Minoan Zoomorphic Culture

Download Minoan Zoomorphic Culture PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1009452061
Total Pages : 431 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (94 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Minoan Zoomorphic Culture by : Emily S. K. Anderson

Download or read book Minoan Zoomorphic Culture written by Emily S. K. Anderson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2024-06-06 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the earliest era of archaeological discovery on Crete, vivid renderings of animals have been celebrated as defining elements of Minoan culture. Animals were crafted in a rich range of substances and media in the broad Minoan world, from tiny seal-stones to life-size frescoes. In this study, Emily Anderson fundamentally rethinks the status of these zoomorphic objects. Setting aside their traditional classification as 'representations' or signs, she recognizes them as distinctively real embodiments of animals in the world. These fabricated animals-engaged with in quiet tombs, bustling harbors, and monumental palatial halls-contributed in unique ways to Bronze Age Aegean sociocultural life and affected the status of animals within people's lived experience. Some gave new substance and contour to familiar biological species, while many exotic and fantastical beasts gained physical reality only in these fabricated embodiments. As real presences, the creatures that the Minoans crafted artfully toyed with expectation and realized new dimensions within and between animalian identities.

Minoan Zoomorphic Culture

Download Minoan Zoomorphic Culture PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781009452076
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (52 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Minoan Zoomorphic Culture by : Emily S. K. Anderson

Download or read book Minoan Zoomorphic Culture written by Emily S. K. Anderson and published by . This book was released on 2024 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Minoan renderings of animals are some of the most vibrant art of the ancient Mediterranean. Working with current developments in material-culture studies, animal studies, and ancient art, Anderson examines these objects not as mere representations but as uniquely real embodiments of animals that made powerful contributions to sociocultural life"--

AMILLA

Download AMILLA PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : INSTAP Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 1623033136
Total Pages : 469 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (23 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis AMILLA by : Robert B Koehl

Download or read book AMILLA written by Robert B Koehl and published by INSTAP Academic Press. This book was released on 2013-07-31 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributions by 34 scholars are brought together here to create a volume in honor of the long and fruitful career of Guenter Kopcke who is the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Articles pertain to various topics on the ancient art, architecture, and archaeology of the greater Eastern Mediterranean region: from Pre-Dynastic Egypt to the Bronze Age Aegean and Anatolia, Cyprus and the Near East, and Etruscan Italy.

The World's Greatest Civilizations

Download The World's Greatest Civilizations PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781542752176
Total Pages : 42 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (521 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The World's Greatest Civilizations by : Charles River Charles River Editors

Download or read book The World's Greatest Civilizations written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-01-25 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes 30 pictures of Minoan art, ruins, and more. *Explains the links between Minoan culture and religion with the Ancient Greeks. *Details how the Minoans looked and dressed, and what a day in the life of a Minoan may have been like. *Explains the collapse of Minoan society, and whether it formed the basis for the myth of Atlantis Nearly 2,500 years after the Golden Age of Athens, people across the world today continue to be fascinated by the Ancient Greeks. But who did the Ancient Greeks look up to? The answer to that question can be found in Homer's The Odyssey, in which Odysseus makes note of "a great town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned." It was perhaps the earliest reference to the Minoan civilization, a mysterious ancient civilization that historians and archaeologists still puzzle over, but a civilization that renowned historian Will Durant described as "the first link in the European chain." Nearly 2,000 years before Homer wrote his epic poems, the Minoan civilization was centered on the island of Crete, a location that required the Minoans to be a regional sea power. And indeed they were, stretching across the Aegean Sea from about 2700-1500 B.C. with trade routes extending all the way to Egypt. The Minoans may have been the first link in the "European chain," leading to the Ancient Greeks and beyond, but questions persist over the origins of the civilization, the end of the civilization, and substantial parts of their history inbetween, including their religion and buildings. The World's Greatest Civilizations: The History and Culture of the Minoans shines a light on this Bronze Age civilization, providing a comprehensive overview of the reign of the Minoans and their lasting influence on European art, culture, trade, and more. Along with a description of Minoan life and pictures of Minoan ruins and art, you will learn about the civilization some have dubbed the first Europeans.

