‘Shadowy megara’

1977 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 75-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Plommer
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Building Science ◽  
Classical Architecture ◽  
Classical Greece ◽  
Neat Design ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
Classical Association ◽  
The Bronze Age

The recent little book by Heinrich Drerup, Griechische Baukunst in geometrischer Zeit, is considered by the fashionable school of Homer's interpreters to be the one and only study of the Homeric House. Thus, for M. I. Finley, in ‘The World of Odysseus Revisited’, his presidential address to the Classical Association for 1974, it ‘replaces all previous accounts of the subject’; and it seems to him particularly refreshing because it sees, in the rude buildings of c. 800 B.C., sufficient material for all the true descriptions that Homer may give of architecture. If Drerup is right, we shall need no recourse to the Bronze Age to explain anything; and in Drerup's own words, as translated by Finley (p. 21), ‘the over-worked Mycenaean palace has probably played out its rôle in Homeric archaeology’. Our initial feelings, that it was rather tendentious to include a work on Geometric Baukunst in a series on Homeric archaeology, are thus to be rudely brushed aside.Now I must agree that the end of the Bronze Age does mark a great, if ragged break in building science. The Mycenaean range of materials was never recovered in Classical Greece; and certain technical achievements of the Bronze Age were not repeated either in Classical Architecture or at any time since. One of my favourite examples, though one to which the textbooks give little attention, is the neat design of ceremonial doorways during the later Bronze Age.

Presidential Address: The Royal Household and the Welsh Lawbooks

1963 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 163-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goronwy Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Edgar Allan Poe ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Technical Term ◽  
Medieval Latin ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Historical Question ◽  
The One ◽  
Royal Household

On the corresponding occasion last year, I ventured to offer some remarks on the subject of medieval Welsh lawbooks, and more particularly on the editing of them. When edited, they serve as historical evidence. I therefore propose on this present occasion to consider the sort of historical evidence that they contain, and the kind of historical question that they raise. As I have to operate within the narrow compass of an hour, I must limit my field of view, and this can be done quite simply. A Welsh lawbook was made up of a series of what, in the absence of a recognized technical term, may conveniently be called ‘tractates’. I am going to consider just one of those tractates. It is, in more than one sense, the most easily distinguishable of them all. It is also the one that forms the very first part of the text of the Welsh lawbooks, coming immediately after the opening prologue. From its situation at the very beginning of the text, it should be the most inescapable document in the lawbooks—though, as Edgar Allan Poe demonstrated in a famous story, a document situated in the most obtrusive position is precisely the one that may most easily escape notice. It is quite a sizeable document, running to some twenty pages of modern print. It is extant both in medieval Latin and in medieval Welsh.

The Bronze Age Round Barrows of Wessex

1941 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 73-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. V. Grinsell
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Northern Limit ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Important Extension ◽  
The One ◽  
The Bronze Age

The area covered by this survey, which epitomizes the writer's work on Wessex barrows since 1929, is limited on the west by a line drawn from Weston-super-Mare to Bridport, on the east by a line drawn from Dorking to Arundel, on the north roughly by the northern limit of the chalk downs south of the Thames, and on the south by the sea. It encloses the great majority of bell, disc, and saucer barrows, all of which appear to be expressions of Piggott's Wessex Bronze Age culture. It should be noted however that elements of this culture are found outside the area dealt with, notably at various places to the north-east. Nearly all of these are so close to the Icknield Way as to make it certain that this was the means of communication linking the one with the other. Another, though less important, extension of the Wessex Bronze Age culture is represented by a few sites, some of them doubtful, within a short distance of the course of the Upper Thames, and it is probable that the river was the means of communication used.Here it is well to point out the respects in which the boundaries of Bronze Age Wessex, as determined by my own distribution-maps of barrows, differ from those adopted in the O.S. Map of Neolithic Wessex, and by Mr Stuart Piggott in his recent paper, ‘The Early Bronze Age in Wessex.’

