The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean

by Eric H. Cline

The Greek Bronze Age, roughly 3000 to 1000 BCE, witnessed the flourishing of the Minoan and Mycenean civilizations, the earliest expansion of trade in the Aegean and wider Mediterranean Sea, the development of artistic techniques in a variety of media, and the evolution of early Greek religious practices and mythology. The period also witnessed a violent conflict in Asia Minor between warring peoples in the region, a conflict commonly believed to be the historical basis for Homer's Trojan War. The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean provides a detailed survey of these fascinating aspects of the period, and many others, in sixty-six newly commissioned articles.

Divided into four sections, the handbook begins with Background and Definitions , which contains articles establishing the discipline in its historical, geographical, and chronological settings and in its relation to other disciplines. The second section, Chronology and Geography , contains articles examining the Bronze Age Aegean by chronological period (Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age). Each of the periods are further subdivided geographically, so that individual articles are concerned with Mainland Greece during the Early Bronze Age, Crete during the Early Bronze Age, the Cycladic Islands during the Early Bronze Age, and the same for the Middle Bronze Age, followed by the Late Bronze Age. The third section, Thematic and Specific Topics , includes articles examining thematic topics that cannot be done justice in a strictly chronological/geographical treatment, including religion, state and society, trade, warfare, pottery, writing, and burial customs, as well as
specific events, such as the eruption of Santorini and the Trojan War. The fourth section, Specific Sites and Areas , contains articles examining the most important regions and sites in the Bronze Age Aegean, including Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Knossos, Kommos, Rhodes, the northern Aegean, and the Uluburun shipwreck, as well as adjacent areas such as the Levant, Egypt, and the western Mediterranean.

Containing new work by an international team of experts, The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean represents the most comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date single-volume survey of the field. It will be indispensable for scholars and advanced students alike.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Archaeology, Greece, Anthropology, Ancient

930 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 2010

About the author

DR. ERIC H. CLINE is the former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and current Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at The George Washington University. A National Geographic Explorer, NEH Public Scholar, and Fulbright scholar with degrees from Dartmouth, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, he is an active field archaeologist with 30 seasons of excavation and survey experience in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Crete, and the United States, including ten seasons at the site of Megiddo (biblical Armageddon) in Israel from 1994-2014, and seven seasons at Tel Kabri, where he currently serves as Co-Director. A three-time winner of the Biblical Archaeology Society's "Best Popular Book on Archaeology" Award (2001, 2009, and 2011) and two-time winner of the American School of Archaeology's "Nancy Lapp Award for Best Popular Archaeology Book" (2014 and 2018), he is a popular lecturer who has appeared frequently on television documentaries and has also won national and local awards for both his research and his teaching. He is the author or editor of 20 books, almost 100 articles, and three recorded 14-lecture courses. His previous books written specifically for the general public include "The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age" (2000), "Jerusalem Besieged: From Ancient Canaan to Modern Israel" (2004), "From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible" (2007), "Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction" (2009), "The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction" (2013), "1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed" (2014), “Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology" (2017), and “Digging Up Armageddon” (2020). He has also co-authored a children's book on Troy, entitled "Digging for Troy" (2011). For a video of his "Last Lecture" talk, go to http://vimeo.com/7091059.

Reviews

[Sense of History]

Fortunately, the time when Hellas was seen as the (only) cradle of human civilization is definitely over. But Western historiography of ancient history still suffers from extreme myopia with everything that has to do with ancient Greece. That perhaps explains why Oxford University Press goes on publishing handbooks like this one, specifically dedicated to the Aegean region in the period 3,000 to 1.000 bce. Now, it has been clear for decades that the Bronze Age cultures of the Cyclades, Crete and mainland Greece (Mycenae) were only marginally precursors of classical Greece, and yet we continue to look at that region and that period with a magnifying glass. This is related to the enormous supply of archaeological material compared to other regions (which is partly the result of that Greece-myopia).

