Study Questions: Biers, Chapter 1: “Archaeology in Greece” and Biers, Chapter 2: “The Minoans”
Prepare for Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Illustration: White Ground lekythos. Athens,
460 BCE. Nike carrying a sash. (John Oakley: Picturing Death in Classical Athens, 2004)
DUE Wednesday January 13, 2021.
(Students are responsible for the Question(s) that have the same digit as the last digit of their U of AR ID #.)
1. What is “archaeology”? Look the word up in a good English dictionary, and write the two Greek words from which archaeology derives. What is its literal original meaning? Write the Greek letters for the original words.
2. What “great advantage” does Biers say that classical archaeologists have in their work, and why do Bronze Age archaeologists and those who specialize in earlier periods not have that advantage?
3. What do archaeologists do besides dig in the ground?
4. What do numismatists specialize in? (And don’t just say ‘numismatics’ without defining it.) Why do you think it is important for numismatists to be able to read Greek? Find examples of this from three different periods in our textbook. How are these objects alike or different from their modern American counterparts? Look up the word numismatics in a good English dictionary. From what language(s) does it derive? What is its literal original meaning? Write the Greek letters for the original word.
5. What do epigraphers specialize in? (And don’t just say ‘epigraphy’ without defining it.) Can you think of three specific kinds of objects that they might study? Why do you think it is important for epigraphers to be able to read Greek? What picture in this chapter might be of specific interest to epigraphers, and why? What is the origin of the word epigraphy? From what language(s) does the word derive, and what is its literal original meaning? Write the Greek letters for the original words.
6. What is “stratigraphy”? Look the word up in a good dictionary. What is the origin of the word? From what language(s) does the word derive, and what is its literal original meaning? Write the Greek letters of the word that forms second part of this word.
7. What three (3) ways of dating ancient Greek material does Biers mention? How would you rank these in order of reliability?
8. What is “stylistic chronology”? Can we apply the same to objects in the 20th century? Give at least two examples.
9. What does Biers say is the difference between “prehistoric” and “historic” Greek archaeology? What examples does he give?
10. What is an ostrakon, and how is it used? What can we learn about the ancient Greeks from this artifact?
Illustration: Reconstruction of the “Palaiokastro Kouros,” Minoan chryselephantine figurine.
(From The Palaikastro Kouros, A Masterpiece of Minoan Sculpture in Irory and Gold, by L. H. Sackett, Athens, 2006)
Map of Crete with Minoan Sites
11. What event separates the “New Palace” period from the “Old Palace” period on Crete?
12. What does the “Neolithic” period mean, and how long did it last? What kinds of Neolithic materials have been found on Crete?
13. Aside from the lack of palaces, what characterizes the “Pre-Palatial” period on Crete?
14. What three writing systems have been found at Cretan Bronze Age sites? What language(s) do they represent?
15. What kind of government do we think existed in Minoan Crete?
16. Why is it difficult to get a clear idea of Minoan religion?
17. What is “thalassocracy” as it relates to Crete? Why were Minoan palaces unfortified?
18. How do we know that the Egyptians knew of the Minoans?
19. Find the island of Thera (Santorini) on Map 2. What does its shape remind you of? Why is it shaped like that?
20. What evidence is there for Mycenaean “occupation” of Knossos?
21. In what way(s) was Minoan Art different from Egyptian?
22. What was the “central point of focus” of each Minoan palace? How was it used?
23. What did the Minoans make their palace walls out of? How did their choice of materials reflect their knowledge of seismology?
24. What four (4) major palace sites on Crete does Biers mention? Find them on Map 2, and list them, from West to East.
25. What use of columns was “a peculiarity of Minoan Architecture”? Locate this peculiarity in figure 2.11 and on plan 2.3.
26. What are “pithoi“, what were they used for, and where would you find them in a Minoan Palace?
27. How do we know that the palace at Knossos was more than one story high? What was on the upper story?
28. What characterizes the “theatral area”? Look at its picture. (2.10) How might it have been used?
29. Who might have sat on the “throne” which was “guarded” by the two griffons? ( Fig. 2.12) What modern ideas tend to influence our interpretation of this room?
30. How can we distinguish a “lustral area” from a “bathing area“?
31. How was the “Grandstand Fresco” (2.24) used to reconstruct the palace at Knossos?
32. What is “faience“, and what did the Minoans use it for? (38, 60, 342, Fig. 2.43, 2.44, 2.45)
33. What is a “light well“, and why is it important to Minoan architecture?
34. What evidence of “hydraulic engineering” does the palace at Knossos show?
35. What are “larnakes“, and what was their use?
36. What is a “fresco“? How does it differ from a “(high) relief fresco“?
37. What characterizes the paintings “from Minoan court and religious life?”
38. What colors did Minoan artists use to distinguish men and women?
39. What kinds of scenes are painted on the Ayia Triadhada sarcophagus? How have they been interpreted? (48-49, Fig. 2.25, 2.26)
40. How do the frescoes from Thera (Santorini) compare to those on Crete?
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