Research on the Hungarian Bronze Age since 1936 and the Bronze-Age Settlement at Békés-Várdomb

1956 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 123-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Banner
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
The State ◽  
Detailed Account ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Modern Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
At Home

The state of current knowledge on the Bronze Age in Hungary, was summed up twenty years ago by Dr Francis Tompa, who had by then written several shorter studies on the subject, and had excavated a number of cemeteries and settlements. His summary defined the modern approach to the Bronze Age in Hungary though his conclusions have since been modified in detail by later explorers. How fruitful his work proved to be was shown by the interest of critics abroad and by the fact that research at home took a sudden upward swing.A few years later Dr Paul Patay published a study in which he came to somewhat different conclusions on the chronology of the Early Bronze Age; he also gave a detailed account of the various cultures that must have shaped the course of the Bronze Age in Hungary and in this he was substantially in agreement with Dr Francis Tompa.Dr Amelia Mozsolics dealt with chronological problems of the Bronze Age in Hungary, but had not yet reached satisfactory newer conclusions. Her paper was published only in Hungarian. She presented a useful summary of the history of her subject, and at the same time sharply criticized the views held by foreign and Hungarian experts on the Bronze Age.

The Early Bronze Age Flint Dagger in England and Wales

1932 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 340-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. F. Grimes
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Simple Leaf ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Very High

The chronology of the flint dagger which is the subject of the present paper has been discussed by R. A. Smith, who established the date of the type in the first phase of the Bronze Age, the period to which it had already been assigned by Montelius. A summary ot the list made by Mr. Smith is given in Appendix II below (p. 354-5); the few examples recorded with datable associations since 1919 bring the total up to 26.Sir John Evans's description, adopted by Mr. Smith, gives the length and breadth of the type as varying generally between 5 and 7 ins. and 1½ to 2½ ins. respectively, although both larger and smaller examples occur. The blades are thin in proportion to their length, and lanceolate in outline, although in this respect there is a certain amount of variation. Both faces are flaked, and the working is generally of a very high character. In some cases major excrescences have been reduced by grinding.Some typological development may be observed in the forms, although this cannot be compared with the elaborate evolution of the well-known Scandinavian series (below, p. 350). The changes take place in the butt. The earliest form typoiogically speaking, would seem to be a simple leaf-shaped blade, the widest part of which is approximately at the middle. There is no distinction between blade and tang or handle, and the latter is generally rounded off. Such daggers as the Green Low, Alsop Moor (Appendix I, no. 27, and fig. 1), and Acklam Wold (126) examples represent this form. It is not always easy to decide, however, whether other blades approximating to this shape represent a so-called prototype, and care has also to be taken to differentiate surface-found laurel-leaf blades of Solutrean age, although these are more usually pointed at both ends.

Bronze Age Settlements in Norfolk

1932 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Apling
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
General Level ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Short Account ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
To Come ◽  
Soil Excavation ◽  
The Bronze Age

In 1922 Miss N. F. Layard gave as her presidential address an account of some prehistoric cooking-places, which she had discovered near a stream at Buckenham Tofts, Norfolk (Proc., P.S.E.A., Vol. III., Part IV.). One of the hearths excavated consisted of a triangular mass of calcined flints, up to two feet in depth, and covering an area of over 100 square yards. This was on one end of a mound rising about ten feet above the general level of the swamp bordering the stream. Amongst this material were found several flint implements, including knives typical of the Bronze Age. There were also found two sherds of pottery corresponding closely to a known Bronze Age type, though this also continued into the Early Iron Age.Knowing nothing of Miss Layard's discoveries, in 1927 I came across similar deposits of pot-boilers, etc., at Hoe, near East Dereham. These are on either side of a small stream, which eventually runs into the River Wensum. Mr. Sainty and Mr. Newnham were good enough to come over and examine them, and Mr. Newnham subsequently gave a short account of them at the December meeting that year (Proc., P.S.E.A., Vol. V., Part III. page 311).I was able to revisit the site in June this year (1931), and at one place where, however, there was hardly a mound at all, a layer of pot-boilers, 6 ins. deep, was found under about 6 ins. of turf and soil. Excavation of an area 12 feet by 8 feet produced nearly a pailful of pottery fragments, three dozen scrapers, and an implement of the bone-breaker type, besides numbers of flakes and cores.

