aegean culture far and wide.

Further work in Boeotia at Eutresis and other sites has extended our knowledge of the houses and culture of the two first periods. and on the Acropolis of Athens itself neolithic pottery of the Thessalian type has come to light as well as pottery of the early bronze age. The latest revelation comes from Samos, where bronze age pottery of the middle and late periods, it is said, has been discovered. Thus on the one hand new discoveries have em phasized the uniform and widespread character of the Aegean cul ture throughout the area, and on the other hand the latest finds on the mainland indicate considerable divergence between it and Crete. The last point is of vital importance in considering the his torical and ethnological problems of Greece in the Aegean or pre historic age. The "Aegean Area" now covers the Archipelago with Crete and Cyprus, the Hellenic peninsula with the Ionian isles, and western Anatolia. Evidence is also coming in from the Macedo nian coast. Offshoots are found in the western Mediterranean, in Sicily, Italy, Sardinia, and in the East in Palestine and Egypt. About the Cyrenaica we are still insufficiently informed.