Minoan Ceramic Relief

Download Minoan Ceramic Relief PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Paul Astroms Forlag
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Minoan Ceramic Relief by : Karen Polinger Foster

Download or read book Minoan Ceramic Relief written by Karen Polinger Foster and published by Paul Astroms Forlag. This book was released on 1982 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Cultures in Contact

Download Cultures in Contact PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN 13 : 1588394751
Total Pages : 376 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (883 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cultures in Contact by : Joan Aruz

Download or read book Cultures in Contact written by Joan Aruz and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 2013 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The exhibition "Beyond Babylon : Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.," held in 2008 - 2009 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, demonstrated the cultural enrichment that emerged from the intensive interaction of civilizations from western Asia to Egypt and the Aegean in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. During this critical period in human history, powerful kingdoms and large territorial states were formed. Rising social elites created a demand for copper and tin, as well as for precious gold and silver and exotic materials such as lapis lazuli and ivory to create elite objects fashioned in styles that reflected contacts with foreign lands. This quest for metals--along with the desire for foreign textiles--was the driving force that led to the establishment of merchant colonies and a vast trading network throughout central Anatolia during the early second millennium B.C. Texts from palaces at sites from Hattusa (modern Bogazköy) in Hittite Anatolia to Amarna in Egypt attest to the volume and variety of interactions that took place some centuries later, creating the impetus for the circulation of precious goods, stimulating the exchange of ideas, and inspiring artistic creativity. Perhaps the most dramatic evidence for these far-flung connections emerges out of tragedy--the wreckage of the oldest known seagoing ship, discovered in a treacherous stretch off the southern coast of Turkey near the promontory known as Uluburun. Among its extraordinary cargo of copper, glass, and exotic raw materials and luxury goods is a gilded bronze statuette of a goddess--perhaps the patron deity on board, who failed in her mission to protect the ship. To explore the themes of the exhibition--art, trade, and diplomacy, viewed from an international perspective--a two-day symposium and related scholarly events allowed colleagues to explore many facets of the multicultural societies that developed in the second millennium B.C. Their insights, which dramatically illustrate the incipient phases of our intensely interactive world, are presented largely in symposium order, beginning with broad regional overviews and examination of particular archeological contexts and then drawing attention to specific artists and literary evidence for interconnections. In this introduction, however, their contributions are viewed from a somewhat more synthetic perspective, one that focuses attention on the ways in which ideas in this volume intersect to enrich the ongoing discourse on the themes elucidated in the exhibition.

Minoans

Download Minoans PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134880634
Total Pages : 291 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (348 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Minoans by : Rodney Castleden

Download or read book Minoans written by Rodney Castleden and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-01-04 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thoroughly researched, Rodney Castleden's Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete here sues the results of recent research to produce a comprehensive new vision of the peoples of Minoan Crete. Since Sir Arthur Evans rediscovered the Minoans in the early 1900s, we have defined a series of cultural traits that make the ‘Minoan personality’: elegant, graceful and sophisticated, these nature lovers lived in harmony with their neighbours, while their fleets ruled the seas around Crete. This, at least, is the popular view of the Minoans. But how far does the later work of archaeologists in Crete support this view? Drawing on his experience of being actively involved in research on landscapes processes and prehistory for the last twenty years, Castleden writes clearly and accessibly to provide a text essential to the study of this fascinating subject.

The Minoan Epiphany - A Bronze Age Visionary Culture

Download The Minoan Epiphany - A Bronze Age Visionary Culture PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Xibalba Books
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Minoan Epiphany - A Bronze Age Visionary Culture by : Bruce Rimell