scholarly journals Morphological Analysis and Dating of Pottery from the Posolskaya Site (Based on the Excavations of E. A. Khamzina in 1959)

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 25-37
Author(s):  
O. I. Goriunova ◽  
◽  
A. G. Novikov ◽  
D. А. Markhaeva ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Compositional Structures ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
The One ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Bronze Age

The analysis of pottery materials of Posolskaya site (excavations by E. A. Khamzina in 1959), which is located on the southeast coast of Lake Baikal (Kabansk district, the Republic of Buryatia), is carried out in this article. Based on morphological features, several groups of pottery with a set of characteristic features are identified. A comparison of them with the materials of supporting multilayer objects on the coast of Baikal and Cis-Baikal area, in general, made it possible to determine the relative and absolute chronology of these groups. It was determined that pottery complexes of layers 2 and 3 contain artifacts of different cultural and chronological periods from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age in a mixed state. They contain materials of the Middle and Late Neolithic (Posolskaya and Ust-Belaya ceramic types), the Early Bronze Age (pottery with pearls, with fingernails and Northern Baikal type) and the Late Bronze Age (Tyshkine-Senogdinsk type). Reticulated pottery, recorded in small quantities, was found in all complexes of the Neolithic era of the region. The pottery studies showed, on the one hand, its morpho-typological proximity with similar pottery in the south of Central Siberia as a whole. On the other hand, there were some regional differences (thickening of the corolla in bulk on Posolskaya type pottery in two versions: from the outside and from the inside; a variety of compositional structures on vessels with an external thickening of the corolla was revealed, expressed in simplification of the ornamental design; pottery combining features of Posolskaya and Ust-Belaya types was distinguished. A series of radiocarbon dates from stratified complexes of multilayer objects on the Baikal coast made it possible to determine chronological ranges for almost all pottery groups identified at Posolskaya site. Posolskaya type pottery in two of its variants corresponds to a chronological interval of 6750–6310 cal BP; Ust’-Belaia type (focusing on the dates of Ulan-Khada and the Gorelyi Les) – 5581–4420 cal BP; pottery with pearls and constructions from wide lines of the retreating spatula – 4500–3080 cal BP, pottery with finger pinches corresponds to 3370–3230 cal BP; Northern Baikal type – 3346–3077 cal BP; Tyshkine-Senogdinsk type – 2778–1998 cal BP.

scholarly journals A Gripping Tail: Re-interpreting the Archaic Potnia Theron Schema

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Emily Simons
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Archaic Period ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Greek Religion ◽  
Early Archaic ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Bronze Age

<p>The Archaic Potnia Theron schema depicts a central female figure grasping an animal in each hand. She is often associated with the goddess Artemis. Yet, evidence from the early Archaic period indicates that she was not yet associated with the goddess. The identity of the schema has been the subject of a number of studies, and the connection of the figure with Artemis is well ingrained in scholarship. The identification of the figure as Artemis relies heavily on a brief description from Pausanias’s Perigesis, and the epithet Ποτνία Θηρῶν given to Artemis once in the Iliad (Hom. Il. 21.470). Furthermore, the image was later attributed to the goddess Artemis on account of her affiliations to wild animals. However, this thesis investigates the identification of the figure and examines the evidence (or lack thereof) for the attribution of the figure to Artemis in the Archaic period.  Chapter One will investigate the Potnia Theron schema and its use in the Bronze Age. It will consider the possible contribution that the Bronze Age schema may have had on the image in the Archaic period, acknowledging possible influence from the Near East. It will also discuss problems with Archaic source material, the fluidity of Archaic Greek religion, and the characteristics of the Archaic Potnia Theron schema. Chapter Two will analyse the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta as the main case study for the use of the Archaic schema in a sanctuary context. The chronology at the site, and its examples of the schema make it particularly useful for this investigation. Chapter Three will follow with an analysis of the schema on items lacking contexts, as it was used for decorative purposes on vases, jewelry, and plaques. Finally, Chapter Four will examine the role of Artemis, how the Potnia Theron pose has since been interpreted to represent the goddess. This thesis will determine when the schema became associated with Artemis and investigate evidence for its use prior to this association.</p>

