Mycenaean Archaeology: Sites, Tombs and Material Culture

The names came from the finder

Before any of the objects, one thing about this topic. A gold mask found at Mycenae is known as the mask of Agamemnon. A great domed tomb is known as the Treasury of Atreus. Two more tombs carry the names of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Not one of those names came from the evidence. They were given by the excavator, who had the poems in his hand and was looking for the world they describe. Your exam asks how far the remains actually match that world. If you accept the labels, you have answered the question before looking at anything, so this module treats every object as evidence rather than as a fact to learn.

Words for the remains

Six terms that do the work in this topic. Each names a thing that can be seen, which is why they are safe in a way the traditional names are not.

Tomb type to description

What the Treasury of Atreus is not

The structure known as the Treasury of Atreus was given that name by early excavators. What can actually be said about it?

• It is a monumental tomb, and nothing found in it links it to Atreus
• It was a treasury, since that is what the name records about its use
• It belonged to Atreus, since the name would not have survived otherwise
• Nothing at all can be said, because the traditional name is unreliable

Naming is not evidence

Here is how to use this in an answer without sounding difficult. You are not saying the objects are fakes or that the excavators were foolish; they were working with the poems as their guide and the names stuck. You are saying that a name given by a finder is not evidence produced by the find. So write the mask known as the mask of Agamemnon rather than Agamemnon mask, and say what the object shows rather than who it belonged to. Examiners reward that precision because it is the difference between describing evidence and repeating a story.

Object to what it shows

What the tablets record

Linear B tablets have been found at Mycenaean sites. Select the TWO things they show.

• That these centres kept detailed records of goods and holdings
• That the palaces were organised enough to need written accounting
• That the stories later told by Homer were already being written down
• That the rulers named in the poems governed these particular palaces

Supported and not supported

This is the shape of the Culture question. A top answer does not come down entirely on one side, because the evidence does not either.

The citadel in a paragraph

The citadel at Mycenae is defended by walls built of blocks so large that later Greeks credited them to giants, which is why they are called _____ walls. The main entrance is the _____ Gate. Inside, the palace is arranged around its main hall, the _____. Two burial areas lie within and just outside the walls, known as Grave _____ A and B. The defences also include a hidden _____ allowing the defenders to reach water without leaving the walls.

Two layers, one argument

Troy was occupied and rebuilt many times, and scholars have argued over which layer a war in the poems might correspond to, with Troy VI and Troy VIIa the usual candidates. Why does the argument matter for this paper?

• Because whether the remains match the poems depends on which layer you compare them with
• Because only one of the two layers can be dated with any confidence at all
• Because the poems name the layer, so identifying it settles the question
• It does not matter, since the poems are literature and not a historical record

What a mask can tell you

A gold funeral mask was found in Grave Circle A and is traditionally called the mask of Agamemnon. Select the TWO things it is good evidence for.

• That whoever was buried there was buried with considerable wealth
• That Mycenaean craftsmen could work gold to a high standard
• That Agamemnon was a real person buried at Mycenae
• That the man buried there ruled the site as a king

How far does it match

Question: how far does the archaeological evidence support the world described in the poems? Model answer: in some respects it supports it strongly. The citadels at Mycenae and Tiryns are fortified on a scale that fits a world of powerful strongholds, and the Cyclopean walls and the Lion Gate show both the resources and the wish to display them. Weapons, armour and chariots appear in the finds, so warfare mattering is well supported, and the Linear B tablets show an administration organised enough to keep detailed records. In other respects the evidence cannot reach as far. It shows a society of that general kind; it does not show that any person named in the poems existed, and it does not show that particular events took place. The argument over which layer at Troy might correspond to the story illustrates the difficulty, since the comparison depends on a choice made before the comparison begins. The traditional names given to finds are a further reason for care, because they were supplied by excavators reading the poems rather than by the evidence itself. Note that this answer commits to a judgement while saying exactly where the evidence stops.

Claiming more than the find allows

Three of these statements stay within what the evidence can show. Select the ONE that does not.

• The gold objects in Grave Circle A show that considerable wealth was buried there.
• The tomb known as the Tomb of Clytemnestra was built for the queen the poems name.
• The Cyclopean walls show a community able to organise very large-scale building.
• The Linear B tablets show that goods and holdings were recorded in writing.

From object to argument

Put the steps of using a prescribed object as evidence into the order you would work through them.

• Describe what the object physically is, in terms anyone could check
• Separate the traditional name from what the object itself shows
• State what it is good evidence for, such as wealth, skill or organisation
• State what it cannot establish, and say why not
• Connect the two to the question of how far the remains match the poems

Reading a find

You are given a prescribed object in the exam and asked what it tells us. Work through it as the mark scheme would.

• The object is a richly decorated gold cup from a grave. What is the first thing to establish?
• You want to say the object shows a wealthy elite. Is that a safe claim?
• A classmate writes that the cup proves the feasting scenes in the poems are accurate. What is wrong?
• You have to reach an overall judgement. What does a top-band answer do?

Answer the culture question

How far does the archaeological evidence support the world described in the poems? Use at least three of the prescribed sites or objects.

• Name a site or structure and say what it shows about how these communities lived
• Name an object and say what it is good evidence for
• Name a third source and say what it adds that the first two do not
• Explain one thing the evidence cannot establish, and why not
• Explain why the traditional names given to finds need handling with care
• Reach a judgement, and say clearly where the evidence stops supporting it