Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983 - 70

THE

BOOKSHELF

The Birth of Greek Art: Prom the
Mycenaean to the Archaic Period,
and Erika
by Roland Hampe
Simon, 316 pages , 58 color photographs, 382 black-and-white photographs, 37 text figures, 23 plans, 3 maps,
bibliography. Oxford University Press,
New York1982 $65.00
One of the most important issues that
confronts the student of Greek culture
today concerns the question of continuity
or discontinuity between the prehistoric
Bronze Age and later "Classical" Greek
art. The question is anything but new.
Indeed, it has been debated since Heinrich Schliemann unearthed the fabulous
treasures of Mycenae in the late nineteenth century. At that time, one could
surmise that the gold masks of bearded
males which he discovered were representations of the heroes of Homeric epic,
and that they ultimately were the ancestors of Solon or Leonidas. Although
Mycenae and comparable citadels presumably fell to Dorian invaders around
1100b.c., the Dark Ages which followed
were imagined to be rather incidental, a
mere cloud which eventually began to
disperse when a revitalized Hellenism
made its triumphant appearance start-

Archaeology

ing around 1000 B.c. Accordingly, the
break with the Bronze Age (ca. 2500-1200
b.c.) was deemed of minor significance.
This hypothesis seemed to become fact
in 1952when the British linguist Michael
Ventris, by deciphering Linear B, discovered that the Mycenaeans spoke an
early form of the same language as
Pindar and Pericles. Excavations carried
out in Athens just before and since the
decipherment pointed to the same conclusion: at least in Attica, continuity
could be demonstrated in pottery extending from Sub-Mycenaean (eleventh century B.c.) to Geometric times (eighth
century B.c.). The Dark Ages were not
so dark after all.
There nevertheless remains a considerable amount of evidenceto make a good
case for a serious interruption in Greece
as a whole after 1100b.c. Linear B was
completely abandoned, and in the eighth
century a new system of writing, the alphabet, was adopted; a change occurred
in burial customs, from inhumation to
cremation ; and iron was substituted for
bronze in making weapons. Palatial
dwellings, particularly the Mycenaean
megaron, and sculpture came to an end.
After a hiatus architecture, sculpture
and the minor arts emerge again. Were

they also different? This is the central
issue addressed in The Birth of Greek
Art , and the authors, Roland Hampe and
Erika Simon, make perfectly clear in
their introduction which side they are
on: "Mycenaean art was an overture to
that of the Greeks." Unfortunately, they
have hardly succeeded in demonstrating
this point. But they could not have presented better in photographs and text
the material evidence that must be examined if one is to look into this highly
significant question.
The Birth of Greek Art contains separate discussions of the various art forms
and media. The longer chapters are
devoted to the major areas of architecture, metal work, clay pottery, and stone
sculpture, and the shorter to the minor
arts such as jewelry,weaponry and gems.
By dividing the evidence in this way and
presenting it in chronological sequence
with the illustrations clustered accordingly, the reader is greatly assisted in
following the numerous arguments and
developments.
It is, however, precisely at this point
that the difficulty arises. Too often the
authors move from one period and object
to the next- from a Mycenaean megaron
of the fifteenth century b.c. to a Geo-

Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983