HISTORY •• Geometric Age 31
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© Lonely Planet Publications 30 lonelyplanet.com HISTORY •• Geometric Age 31 lisation, like the Cycladic, into three phases: Early (3000–2100 BC), Middle (2100–1500 BC) and Late (1500– 1100 BC). H i s t o r y Many aspects of Neolithic life endured during the Early period, but by Greece Before History, 2500 BC most people on the island had been assimilated into a new culture by Priscilla Murray and STONE AGE that we now call the Minoan – after King Minos, the mythical ruler of Crete. Curtis Neil Runnels, is The discovery of a Neanderthal skull in a cave on the Halkidiki peninsula The Minoan civilisation reached its peak during the Middle period, produc- a good introduction to of Macedonia in 1960 confirmed the presence of humans in Greece 700,000 ing pottery and metalwork of great beauty that required much imagination Greece’s earliest days. years ago. Bones and tools from as far back as Palaeolithic times (around and skill to make. 6500 BC) have been found in the Pindos Mountains. The Late period saw the civilisation decline both commercially and The move to a pastoral existence came during Neolithic times (7000–3000 militarily against Mycenaean competition from the mainland, until its Greek is Europe’s oldest BC). The fertile region that is now Thessaly was the first area to be settled. abrupt end, attributed to the eruption of the volcano on Thira (Santorini) written language, second The people grew barley and wheat, and bred sheep and goats. They used clay in around 1100 BC. only to Chinese in the to produce pots, vases and simple statuettes of the Great Mother (the earth world. It is traceable back goddess), whom they worshipped. Mycenaean Civilisation to the Linear B script of By 3000 BC people were living in settlements complete with streets, The decline of the Minoan civilisation coincided with the rise of the first great Minoan Crete. squares and mud-brick houses. The villages were centred on a large palace- civilisation on the Greek mainland, the Mycenaean (1900–1100 BC), which like structure that belonged to the tribal leader. The most complete Neolithic reached its peak between 1500 and 1200 BC. Named after the ancient city of settlements in Greece are Dimini (inhabited from 4000 to 1200 BC, see p254 ) Mycenae, where the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann made his and Sesklo ( p254), near Volos. celebrated finds in 1876, it is also known as the Achaean civilisation, after the Indo-European branch of migrants who had settled on mainland Greece BRONZE AGE and absorbed many aspects of Minoan culture. Around 3000 BC, Indo-European migrants introduced the processing of Unlike Minoan society, where the lack of city walls seems to indicate rela- www. ancientgreece.com bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) into Greece and so began three remark- tive peace under some form of central authority, Mycenaean civilisation was is a great web portal for able civilisations: the Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean. characterised by independent city-states such as Corinth, Pylos, Tiryns and, all things ancient and most powerful of them all, Mycenae. These were ruled by kings who inhabited Greek. Cycladic Civilisation palaces enclosed within massive walls on easily defensible hilltops. The Cycladic civilisation, centred on the islands of the Cyclades, is divided The Mycenaeans’ most impressive legacy is their magnificent gold jewel- into three periods: Early (3000–2000 BC), Middle (2000–1500 BC) and lery and ornaments, the best of which can be seen in the National Archaeo- Late (1500–1100 BC). The most impressive legacy of this civilisation is the logical Museum in Athens. The Mycenaeans wrote in what is called Linear statuettes carved from Parian marble – the famous Cycladic figurines. Like B (an early form of Greek), and worshipped gods who were precursors of statuettes from Neolithic times, the Cycladic figurines depicted images of the later Greek deities. the Great Mother. Other remains include bronze and obsidian tools and The Mycenaean civilisation came to an end in the 12th century BC, when For more on Linear B weapons, gold jewellery, and stone and clay vases and pots. it was overrun by the Dorians. script, try www.ancient The peoples of the Cycladic civilisation were accomplished sailors who scripts.com/linearb.html. developed prosperous maritime trade links. They exported their wares to GEOMETRIC AGE Asia Minor (the west of present-day Turkey), Europe and North Africa, as The origins of the Dorians remain uncertain. They are generally thought to well as to Crete and continental Greece. The Cyclades islands were influenced have come from Epiros or northern Macedonia, but some historians argue by both the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations. that they only arrived from that direction because they had been driven out of Doris, in central Greece, by the Mycenaeans. Minoan Civilisation The warrior-like Dorians settled first in the