Sources and Documents: Artefacts

08/20/13 • 47 min

In this second lecture on sources for ancient Greece, Dr Gillian Shepherd looks at some of the practicalities surrounding the study of material culture (such as the dating of objects) and also at issues of survival, excavation and the methodological issues to bear in mind when assessing the significance of archaeological evidence. She goes on to describe two “success stories” where archaeological and textual evidence have been successfully combined to reconstruct two features of the Athenian navy which was so critical to Athenian prosperity: the Arsenal at Pireaus, the monumental building where the rigging for the ships was stored, and the trireme Olympias, a modern reconstruction of an ancient warship.

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Sources and Documents: Artefacts (handout)

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The Greek Renaissance (handout)

The period between the fall of the Mycenaean civilisation and the 8th century BC is conventionally known as the “Dark Ages” of ancient Greece because of a relative dearth of evidence: Greece appears to be a more isolated and impoverished place, and some technological skills and also literacy appear to have been lost. In the 8th century, however, we see significant changes afoot not only in the archaeological record but also in overseas contact and the development of a Greek alphabet. In this lecture Dr Gillian Shepherd examines some of the extraordinary developments which have led to the 8th century being dubbed “The Greek Renaissance”.