The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean

Abstract This The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean provides a detailed survey of the Greek Bronze Age, roughly 3000 to 1000 bc. This period witnessed the flourishing of the Minoan and Mycenean civilizations, the earliest expansion of trade in the Aegean and wider Mediterranean Sea, the development of artistic techniques, the evolution of early Greek religious practices and mythology, and violent conflict in Asia Minor. The first section of the book establishes the discipline in its historical, geographical, and chronological settings and in its relation to other disciplines. The second section examines the Bronze Age Aegean by chronological period. Each of the periods are further subdivided geographically, so that individual articles are concerned with Mainland Greece during the Early Bronze Age, Crete during the Early Bronze Age, the Cycladic Islands during the Early Bronze Age, and the same for the Middle Bronze Age, followed by the Late Bronze Age. The third section examines thematic topics, including religion, state and society, trade, warfare, pottery, writing, and burial customs, as well as specific events, such as the eruption of Santorini and the Trojan War. The fourth section contains articles examining the most important regions and sites in the Bronze Age Aegean, including Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Knossos, Kommos, Rhodes, the northern Aegean, and the Uluburun shipwreck, as well as adjacent areas such as the Levant, Egypt, and the western Mediterranean.