Peloponnese, but soon fanned Crete’s Minoan civilisation was the first advanced civilisation to emerge in out over much of the mainland, razing the city-states and enslaving the in- Europe, drawing its inspiration from two great Middle Eastern civilisations, habitants. The Dorians brought a traumatic break with the past, and the the Mesopotamian and the Egyptian. Archaeologists divide the Minoan civi- next 400 years are often referred to as Greece’s ‘dark age’. But it is unfair to 7000–3000 BC 3000 BC 3000–1100 BC 1700–1550 BC 1500–1200 BC 1200–800 BC For 4000 years the early inhab- The discovery of how to blend For around 1900 years two par- During this period the island of Mycenaean culture from the Arriving from the North, the itants of the Greek peninsula copper and tin into a strong allel civilisations, the Cycladic Santorini erupts with a cataclys- Peloponnesian mainland mysterious Dorians herald a live a simple agrarian life grow- alloy gives rise to the Bronze and the Minoan, prospered, mic explosion, one of the largest usurps much of the Cretan and 400-year period of obscurity in ing crops and herding animals. Age. Trade flourishes and developing sophisticated forms volcanic events in recorded his- Cycladic cultures. Goldsmith- Greek cultural and trading life Communities with housing and increased prosperity sees the of manufacturing, governance tory, causing a Mediterranean- ing is a predominant feature as existing infrastructures are planned streets begin to ap- birth of the Cycladic, Minoan and trade links. wide tsunami that probably of Mycenaean life, as is rigid obliterated. pear by around 3000 BC. and Mycenaean civilisations. contributed to the destruction authority. of Minoan civilisation. 32 HISTORY •• Archaic Age lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com HISTORY •• Archaic Age 33 dismiss the Dorians completely; they brought iron with them and developed Sparta a new style of pottery, decorated with striking geometric designs – although In the Peloponnese, Sparta was a very different kind of city-state. The art historians are still divided on whether they merely copied designs per- Spartans were descended from Dorian invaders and used the Helots, the fected by Ionians in Attica. The Dorians worshipped male gods instead of original inhabitants of Laconia, as their slaves. They ran their society along ‘The people fertility goddesses and adopted the Mycenaean gods Poseidon, Zeus and strict military lines. of the various Apollo, paving the way for the later Greek religious pantheon. Newborn babies were inspected and, if found wanting, were left to die on city-states a mountaintop. At the age of seven boys were taken from their homes to start ARCHAIC AGE rigorous training that would turn them into elite soldiers. Girls were spared were unified By about 800 BC Greece had begun to settle down again. The Dori- military training, but were forced to keep very fit in order to produce healthy by the devel- ans had developed into a class of land-holding aristocrats and Greece sons. Spartan indoctrination was so effective that dissent was unknown and a opment of had been divided into a series of independent city-states. The most im- degree of stability was achieved that other city-states could only dream of. portant of these were Argos, Athens, Corinth, Elis, Sparta and Thebes While Athens became powerful through trade, Sparta became the ultimate a Greek (Thiva). military machine and it towered above the other city-states. alphabet’ The city-states were autonomous, free to pursue their own interests as ‘Sparta they saw fit. Most abolished monarchic rule in favour of an aristocratic The Persian Wars became the form of government, usually headed by an arhon (chief magistrate). Aris- The Persian drive to destroy Athens was sparked by the city’s support for a ultimate tocrats were often disliked by the population because of their inherited rebellion in the Persian colonies of Asia Minor. Emperor Darius spent five privileges, and some city-states fell to the rule of tyrants after Kypselos, years suppressing the revolt and emerged hellbent on revenge. military the first tyrant of Corinth, started the practice in Corinth around 650 BC. A 25,000-strong Persian army reached Attica in 490 BC, but suffered a machine’ Tyrants seized their position rather than inheriting it. While today the humiliating defeat when outmanoeuvred by an Athenian force of 10,000 at word ‘tyrant’ may have darker overtones, in ancient times they were often the Battle of Marathon. seen as being on the side of ordinary citizens. Darius died in 485 BC, so it was left to his son Xerxes to fulfil his father’s The people of the various city-states were unified by the development ambition of conquering Greece. In 480 BC Xerxes gathered men from every of a Greek alphabet (of Phoenician origin, though the Greeks introduced far-flung nation of his empire and launched a coordinated invasion by land the practice of indicating vowels within the script), the verses of Homer and sea, the size of which the world had never seen.