(no subject)

MM: light on dark pottery
LM: dark on light

LM I: Minoan influence in the southern Aegean peaks
LM IB (not at the very end): all palaces except Knossos destroyed
sites not reoccupied until LM IIIB
palaces not rebuilt at such
Knossos remained functional until 13th century BCE LM IIIB, but not LM IIIC

pottery becomes more Mycenaean in post-LM II

LM IA until recently dated 1550-1500, perhaps 1675-1600 if Santorini 1625


LM IB until recently dated 1500-1450, now maybe 1600-1500
LM IB acme of Minoan art, Marine Style, Alternating Style
Marine style may resemble fresco paintings on Thera. Conceivably refugee artists from Thera
Marine motifs: murex, nautilus, octopus, dolphin, seaweed, sea anemone, star
Alternating: figure eight shield, double axe, sacral knot, sea anemone, trefoil rockwork

LM II 1450-1415, now maybe 1500-1450
new vessel types with Mycenaean ancestries
decorative developments with Mycenaean influence
Mycenaean tomb types (shaft and shaft-niche graves)
deposition of large quantities of wealth in tombs
= Mycenaean population at Knossos, probably militarily dominant but numerically limited warrior aristocracy

LM IIIA 1415-1340, now maybe 1450-1340
LM IIIB 1340-1190
stirrup jars painted with Linear B, probably for shipment
LM IIIC 1190-1125/1100
gradual ceramic transition, drastic change in settlement patterns to more defensible locations

all known figured Minoan frescoes are of Neopalatial date
common Knossos motifs:
bull-leaping
boxing & wrestling
heraldic griffin compositions
processional scenes

red skin for male, white for female, probably adopted from Egypt, possibly indirectly via Syria
no unmistakably particularized scenes
realistic in terms of animal/human movements
background totally fantastic
birds & plants *look* naturalistic, but often don't resemble any actual real birds/plants
lots of varied colors
fresco painting a major art form which influenced pottery painting and possibly seals as well
no attempt to indicate relief by shading
underwater scenes maybe restricted to floors. Mycenaeans adopted use of marine motifs for floor decorations at Pylos and Tiryns
no hunting/war scenes, rare chariot scenes

Minoan funerary architecture

1. small towns with blocks of living units defined by cobbled streets
2. settlements with a central main building and surrounding smaller buildings
3. towns with a central palace surrounded by large buildings
4. towns/villages consisting of large, separated houses
5. isolated rural villas

All palatial centers except Knossos destroyed in LM IB

Neopalatial and Post-palatial tombs
rare pit & cave burials
chamber tombs single most common, burials laid on floor or placed in pithoi or larnakes
sometimes cists and shafts cut into the tomb floor
tomb chamber closed off & dromos filled with earth
shaft graves relatively rare, mostly found in the Knossos area
shaft-niche graves, only in the Knossos area, shafts with a niche cut into one of the longer walls
tholos tombs (built with a vaulted roof)
Tholos A at Archanes of LM IIIA date may have been the archetype for the Treasury of Atreus and the tomb of Minyas at Orchomenos (LM IIIB)

4 types of burial containers
wooden coffins
elliptical larnakes modeled after bathtubs
rectangular larnakes
pithoi, v. popular in MM but largely replaced by Larnakes in LM