The Early Bronze AgeMinoan CreteMycenean GreeceVase FormsTERMS USEFUL FOR EARLY GREEK ART, CA. 1000-800 B.C.-page 2Terms for Greek myth and legend page 2Terms Useful for the Understanding of Minoan and MycenaeanArtEarly Helladic/Cycladic/Minoan period: ca. 3000-2000 B.C.Middle Helladic/Cycladic/Minoan period: ca. 2000-1550 B.C. Greeks arrive in Greece. Palaces first built on Crete, destroyed by an earthquake ca. 1550 B.C. and rebuilt.Late Helladic/Cycladic/Minoan period: ca. 1550-1150 B.C. Santorini/Thera erupted ca. 1500 B.C., perhaps ending height of Minoan civilization. All of the palaces save Knossos were destroyed ca. 1450 BC. Knossos soon after 1400 B.C. (at which time it was controlled by Mycenean Greeks). Mycenaean civilization arose at beginning of this period, collapsed at its end.The Early Bronze AgeCycladic Figures: marble statues and statuettes made during the Early Cycladic period and found in graves. These seem very abstract, because they have schematic bodies and oval, back-tilted heads with only a nose, and no other features. In fact, the other features appear to have been painted. The most common type is a nude female with her legs todgether and the arms folded across her chest. Male figures are rarer, but often represent musicians. Heads unattached to bodies are also known. The identity of these figures is unknown. They are usually fairly small, but examples up to five feet in height are known. Cycladic Pottery: Early Cycladic pottery includes the mysterious “fryingpans,” broad and shallow pans with incised decoration on the “bottoms” and with leg-like handles which sometimes have a pubic triangle rendered above. The Cylcadi peoples also made matt-painted ware, which include charming plastic vases, notably a seated headgehog holding out a cup. Lerna: site in the Argolid in southern Greece which has a large, palatiallike building (called the “House of the Tiles” from its roofing) dated to the Early helleadic Perod (destroyed c. 2200 BC). The House included some clay seal impressions that are interesting.Minoan CreteMinos: legendary king of Crete in Greek myth. His son was the Minotaur, a bull-headed, man-bodied monster who ate human flesh.Labyrinth: the "House of the Double Axe," apparently the name of the palace at Knossos, the largest of the Cretan palaces. To the Greeks, the palace seemed like a maze, thus the modern meaning of the word.Minoan Religion: Little is truly known, although it seems likely that the main goddess was Mother Earth. Bull vaulting seems to have been a cultic ritual, and the double axe was sacred. The bull likely representedthe masculine principle.Mycenaean and Minoan 2Knossos, Mallia, Phaistos, Kato Zakro: sites of Minoan palaces betweenca. 2000-1450 BC; Knossos alone survived to around 1380 BC. The villa at Aghia Triadha near Phaistos was an elaborate country house that belonged to a royal family. The relationships of the palaces, whichare not far apart, is unknown; thatis, we don’t know if they were ruled by the same or different people. All of the palaces had a complex series of rooms arranged around a large central court (all but Kato Zakro, whre the court is smaller due to space), with storerooms, shrines, workshops, and public rooms, as well as domestic quarters. They were built of plastered rubble on a stone foundation, with timber framing (the general appearance of Minoan houses is preserved in some faience or glass paste plaques of 2000-1500 BC). The palaces had multiple floors, and used wooden columns that tapered downwards. Minoan Writing: there are two kinds of Minoan scripts. A hieroglyphic-like script similar to ancient Egyptian writing was used in the Middle Minoan period (to 1700). It was probably umbersome and little used. Something like it can be seen on the Phaistos disk, a small (diameter 6”) terracotta disk. Linear A, a script which was incised into clay tablets, looks more like Near Eastern cuneiform, and is the basis for Mycenean Linear B. It was probably a syllabic script. Neither Minoan script can be read.“Snake Goddesses:” faience figurines (Height c. 11-12 inches) used in a shrine at Knossos destroyed around 1550 BC. They show three women (goddesses or priestesses) with exposed breasts (Minoan female dress) and elaborate headgear holding snakes. Bee pendant: Found at Mallia and made around 1600 BC, this gold pendant features granulation or miniature gold balls used to create an image of two honeybees holding a honeycomb.Rhyton: generally a conical cup without a foot (and thus requiring a stand). Often carved in stone or made of metal, and plastic (i.e. sculptural), probably used exclusively in ritual. The Harvester Vase, and Bull’s-Head rhyta are the most famous Minoan examples, both made c. 1500.Minoan Frescoes: painted on dry plaster in an impressionistic style, these are very fragmentary, but present glimpses of Minoan societal values; the best-preserved have been found at Knossos. The upper class women apparently left their breasts exposed, and wore elaboratehairdos (“La Parisienne, ” c. 1500). The bull-vaulting ceremonies are depicted in a famous scene of c. 1500, which shows two female(?) anda male athlete in action. Kamares Ware: a polychrome style of light-on-dark decoration seen on Middle Minoan pottery ca. 1900-1600 BC. The motifs are generally pretty abstract, but based on the natural world.Floral Style: a style of Late Minoan IA pottery (ca. 1550-1450 BC) which uses motifs taken from vegetation. Mycenaean and Minoan 3Marine Style: a style of Late Minoan IB pottery (ca. 1500-1450 BC) which uses motifs taken from the sea (the Octopus Jug is the best-known example). A similar style can be seen on contemporary frescoes in the palaces.The Palace Style: a more rigid and stylized version of the Floral and Marine styles, found ca. 1450-1350 on the Greek Mainland and at Knossos. Often places stiff marine or floral motifs in panels.The Aghia Triada Sarcophagus: found at a tomb near the royal villa, this limestone sarcophagus of c. 1400 has painted scenes. One side shows sacrifices (including animal sacrifice) at an altar, the other libations being poured to music at a shrine marked by double axes, while to the right a procession of men bearing offerings approaches a cloaked figure standing in front of a tomb. The short sides shows figures in chariots drawn by winged horses. This appears to represent Minoan funerary beliefs.Thera: an island (sometimes called