Download or read book The Minoan Epiphany - A Bronze Age Visionary Culture written by Bruce Rimell and published by Xibalba Books. This book was released on 2021-01-02 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The art and iconography of the Minoan civilisation of Bronze Age Crete is rightly described as having a refreshing vitality with a fortunate combination of stylisation and spontaneity in which the artist is able to transform conventional imagery into a personal expression. The dynamism, torsion and naturalism evident in Minoan art stands in stark contrast to the hieratic rigidity of other ancient civilisations, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the iconography of the Minoan Epiphany, a set of mainly glyptic (rings, seals, and seal impression) images which appear to depict religious celebrants experiencing direct and seemingly ecstatic encounters with deities. This collection of essays explores this central aspect of Minoan religion, taking a strongly archaeological focus to allow the artefacts to speak for themselves, and moving from traditional ‘representational’ interpretations into ‘embodied’ perspectives in which the ecstatic capabilities of the human body throw new light on Aegean Bronze Age ritual practices. Such ideas challenge rather passive assumptions modern Western observers hold about the nature of religious feelings and experiences, in particular the depictions of altered states of consciousness in ancient art, and the visionary potential of dance gestures. Speculative asides on the potential for a Minoan origin for Classical Greek humanism, and hints in the imagery on ancient Cretan conceptions of the cosmos, are set against sound archaeological theories to explain this lively and dynamic corpus of images. Beautifully illustrated with images and sketches of the relevant artefacts, this wide-ranging volume will stimulate audiences with archaeological, prehistorical and spiritual interests, as well as historians of religion and art. ‘The Minoan Epiphany’ also represents an influential antecendent to the Visionary Humanist philosophy which forms the majority of Bruce’s current independent research interests.

Cultural Identity in Minoan Crete

Download Cultural Identity in Minoan Crete PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781108202770
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (27 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cultural Identity in Minoan Crete by : Ellen Adams

Download or read book Cultural Identity in Minoan Crete written by Ellen Adams and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neopalatial Crete - the 'Golden Age' of the Minoan Civilization - possessed palaces, exquisite artefacts, and iconography with pre-eminent females. While lacking in fortifications, ritual symbolism cloaked the island, an elaborate bureaucracy logged transactions, and massive storage areas enabled the redistribution of goods. We cannot read the Linear A script, but the libation formulae suggest an island-wide koine. Within this cultural identity, there is considerable variation in how the Minoan elites organized themselves and others on an intra-site and regional basis. This book explores and celebrates this rich, diverse and dynamic culture through analyses of important sites, as well as Minoan administration, writing, economy and ritual. Key themes include the role of Knossos in wider Minoan culture and politics, the variable modes of centralization and power relations detectable across the island, and the role of ritual and cult in defining and articulating elite control.

Divine Epiphany in Greek Literature and Culture

Download Divine Epiphany in Greek Literature and Culture PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191035858
Total Pages : 428 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Divine Epiphany in Greek Literature and Culture by : Georgia Petridou

Download or read book Divine Epiphany in Greek Literature and Culture written by Georgia Petridou and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-01-28 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In ancient Greece, epiphanies were embedded in cultural production, and employed by the socio-political elite in both perpetuating pre-existing power-structures and constructing new ones. This volume is the first comprehensive survey of the history of divine epiphany as presented in the literary and epigraphic narratives of the Greek-speaking world. It demonstrates that divine epiphanies not only reveal what the Greeks thought about their gods; they tell us just as much about the preoccupations, the preconceptions, and the assumptions of ancient Greek religion and culture. In doing so, it explores the deities who were prone to epiphany and the contexts in which they manifested themselves, as well as the functions (narratives and situational) they served, addressing the cultural specificity of divine morphology and mortal-immortal interaction. Divine Epiphany in Greek Literature and Culture re-establishes epiphany as a crucial mode in Greek religious thought and practice, underlines its centrality in Greek cultural production, and foregrounds its impact on both the political and the societal organization of the ancient Greeks.

Art and Culture of the Cyclades

Download Art and Culture of the Cyclades PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 644 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Art and Culture of the Cyclades by : Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe

Download or read book Art and Culture of the Cyclades written by Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Minoans

Download The Minoans PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Good Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 66 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (66 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Minoans by : George Glasgow

Download or read book The Minoans written by George Glasgow and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-07-10 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Minoans" by George Glasgow. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean

Download Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Council for British Research in the Levant
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean by : Joanne Clarke

Download or read book Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean written by Joanne Clarke and published by Council for British Research in the Levant. This book was released on 2005 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The eastern Mediterranean was the centre of trade for many centuries, sitting at the junction of what are now Europe, Asia and Africa. It was the place where exotic produce and products could be traded or exchanged for things that had their origins perhaps thousands of miles away. But wherever trade takes place, a similar exchange of ideas, technology and culture also occurs. This book presents thirty papers on this very subject, looking at the ways in which we can measure the transmission of culture, and how this transmission varied across time and space.

