Minoans and Mycenaeans (Online)

This course will cover the diet and disease, eating and drinking habits, social and economic structures, trade and overseas contacts, domestic arrangements, funerary customs, worship, and bureaucracy of these cultures within the following ten units:

1. Welcome to the Greek Bronze Age
This unit looks at the evidence we have for these cultures, their geography, chronology and the Cycladic culture

2. Cretan myth and the ‘Palace of Minos’ at Knossos
This unit takes an in-depth at look at Arthur Evans’ excavations at Knossos

3. The Minoans beyond Knossos
In this unit we explore other sites on Crete, comparing and contrasting with the restorations at Knossos

4. Minoan culture: lifestyle, religion, art and writing
In this unit we examine the daily lives of the Minoan people and are introduced to the Linear A writing system

5. Akrotiri: The Pompeii of the Aegean
This unit examines the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri on Thera and discusses the Late Bronze Age volcanic eruption which destroyed the site and analyses the arguments that it was responsible for the demise of the entire Minoan civilisation and was perhaps the site of Plato’s Atlantis

6. The Mycenaeans: Myths, origins and discovery; the Citadel at Mycenae
In this unit the focus switches to the Greek mainland and examines the people and the Citadel of Mycenae. We take our first look at the Linear B writing system

7. Mycenae ‘Rich in Gold’: Grave circles B & A; Tholos tombs
This unit continues with the exploration of the site at Mycenae, focusing in particular on burial practices and the discoveries made in the graves

8. Mycenaeans: Lifestyle, economy, religion, art and bureaucracy
In this unit we examine the daily lives of the Mycenaean people and learn more about the Linear B writing system

9. Mycenaean architecture and engineering
This unit moves away from Mycenae to focus on other Mycenaean sites – in particular Tiryns and Pylos – and we look at possible causes for the demise of the Mycenaean culture

10. Troy
In this unit we look at the myth, history and archaeology of Troy and further explore the end of the Bronze Age and the start of the Dark Age

We strongly recommend that you try to find a little time each week to engage in the online conversations (at times that are convenient to you) as the forums are an integral, and very rewarding, part of the course and the online learning experience.

To participate in the course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following textbooks:

• Preziosi, D. & Hitchcock, L., 1999 Aegean Art and Architecture, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

•  Shelmerdine, C. W. (ed.), 2008 The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Please ensure you are able to access copies of any required textbooks prior to enrolling on a course but please keep in mind that courses with insufficient students enrolled will be cancelled. The Department accepts no responsibility for books bought in anticipation of a course running.