The Dual Character of the Beaker Invasion

Antiquity ◽  
1931 ◽  
Vol 5 (20) ◽  
pp. 415-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. D. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Type B ◽  
Classic Work ◽  
Dual Character ◽  
Type C ◽  
The One ◽  
The Bronze Age

In his classic work on the Bronze Age pottery of Britain the late Lord Abercromby adopted the old division of the class of beaker pottery into three types originally proposed by Dr Thurnam as far back as 1871. In order that Abercromby may not be misrepresented I propose to quote the essential portions of his definitions. In type A, the ‘ high-brimmed globose beaker ’, ‘ the body is more or less globular ; the upper part, separated from the body by a constriction, frequently very defined, spreads out like the calyx of a flower and forms a brim or neck that almost equals the body in height. The sides of the neck or rim . . . are straight and not recurved at the lip ’. In type B, the ‘ ovoid beaker with recurved rim ’, ‘ there is no distinct demarca- tion between the body and the rim, but the one glides into the other by a gradual curve ’. Finally type C, the ‘ low-brimmed beaker ’, ‘ may be regarded ’, in Abercromby's own words, ‘ as a debased variety of our first type ’.It should be clear already I think that in labelling his types A, B, and C Abercromby has given the false impression that we have three types of beákers, whereas what we really have are two types, of which one has a ‘debased variety’. We therefore suggest that a less misleading classification would be, for instance, A(x), A(Y), and B. This may seem a trifling point but we believe it has helped to obscure the proper recognition of the true dual character of the Beaker invasion of this country. We propose to substantiate the validity of our suggestion in the course of this short paper.

IX.—The Bronze Spear-head in Great Britain and Ireland

Archaeologia ◽  
1933 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 187-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Estyn Evans
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
General Analysis ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Bronze Age

Any study of British spear-heads of the Bronze Age must be inspired by, and largely based on, the very valuable pioneer work of Greenwell and Brewis, whose handsomely illustrated paper on ‘The Origin, Evolution and Classification of the Bronze Spear-head in Great Britain and Ireland’ was published in Archaeologia for 1909. Indeed, their general analysis of the subject is so masterly and their conclusions so impressive that the paper has perhaps been allowed to pass too long unchallenged. Relatively little was known, a quarter of a century ago, of the continental material, and the close connexions between Britain and the mainland in late prehistoric times were almost unsuspected. Comparative studies have revealed the widespread interchange of various products and ideas in the European Bronze Age ; and no one would now go so far as to claim, with Greenwell and Brewis, that ‘there can be no doubt whatever that the spear-head in its origin, progress, and final consummation, was an indigenous product of these islands, and was manufactured within their limits apart from any controlling influence from outside’.

Beacon on the Ridge. Rock Carvings at Kasen Lövåsen, Bohuslän, Sweden

2006 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 319-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Coles
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
The Subject ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
And Sea Level

This paper discusses the rock carvings at Kasen Lövåsen, a site which now lies 5 km inland but, during the Bronze Age, looked out over a sea in process of withdrawal by the isostatic rise of the land. The site carries eight panels of carvings that have been the subject of several surveys and descriptions. Recent work has clarified the nature of some of these and revealed more. Carvings include discs, numerous boats, human figures (some explicitly male), including helmeted individuals, spear and swordsmen and paddle or torchbearers, duck figures, boots, dog-like creatures, and horse-riders. Composition and siting are discussed in relation to the quality and preservation of carving, dating, and to aspects of topography, communication routes, and sea level recession. The reasons and mechanisms behind transformations in the imagery are explored in terms of changing social symbolism and ideology in response to a rapidly changing land- and seascape.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document