Minoan Realities

Download Minoan Realities PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Presses univ. de Louvain
ISBN 13 : 2875881000
Total Pages : 189 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (758 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Minoan Realities by : Diamantis Panagiotopoulos

Download or read book Minoan Realities written by Diamantis Panagiotopoulos and published by Presses univ. de Louvain. This book was released on 2012 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the social role of images and architecture in a pre-modern society? How were they used to create adequate environments for specific profane and ritual activities? In which ways did they interact with each other? These and other crucial issues on the social significance of imagery and built structures in Neopalatial Crete were the subject of a workshop which took place on November 16th, 2009 at the University of Heidelberg. The papers presented in the workshop are collected in the present volume. They provide different approaches to this complex topic and are aimed at a better understanding of the formation, role, and perception of images and architecture in a very dynamic social landscape. The Cretan Neopalatial period saw a rapid increase in the number of palaces and 'villas', characterized by elaborate designs and idiosyncratic architectural patterns which were themselves in turn generated by a pressing desire for a distinctive social and performative environment.

Minoans: A Captivating Guide to an Essential Bronze Age Society in Ancient Greece Called the Minoan Civilization

Download Minoans: A Captivating Guide to an Essential Bronze Age Society in Ancient Greece Called the Minoan Civilization PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Independently Published
ISBN 13 : 9781799090953
Total Pages : 94 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (99 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Minoans: A Captivating Guide to an Essential Bronze Age Society in Ancient Greece Called the Minoan Civilization by : Captivating History

Download or read book Minoans: A Captivating Guide to an Essential Bronze Age Society in Ancient Greece Called the Minoan Civilization written by Captivating History and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-03-08 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you want to discover the captivating history of the Minoans, then keep reading... The Minoans continue to be an intriguing subject for modern audiences because they are like a puzzle missing half of its pieces. Individuals have a rough idea of what it might look like, but there could be surprises no one even thinks of because all traces of the image are gone. For archaeologists, historians, tourists, scholars, fans of mythology, and students of the ancient world, the Minoans are this broken puzzle. The Minoans were an ancient civilization that built their settlements on islands in the Aegean Sea. They lived almost 5,000 years ago and left behind traces of their lives but not enough for people to create a complete picture. Ever since the early 20th century, the Minoans have been a subject of interest thanks to the discoveries and excavations by Sir Arthur Evans, a British archaeologist who found the first Minoan ruins and named them after the mythological King Minos and his Minotaur. Evans was able to gain almost sole access to the lands of the Cretan government for excavation by paying for it with funds generated by his supporters in 1900. He and his crew unearthed the massive palace complex of Knossos, one of the most famous archaeological excavation sites in history. From the work of Evans and others, the puzzle of the Minoans has slowly gained more pieces. Through the study of material culture, modern audiences now know quite a bit about artistic techniques, favorite subjects, fashion, daily life, gender roles, and who the Minoans traded with. An observer can tell that the Minoans were a seafaring mercantile civilization, that they built magnificent urban centers, and that they had a form of proto-writing. In Minoans: A Captivating Guide to an Essential Bronze Age Society in Ancient Greece Called the Minoan Civilization, you will discover topics such as Where and When Did the Minoans Live? Known History of the Minoans before the Mycenaeans Society, Culture, and Daily Life Trade and Shipbuilding on the Mediterranean Sea Language and Linear A The Potential Predecessors of Greek Religion Art Architecture Theories about the Collapse of Civilization And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about the Minoans, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

The World's Greatest Civilizations: the History and Culture of the Minoans (Illustrated)

Download The World's Greatest Civilizations: the History and Culture of the Minoans (Illustrated) PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781492891437
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (914 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The World's Greatest Civilizations: the History and Culture of the Minoans (Illustrated) by : Charles River Charles River Editors

