Minoan Art

Among the Minoan ruins excavated on Crete were the remains of pottery, frescoes, and other works of art.

POTTERY

The earliest Minoan pottery had images carved into the clay. These images were often simple lines filled with simple colors.

Gradually, the Minoans began to paint and/or glaze their pottery. The designs on them went from one or two color to many colors, and the images in the designs became more and more complex. Lines in the early pottery became spirals later, and that progressed to depictions of things in the Minoan's environment, particularly the sea. You can see this progression in the images below. (Top row- Jug circa 2500 BC, Jug circa 1800 BC - Bottom row - Vase circa 1500 BC)

Mythology and the Ancient Minoans

Crete is the setting for more than a few stories in Greek mythology. Perhaps the existence of these myths is evidence that the Greeks knew quite a bit about their predecessors. Some believe these myths were begun by the Minoans themselves, and the myths then became a part of Greek culture when the Mycenaeans migrated to Crete after the Minoan's decline.

Early History and Settlements of the Ancient Minoans

Before the development of Ancient Minoan civilization, the inhabitants of Crete were stone age hunter gatherers, just like all of the other early civilizations. The archaeological evidence shows that people have lived on Crete for at least 8,000 years.

Physical Geography of the Ancient Minoans

The story of the geography of the Ancient Minoans is largely about water.

Who were the Ancient Minoans?

Whenever I think of Ancient Greece, I think of two things. First, I think of their culture, particularly their art, literature and their achievements in government, philosophy, and science. Second, I think of the great Greek military triumphs, especially their victory over the much larger and more powerful Persian empire. These two components of their great civilization were the result of a hybrid of the two cultures that came before them. Their military prowess came mostly from a civilization on the Greek mainland called the Mycenaeans. The roots of Greek culture, however, probably came from an older civilization called the Minoans.

First Evidence of Large Scale War Uncovered in Syria

The scene could be that of a Hollywood blockbuster movie. Hundreds, if not thousands, of warriors firing projectiles at a city's walls in preparation for an assault. Meanwhile, behind the fortifications, the inhabitants of the city, caught by surprise, are feverishly planning a defense or an escape, knowing that the next few minutes, hours, or days may be their last.

But it's not Hollywood. It's a possible scenario that archaeologists from the University of Chicago and the Syrian Department of Antiquities are uncovering bit by bit at a place called Hamoukar.

Hamoukar is in far northeastern Syria, not far from the Iraqi border. It is a place where archaeologists believe one of the first large-scale military engagements occurred around 3500 B.C.

It is possible that the destroyers of Hamoukar were from rival city-states in southern Mesopotamia called the Uruk culture. It was previously thought that these cities from the Southern Tigris and Euphrates valley developed first and then colonized areas further upriver, including the area of Hamoukar. Discoveries at Hamoukar during excavations from 1999-2001 seem to show that the culture at Hamoukar may have developed independently, perhaps even simultaenously, with the Uruk and other southern Mesopotamian cultures.

The fact is that Northern Mesopotamia had resources-wood, minerals, stone-that the southerners needed. The battle that destroyed Hamoukar may very well have been the culminating confrontation in a war between north and south over these resources.

The excavation at Hamoukar during October and November of 2005 uncovered the remnants of the battle. "The whole area of our recent excavation was a war zone," Clemens Reichel, Reserach Associate at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, said.



Among the findings at the battle site were collapsed walls that had been heavily bombarded by sling bullets. About 1200 of these inch long, inch and a half wide oval projectiles were found in addition to 120 larger round clay balls. "This was 'Shock and Awe' in the Fourth Millennium B.C.," Reichel said. (see image - a=intact sling bullet, b=sling projectile after impact, c=clay ball projectile)

Even if the Uruk people were not those responsible for the destruction of Hamoukar, they did take the area over shortly after. “Dug into the destruction debris that covered the buildings excavated this season were numerous large pits that contained vast amount of southern Uruk pottery from the south," Reichel said.

Ironically, what was likely a horrific scene of death and destruction for the people of Hamoukar actually helps archaeologists to determine what daily life at the site was like. The inhabitants of Hamoukar were frozen in time, almost like the doomed citizens of Pompeii. “Whatever was in these buildings was buried in them, literally waiting to be retrieved by us," Reichel said. Obviously these remains will be near the top of the priority list for the next season of excavations at Hamoukar.

To read more about the excavation at Hamoukar and view photos from the site, please read the press release from the University of Chicago.

Study Examines Social Class and Inequality in Hunter-Gatherer Societies

A new study, published in a coming issue of Current Anthropology, found that climate and the amount of readily available resources is related to the development (or lack of development) of inequality in the social class systems of early hunter-gatherer societies.

The study compares hunter-gatherer socities in North America and Australia. "The conditions for the development of marked inequality included reliable and prolific resources such as salmon, relatively high population densities, and the defense of territories and their resources," Australian National University's Ian Keen said. The inequalities in North American hunter-gatherer groups included the development of social classes based within chiefdoms and sometimes slavery.

Australia, on the other hand, did not see the same development of inequalities. "The major constraint...was the unpredictability of climates and resources," Keen said. However, in tropical northern Australia, some groups did develop temporary inequalities as a result of some men having many more wives that others. This "was only possible where resources were relatively plentiful and population densities were high," Keen said.

COMMENTARY

If you think about it, the conclusions of this study really make sense. Afterall, climate has a direct influence on resources. The more favorable and consistent a climate is, the more likely a society will have an abundance of game to hunt and wild foodstuffs to gather. Likewise, with more resources available, it makes sense that individuals or sub-groups within the society might be more likely to dominate the collection of these resources, thereby making them more "wealthy."