HIST 1001 Lecture 4: history - 1
Discovery of New Civilizations
I. Discovery of New Civilizations
A. Homer and Schliemann – Mycenaean Civilization
• Newgrange and Stonehenge
o Massive stones built around 3000 BCE
o No written evidence of what its used for – no writings
• Heinrich Schliemann
o Germany born in 1822 in Russia
o Works at early age but continues to teach himself
o Passion was work of homer
o Goes to California in 1851 to set up shops for gold rush
o Went to Greece to find Troy
o Hires workers to dig at hill and they find evidence of a small city
▪ Different levels of occupation
▪ Found gold no one had ever seen before
▪ Starts questioning the other cities mentioned
o Mycenae “lion gate”
▪ Small with big walls and massive gates
▪ Finds graves of 19 people buried with grave goods
▪ Weapons and gold
▪ Death masks
• Arthur Evans – Minoan Civilization
o Uses the mythological stories to find old cities
o Crete
▪ King Minos
▪ Wife gave birth to Minotaur
▪ Capital was Knossos
▪ Digs and finds a huge multi- level complex with long
corridors and halls
▪ Walls had evidence of paintings
▪ Indoor plumbing
▪ Founds Minoan clay tablets with writing
▪ Two versions: Linear A and Linear B
▪ Linear A
1. Crete only
2. 2000 BCE
3. Ends in 1370 BCE
▪ Linear B
1. Crete
2. Pylos (Carl Blegen)
3. Begins 1450 BCE
4. Ends in 1100 BCE
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• Homer
o Iliad – Battle of Troy
• Michael Ventris
o British scholar
o Gets Alice Kober’s information to break the code and figures out
Linear B is actually ancient Greek written in a different script
B. Minoan Civilization
• 2600- 1400 BCE
• Discovered by Author Evans
• Large palace complex at Knossos
• Production and trade in wine and olive oil
• Concentrated in Crete
• Used Linear A
o We don’t know what this is
o Appears in 2000 BCE
o Disappears after conquered by Mycenaean’s
C. Mycenaean Civilization
• 1500 -1100 BCE
• Evidence all over Greek islands in Aegean Sea
• Spoke Greek
• Conquered Minoans
• Use Linear B (borrowed some Linear A)
• Trade in wine and olive oil
II. Time of Turmoil
• 1200-1000 BCE
o Trojan war 1150 BCE
• End of three major civilizations
o Hittie
o New Kingdom Egypt
o Mycenaean (Minoans gone by 1370 BCE)
▪ Athens is the only city that doesn’t get destroyed
▪ Evidence of a revolution
III. Archaic Greece
A. Dark Ages
• 1000-800 BCE
• Loss of writing
• Rebirth of writing at the end
B. Archaic Age,
• 750-500 BC
• Homer, 750 BCE
• The Oracle at Delphi
o Oracle is a way the gods communicate with you
▪ * Recording *
• Olympic Games
o 776 BCE
o In city called Olympia
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