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With contributions by Thomas M. Brogan and Sevi Triantaphyllou, with Costis Davaras, Nikos P. Papadakis, Chrysa Sophianou, Joanna Bending, Jerolyn E. Morrison, Dimitra Mylona, Maria Ntinou, Douglas P. Park, and David S. Reese. The results of excavations carried out at two Late Minoan III sites at Mochlos in eastern Crete are presented. The stratigraphy and architecture of a total of 31 tombs and 11 houses are discussed together with a complete list of artifacts, ecofacts, and skeletal remains from each context. The cemetery remains mirror the settlement remains, and the conclusions discuss how the two sites reflect each other. Rarely in Crete are a settlement and its cemetery both preserved, and it is extremely fortunate to be able to excavate both. ... Read more

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Mochlos is a Minoan town set on a fine harbor at the eastern side of the Gulf of Mirabello, in northeast Crete. It was first inhabited during the Neolithic period, and it had an important Minoan settlement during most of the Bronze Age. Mochlos I, to be published in three volumes, presents the results of the excavations in the Neopalatial levels of the Artisans' Quarter and the farmhouse at Chalinomouri. The Artisans' Quarter consisted of a series of workshops with evidence for pottery manufacture, metalworking, and weaving. Chalinomouri, a semi-independent farmhouse with strong connections to the nearby island settlement at Mochlos, was engaged in craftwork and food processing as well as agriculture. This volume, Mochlos IC, presents the small finds from the site. ... Read more

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This collection of papers in honour of Sinclair Hood ranges across the archaeology and history of Knossos. The first ten chapters progress from the Neolithic to the Roman period; the last three chapters return to the Bronze Age settlement. ... Read more

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The storage of staples and its importance for the functioning of Cretan Bronze Age society has become an active topic of debate. This study reassesses the intrinsic relationship between storage and sociopolitical complexity by combining testimonies on the storage of staples from palatial, nonpalatial elite, and ordinary domestic contexts dated to the LM I period. The main goals are (1) to examine a wide range of information concerned with the storage of staples; (2) to develop a comprehensive model to explain how storage strategies operate within LM I societies; and (3) to infer sociopolitical and socio-economic levels of interaction among the different social sectors operating within LM I societies (mainly LM IB societies). ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Great history and archeology
This is a great book by Leonard Cotrell, maybe even better than "Los Egipcios" , which I had to read in primary school and which I loved so much as a kid that I read it three times. The author's name stayed in my mind and when I saw this book I immediately bought it and I'm glad I did.

Leonard Cottrell was a commentator and producer at the BBC, so he travelled across the Mediterranean to get material for his program. This book is about his travel to Greece (Knossos) and Turkey on the footsteps of two archeologists, Heinrich Schliemann and Sir Arthur Evans, who found lost cities during their searches and excavations. The book merges three time periods, the ancient Greek world, the world of the 19th century archeologists and the early 20th century of Cottrell, while the story goes back and forth mainly between the first two.

It explains to some detail the rudimentary archeological methods at the disposal of the before mentioned archeologists and how their passion for finding their dream, as well as the deep faith of Schliemann in the accuracy of Homer's works helped him through his early disappointments in his quest for finding Troy. The findings of these archeologists are taken back in time to explain the history of the buried cities and their inhabitants, their myths and their social life, as well as their relations to other cultures of the Mediterranean like the Egyptians.

The book reads like a novel, but has a lot of historic details, as well as an explanation of how the findings relate to Homer's great works of literature, like for example Homer's description of round warrior shields, which were thought to be coming out of his lucid imagination, but which proved to exist according to some archeological findings. It's a pity that almost all of Cottrell's books are apparently out of print.

A Masterpiece
This book is almost impossible to put down. The author discusses ancient Greek history and archaeology through the work of two famous pioneers in this field: Heinrich Schliemann and Sir Arthur Evans. The main sites focused upon are Troy, Mycenae and Knossos; however, many more sites are discussed, both in Crete and mainland Greece. This is obviously a work of love for the author; the passion with which he writes about this subject is spellbinding. Although written in 1953 (revised in, probably, the late 1950s - this isn't clear), the historical facts surrounding the principal personages remain valid; only the interpretations of the findings (and those unearthed since then) have evolved. I heartily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in truly ancient (pre-classical) Greece and in the pioneers who led its discovery and excavation. ... Read more

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In a synthesis of historical and literary, archaeological and paleontological detective work, Charles Pellegrino transfixes us with his exploration of the origins of Atlantis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Just like new
I received my book on time and was actually in better condition than the description I read prior to purchase.I am very pleased.

An interesting study, but the approach was not to my taste.
In UNEARTHING ATLANTIS (1991), Pellegrino, a professional paleontologist, offers his own theories about the legend of Atlantis in an approach designed to appeal to general readers as opposed to academic audiences.He concludes that the Atlantis of Plato and the ancient Egyptian texts that were his sources refers to the Minoan culture of the ancient Mediterranean, a civilization that was disrupted (though not destroyed) following a succession of volcanic events on the island of Thera that occurred about 1628 BC.Pellegrino shines in his attempts to prove this theory, as he places the destruction of Thera within the context of contemporary historical events (such as the Biblical Exodus and the rise and fall of the Minoan culture), modern knowledge of volcanology, modern science's ability to date events from the distant past, and modern underwater archaeology.In addition, he also details efforts by modern archaeologists to rediscover ancient Thera.