Mind you, of course this area of research is absolutely fascinating: Minoan Crete, for example, still appeals to the imagination, partly because of the beautiful works of art (especially the frescoes) that it has left us. But at the same time, for this area (and for ancient antiquity in general) the source material has so many gaps that a truly reliable picture of this period is virtually impossible.

I did not read every article in this manual, nor is it intended for that. It mainly wants to reflect the state of scientific knowledge, and it succeeds in that, some articles more than others. Of course it remains rather dry material, written in academic language and with lots of footnotes; a number of articles offer no more than an extensive literature study, or a chronology of pottery types and add little. This is clearly not intended for the general public.

[Koen Crolla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sixty-six essays by sixty-one authors, all written specifically for this book but still bringing with them the relative lack of a coherent over-all narrative that that implies. As a consequence, and in spite of the fact that the second paper is specifically an overview of the chronology and terminology (hence its title, Chronology and Terminology), perhaps not the best conceivable introduction to the topic if it really is your very first exposure, but that's only one of its goals. As an impression of the general state of the field, a jumping-off point for further study (every paper comes with its own truly heinous bibliography), and a reference worth its space on your shelf, it works much better than a polished, single-author introductory textbook could have.
Not all of the essays are winners, obviously, but only one is bad because of the obvious personal misconceptions of the author (I won't name him or elaborate because he's one of the three contributors associated with my university and I'm not looking to get into any fistfights until I get my Master's at least; FWIW, Colin Renfrew's contribution was surprisingly uncontroversial); the last thirty are all about specific sites and regions, and while a lot of those are important or otherwise incredible enough (Knossos, Mycenae, Akrotiri, Troy, the two shipwrecks), it's inevitable many just get too specific to hold much general interest.
It's clear a lot of good work—and a fair bit of bad (Schliemann)—has been done, and also that there's a lot of good work still to be done. Any archaeologist looking for inspiration will find plenty here; for myself, I look forward to reading a follow-up in fifty or sixty years.

(It's also interesting to compare the attitude of some of the authors regarding the Late Bronze Age collapse to that of Cline himself in 1177 B.C., published four years later.)

[Gary Eddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything you want to know about the world of oedpius and achilles. comprehensive (archaeology to social relations) and very current.

[J. Johanis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very academic and comprehensive with references to archaeological evidence found at each site.

[Emanuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo è un testo accademico che raccoglie lo stato dell'arte -anno di pubblicazione 2010- delle scoperte archeologiche della Grecia dell'età del bronzo, che corrisponde circa ai due millenni tra il 3000 e il 1000 a.C.
In particolare il libro si occupa delle tre maggiori civiltà che si svilupparono sia sul continente, quella Micenea, sia sulle isole, soprattutto Cicladiche e a Creta che, a loro volta, hanno suddivisioni specifiche con uno sviluppo non uguale tra bassa, media e alta età del bronzo.
Prima di affrontare quel periodo, però si dà un'ampia visione del tardo neolitico in modo da riuscire a connetterlo con l'età in oggetto.

Ho letto alcune parti generali ed altre tematiche riguardo ai siti e musei che ho visitato negli anni ottenendo informazioni aggiuntive molto interessanti, soprattutto sugli scambi culturali che quelle popolazioni hanno avuto tra di loro e con altri abitanti del Mediterraneo orientale ed anche occidentale.
In certi momenti il libro è molto tecnico, più rivolto agli addetti ai lavori, ma è utile per capire come gli studiosi di molte discipline scientifiche arrivino a trarre conclusioni, alcune abbastanza certe, altre probabilistiche, su cosa successe e come vivessero popolazioni di alcuni millenni fa.

[Jane Dutcyvich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading some of these reviews I understand why those who chose this as an introductory text to the topic are having a hard time coming to grips with the academic tone of this book. This is a reference book intended for academics in the field, does that mean you must be an academic to read this? No, but

[Parker Samelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely dry and academic but the best source I could find on the topic.

[Regina Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only annoying part is the constant in text citation, I understand why it is there, but disrupts the flow.