Early Bronze Age (2900-200 BC)
The Greek Bronze Age or the Early Helladic Era started around 2800 BC
and lasted till 1050 BC in Crete while in the Aegean islands it started
in 3000 BC. The Bronze Age in Greece is divided into periods such as
Helladic I, II. The information that is available today on the Bronze
Age in Greece is from the architecture, burial styles and lifestyle. The
colonies were made of 300 to 1000 people.
The Bronze Age is known as so because of the invention and introduction
of the metal bronze. This metal made its entry into Greece in 3000 BC,
but it did not make its impact as soon as it arrived. The people from
Dimini from the Neolithic era that had settled in Greece slowly started
the use of Bronze. Knives and swords were carved from the metal. This
metal was more easy to use than stone, bone or wood. Metals such as
gold, silver and lead arrived at the same time as bronze.
The class system in society started with the arrival of metal
depending on their value and availability. Bronze was expensive and
copper was to be brought from other areas. The richer class could afford
the metals and this was proved by the excavations found wherein people
where buried with metal jewelry.
An excellent example of the Early Bronze Age in Greece is the excavation
of the Lerna village. The houses roofs were made with clay tiles and
wall with stones. Baskets were sealed with marks pressed on them. This
proves that even then people did care for their belongings. Fences of
stonewalls were made to protect their houses. But evidence shows that
Lerna was attacked by some colonies and burnt the whole town.
The Bronze Age was also characterized by the burial systems. They
were simple pits or graves carved into rocks. These graves were either
for one person or a complete family. These burial pits and the remains
give us important information on the nutrition and diseases of those
eras. Also they give us an insight on the people's minds on their
beliefs on human behavior and after life.
The settlements of the Early Bronze Age lived on hills or on low plains,
which were close to water. Such regions may have been more fertile for
agricultural and settling purposes. The houses were made of stone
foundations and mud walls. They had the provision of kilns for cooking
and stones counters for sleeping, storage or for cooking. Goods were
stored in containers made of wood or reed or simply dug into the ground.
The economy of the villages depended on production of tools, weapons,
agriculture and art and architecture. In crops they grew cereals and
legumes that was there from the Neolithic Era. Also they introduced
olive trees and wine. In animal husbandry they reared sheep's and goats.
The need for more metals and goods lead to introduction of different
colonies and barter creating set-up for trade. Major production that
contributed to the economy included pottery, stone carving, textile and
metal carving.
Arts and crafts included ceramic pottery, which were painted in earthy
colors. Manufacture of tools was from bone, metals and stones using
advanced technology. Figurines reflected the social and lifestyle
habits. Weaving also constituted an important part, but the remains were
lost in time because they were of perishable nature.
The Early Bronze Age paved the way for Minoans and the Mycenaean Greeks,
which was characterized by its prosperity and the rich empires.
Neolithic period (6000-2900 BC)
According to historians and archeological findings, the Neolithic Age
in Greece lasted from 6800 to 3200 BC. The most domesticated
settlements were in Near East of Greece. They traveled mainly due to
overpopulation. These people introduced pottery and animal husbandry in
Greece. They may as well have traveled via the route of Black sea into
Thrace, which then further leads to Macedonia, Thessaly, Boeotia etc.
The second way of traveling into Greece is from one island to another
and such type of colonies has been found in Knossos and Kythnos.
The main characteristics of this era are the climate stabilization
and the settlements of people. The Neolithic Revolution arrives with
these people who traveled from Anatolia, Turkey. The economy of the
region became steady with organized and methodical farming, stock
rearing and, bartering and sculptures like pottery. People stopped
traveling from region to region and permanent settlements in Greece.
They domesticated animals like sheep and goats and grew plants and
crops. They made their bases around sites where there was ample water
supply and in open landscapes. The Neolithic Greece people can be said
as the first 'farmers' and their lives were less complex and simple.
Archeological findings show more settlements in Northern Greece, like
Thessaly and Sesklo. Villages were found in Thessaly around 6500 BC
while settlements in Sesklo started in 5500 BC. The inhabitants of these
areas couldn't have been more than a hundred people. The houses were
made of stone foundations with a roof made of a thick layer of clay and
timber. They were one-room houses measuring 10 to 50 square metres.
A small village was also found at an area called Nea Nikomedia, where
people resided around 5800 BC. The houses were made of sticks and mud
surrounded by fences.
The villagers made different types of attractive pottery like cups and
dishes. Most of them were designed in a red and white pattern. Excellent
remains of such pottery can found from sites at Sesklo. The figurines
that were created in the Neolithic Era were carved to suggest a female
goddess. Offerings in the form of clay animals and birds to the goddess
have been found in the caves. Till now, the oldest artifacts of
Neolithic Era have been found in the Knossos region dating back to 3500
BC.
The village of Sesklo is supposed to have been destroyed in 4000 BC
with people possibly from Northern Greece who were more armed than the
villagers. These people made new settlements called Dimini, which is
nearby the settlement Thessaly. It covers about 0.8 hectares and
distributed in circular enclosures. At first they were thought to be
built for defence purposes, but later it was found that they for
distribution of land.
Crops and plants that were domesticated by the colonies in Neolithic era
have been ancestors of plants such as barley and animals such as goats,
dogs and pigs. At a settlement in Argissa, findings suggest that
domestication of animals took place as early as 8300 BC. Even in the
Sesklo area, cattle bone fragments have been found.
During the last two decades, the settlements of Neolithic era found have
gone up to one thousand; research is going on how the people of that
Era communicated their economy, technology and the environment they
lived in.
Copy : http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/History/
Done by : Nur Liyana Bte hj Rosli
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