Pellegrino's study is interesting and genuinely informative, though there are some major issues that readers need to bear in mind.His narrative is presented out of chronological order (in fact, the text jumps around a lot), while his prose tends to ramble at times (often repeating himself, as other reviewers note) and includes long sections that tend to distract one from his argument (for example, a fifty-page odyssey into prehistoric times that ends at the Big Bang).Also, Pellegrino appears to have been deeply affected by his study of Thera and the Monoan civilization, and he tends to criticize most other periods of human history--the Middle Ages receives particularly harsh criticism.

Very important subject, but sketchy writing
YES: this book is about the real Atlantis. It really did exist, but not in the literal way that Plato described it, and certainly not in the way that New Age speculation "theorists" want it to.

I really wanted to give this book a perfect five-star rating, as the subject matter is immensely important, and the author's enthusiasm makes this book a truly exciting experience. The long story made short is that "Atlantis" was in reality a small island in the east Mediterranean way back around 1600 BC. Thera was a part of the Minoan Empire, and, being a group of islands between Egypt and Greece, had not only the world's first navy, but aquaducts (long before the famous Roman water systems) and a surprisingly highly-evolved culture. Then one day, the volcano at the center of Thera exploded with as least six times the power of Krakatoa (the 1883 eruption that was heard over 2000 miles away), and within seconds 2/3 of the island was in the stratosphere.

This was all before even the Greeks became the dominant force in the region, and so the sudden disappearance of the Minoans (who dominated trade between Europe and Africa) not surprisingly became various stories passed down through the generations, which is where Plato heard it. Plato's description of an entire continent all the way out in the Atlantic that sunk into the sea turned out to be an embellishment on what was, by then, just a myth. He was essentially trying to make a point about how quickly even the most powerful civilization can crumble, and what he said was passed down through the ages, in one form or another, to us. This is how and why these Art Bell "experts" have hijacked this subject and nailed it onto their "theories" of other subjects that have been blown completely out of proportion, such as the Bermuda Triangle, life on Mars, Bigfoot, etc. Case in point: just because Atlantis was advanced by ancient standards, NO: THEY DID NOT HAVE AIRPLANES OR LASERS. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but REAL history isn't "Spear of Destiny" garbage: it's how real people really lived, not whatever garbage you want it to be.

Of course, this book was an emotional one to read: an ancient culture creating such high technology (a millenium ahead of its time), only to be totally annihilated in just seconds. If the downfall of Rome and the unsuing loss of knowledge and the onset of the Dark Ages is considered to be historically tragic, this story is then the most epic catastrophe EVER. The author points out that if they were doing what took another 1000 years for the Romans to figure out (such as running water through pipes), who knows what these people might have managed to do? Maybe we would have been on the moon 2000 years ago. We'll never know.

The downfall of this book that I hinted at earlier is that 90% of everything important is said immediately: none of what I've said here is a "big mystery" that gets unravelled through the course of the book. It's like getting hit from all sides with amazing (and very enthusiastic) information about who the Therans might have been, how the world was at the time, and the excitement that Atlantis did exist after all. As great as all of that is, the book suddenly takes a left turn into endless archaeological stories and theories that simply don't have much of anything to do with the subject. At first, it's the author trying to put Theran history into perspective (he says that people have a hard time comprehending what happened over 2000 years ago, and he's right), but he just starts beating this idea to death. He'll occasionally get back to Thera and the ongoing excavations, and then he'll launch back into a whole list of other things that become more and more distracting. By the last 100 pages of the book, it becomes a chore to get through to the end, in the increasingly dismal hope that he'll say more than just one or two things about Thera itself.

This book isn't written as much badly as just way off target. The author's enthusiasm will make you picture him as a kid playing in a sandbox for the very first time (which is probably how he'd actually describe himself), but unfortunately, he runs out of steam when he runs out of things to really say. On the other hand, this subject is fascinating and important, and I would, of course, still highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to find a huge missing piece of history, or to anyone trying to scrape that layer of filth known as "New Age speculation" off of some really solid history: the real thing is far more interesting than the National Enquirer version.

Simply the Best
This is simply the best book I have read about archaeology since Gods, Graves, and Scholars. And it is the first book about the scientists who search for the past (actually written by one of them) that teaches us how to actually think in terms of deep time. Read this book and you will emerge from the "Mediterranean Genesis" chapter never viewing your own town, or anyplace on Earth, quite the same, ever again. The story of Atlantis itself, following the Frost/Marinatos hypothesis about the Minoan catastrophe of 1628 B.C. (a date finally fixed in stone by the Pellegrino synthesis), fitering down through history as the "kernel of truth" behind Plato's cautionary tale, is really the first book ever to approach this unsinkable subject from a purely archaeological and geological perspective, with no particular ax to grind. One learns why not even a small island, much less a continent, could have plunged through the ocean floor without leaving a significant and very easily seen geologic trace. Either Plato's Atlantis was based on an (only marginally) embellished and poorly understood account of history's largest known volcanic explosion (Thera/Santorini), or, according to Pellegrino, Atlantis did not exist at all. And to top all: the whole archaeological adventure is wrapped in some of the most elegant prose I have ever read.