Download or read book The World's Greatest Civilizations: the History and Culture of the Minoans (Illustrated) written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2013-10-04 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes 30 pictures of Minoan art, ruins, and more. *Explains the links between Minoan culture and religion with the Ancient Greeks. *Details how the Minoans looked and dressed, and what a day in the life of a Minoan may have been like. *Explains the collapse of Minoan society, and whether it formed the basis for the myth of Atlantis Nearly 2,500 years after the Golden Age of Athens, people across the world today continue to be fascinated by the Ancient Greeks. But who did the Ancient Greeks look up to? The answer to that question can be found in Homer's The Odyssey, in which Odysseus makes note of "a great town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned." It was perhaps the earliest reference to the Minoan civilization, a mysterious ancient civilization that historians and archaeologists still puzzle over, but a civilization that renowned historian Will Durant described as "the first link in the European chain." Nearly 2,000 years before Homer wrote his epic poems, the Minoan civilization was centered on the island of Crete, a location that required the Minoans to be a regional sea power. And indeed they were, stretching across the Aegean Sea from about 2700-1500 B.C. with trade routes extending all the way to Egypt. The Minoans may have been the first link in the "European chain", leading to the Ancient Greeks and beyond, but questions persist over the origins of the civilization, the end of the civilization, and substantial parts of their history inbetween, including their religion and buildings. The World's Greatest Civilizations: The History and Culture of the Minoans shines a light on this Bronze Age civilization, providing a comprehensive overview of the reign of the Minoans and their lasting influence on European art, culture, trade, and more. Along with a description of Minoan life and pictures of Minoan ruins and art, you will learn about the civilization some have dubbed the first Europeans.

The Minoans and Mycenaeans

Download The Minoans and Mycenaeans PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781542765817
Total Pages : 100 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (658 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Minoans and Mycenaeans by : Charles River Charles River Editors

Download or read book The Minoans and Mycenaeans written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-26 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Examines the archaeology, history, and culture of both groups *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Nearly 2,500 years after the Golden Age of Athens, people across the world today continue to be fascinated by the Ancient Greeks. But who did the Ancient Greeks look up to? The answer to that question can be found in Homer's The Odyssey, in which Odysseus makes note of "a great town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned." It was perhaps the earliest reference to the Minoan civilization, a mysterious ancient civilization that historians and archaeologists still puzzle over, but a civilization that renowned historian Will Durant described as "the first link in the European chain." Nearly 2,000 years before Homer wrote his epic poems, the Minoan civilization was centered on the island of Crete, a location that required the Minoans to be a regional sea power. And indeed they were, stretching across the Aegean Sea from about 2700-1500 BCE with trade routes extending all the way to Egypt. The Minoans may have been the first link in the "European chain," leading to the Ancient Greeks and beyond, but questions persist over the origins of the civilization, the end of the civilization, and substantial parts of their history inbetween, including their religion and buildings. In the wake of the Minoans, a Greek culture flourished and spread its tentacles throughout the western Mediterranean region via trade and warfare. Scholars have termed this pre-Classical Greek culture the Mycenaean culture, which existed from about 2000-1200 BCE, when Greece, along with much of the eastern Mediterranean, was thrust into a centuries long dark age. However, before the Mycenaean culture collapsed, it was a vital part of the late Bronze Age Mediterranean system and stood on equal footing with some of the great powers of the region, such as the Egyptians and Hittites. Despite being ethnic Greeks and speaking a language that was the direct predecessor of classical Greek, the Mycenaeans had more in common with their neighbors from the island of Crete, who are known today as the Minoans. Due to their cultural affinities with the Minoans and the fact that they conquered Crete yet still carried on many Minoan traditions, the Mycenaeans are viewed by some scholars as the later torchbearers of a greater Aegean civilization, much the way the Romans carried on Hellenic civilization after the Greeks. Given that the Mycenaeans played such a vital role on the history in the late Bronze Age, it would be natural to assume there are countless studies and accurate chronologies on the subject, but the opposite is true. Although the Mycenaeans were literate, the corpus of written texts from the period is minimal, so modern scholars are left to use a variety of methods in order to reconstruct a proper history of Mycenaean culture. In fact, even the name "Mycenaean" can be a bit misleading since it refers only to one locale in Greece. However, since the city was the first Bronze Age site discovered, it became a reference point for archeologists and historians to use to refer to any Bronze Age discoveries in Greece. Archeology provides the base for any study of the ancient Mycenaeans; since many of their cities were replaced and built over in classical, medieval, and modern times, excavations of the Bronze Age cities can tell modern scholars how these people lived and died. Closely related to archaeology is art history, which can be the study of any material culture including pottery, sculptures, reliefs, and jewelry. The Homeric epics also provide some information about Mycenaean culture, though Homer was a poet who lived hundreds of years after the collapse of the Mycenaean culture. Classical Greek historians and geographers also wrote about the Mycenaeans, but their works should be consulted with caution as some of their statements have proved false.