To begin understanding the nature of the early Polis, we can go back to the end of the Early Iron Age, focusing on the period between 900-700 BCE. This period is naturally hard to discern, with most of the remains being underneath the Archaic layers & stratigraphy, since many Polises were...

Following Homer’s works composed during the early Archaic Age, we begin moving towards social complexity. For the next few posts I will be focusing on the Archaic Age more generally, with a view to tracing the development of the Greek Polis. Roughly speaking we are dealing with the...

Having explored the Epic narratives around Troy, I now want to turn our attention to the archaeological site of Hisarlik itself to explore the evidence we have for the settlement, along with the historical war, siege & eventual destruction. As I mentioned, archaeologists have been...

Arguably the most well known aspect of Ancient Greek culture, especially that of the Bronze to Iron Age transition is the story of Troy. For centuries, the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to the legendary poet Homer, have captivated us with their tales of valour, wrath, and heroes. Yet, the...

Following the collapse of the Bronze Age palatial economies, we enter the Early Iron Age, meaning our area of focus shifts to Homeric Archaeology, the Epic tradition and Troy. My intention for this episode is to establish our period & the underpinnings of oral tradition. During the Late...

Moving forward in time from the early Shaft Tombs of Mycenae & Pylos, we reach the Late Helladic II period, which is a time that we know very little about archaeologically. To hearken back to my first episodes here, this is roughly the time where we start seeing Mycenaen culture &...

As we move into the LB II we begin to see far more Mycenaean influence, even on Crete. Last post, I left off with the steady decline and transformation of Minoan culture in the generation after the Thera eruption, and explained how the ash clouds from the volcano could have destabilised...

Last time we left off with the Minoan palaces emerging around 1950 BCE, centred around Crete. Today, I want to focus more on the Minoan civilization & culture itself, exploring the Palatial Ages & addressing some key themes and debates in current Minoan Archaeology. Once the Minoan...

In this new series of posts, I'll be exploring the archaeology of Greece through its core periods, from the Minoans up to the Hellenistic Period in the hope to provide a solid historical context, rooted in archaeology. Over the next few months, we'll also look at some key themes and debates...