Most informative
This book makes me want to catch a plane to Thera and help with the excavation. Lots of history and PLENTY of concrete evidence to turn the hardened cynic into a believer. It's a complete journey through time backto the dinosaurs and more. Like the author stated, the brain is a 3-poundtime machine. This book is only 1 pound. ... Read more

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In 1952, Minoan Linear B was deciphered and shown to conceal an early form of the Greek language. This book tells the story of how Linear B was discovered, deciphered, and interpreted. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Engaging Introduction to Linear B, Helped by the Fact that It Is a Simple Script.
"Linear B and Related Scripts" is the first volume of the British Museum's "Reading the Past" series, which introduces laypeople to ancient writing systems. This volume is written by John Chadwick of Cambridge University, who did essential work on deciphering Linear B in the 1950s. Linear B was a Bronze Age script used in the Minoan culture and in Mycenaean Greece exclusively for record-keeping, dated to the 14th-15th centuries BC. It is not sophisticated or precise enough for writing prose. It was a script consisting of syllabic signs, ideograms, and numerals, used for lists and accounts, but the language the signs represented was an archaic dialect of Greek.

Chadwick takes the reader through the discoveries of clay tablets on Crete, Knossos, and Greece and attempts to decipher them. Linear B was written on clay tablets, which were not kept for more than a year, and they were never baked. The tablets that are preserved are those that were accidentally exposed to fire. Even so, there are enough that Chadwick and his colleagues were able to compile a syllabary of 87 signs for the script and to translate it. This volume is one of the most enjoyable of the "Reading the Past" series, because it tells the reader how to decipher the writing, although you would have to know Greek to understand its meaning.

Once we have learned how Linear B works, Chadwick discusses what historical information can be deduced from Linear B tablets, considering that the information they contain is limited to a certain type. He discusses Linear A, an earlier script used by the Minoans that is closer to hieroglyphs and has yet to be translated. Though it has similar symbols to Linear B, they appear to represent a different language. There is also discussion of the relationship of Linear A and B to Cypriot scripts. Linear B is primitive, but that makes it more comprehensible, and perhaps more fun, to the layperson. This slim 64-page volume includes 40 black-and-white photos and illustrations and an index.

It's not quite Greek to me...
John Chadwick's book on Linear B and related scripts (part of the 'Reading the Past' series put out by the British Museum in cooperation with the University of California Press) is an excellent primer to the subject of this ancient language.Like the other texts in this series, the book itself is only 64 pages long, which makes the task of learning an ancient language like Linear B, an ancient proto-Greek script, less daunting.Do not be deceived by the low number of pages - there is a wealth of material here.

This is, strictly speaking, not a book from which one learns the language as much as it is a primer to learn about the language, with a little technical and translation information thrown in for good measure.In the course of such a short book, however well written, one could not expect otherwise.However, the depth of material is impressive given the limited number of pages.

In the first chapter, Chadwick deals with the history of the discovery of Linear B.He talks of Schleimann's Troy expeditions, and the various nineteenth century discoveries and excavations around Turkey, Greece and Crete that enabled the archaeologists to uncover civilisations long forgotten, seemingly even by their successors, the ancient Greeks and other Aegeans.The second chapter describes the process of initial decipherment, covering both basic ideas in solving such a puzzle, as well as a bit of narrative history relating the people involved.The deciphering of Linear B is a relatively recent enterprise, coming to fruition really in the middle of the twentieth century.

Linear B's syllabary, consisting of letter/syllable signs, ideograms, and numerals, consists of 87 signs (by contrast, modern English really consists of 26 letters and 10 numerals; however, the real count changes if one considers combinations like SH and TH to be unique signs, and that the letter C can be hard like a K or soft like an S).Even so, Chadwick in the third and fourth chapters shows the difficulty of writing with Linear B script, the problems that possibly made this language impractical for writing extended narratives and histories (such as survive from cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyph languages); Linear B's record comes to us in the form of records kept by administrators, rather than histories, liturgies and literatures produced by scholars, scribes and artists.Similarly, the volume of Linear B tablets and writing surviving is painfully small by comparison.

However, as deficient as scholars are in artifacts and surviving remnants of Linear B, the case is even worse for Linear A, not to mention the even older pictographic script of Crete preceding Linear A.Linear A is probably derived from the older script; Linear B is probably derivative of Linear A, but not in any clearly discerned way.Attempts at deciphering Linear A continue, which include looking at non-Greek parallels (is Linear A in fact the writing of a Semitic language?).

Chadwick concludes by looking at the possible connections with Cyprus (which had its own language and script during these periods) as well as the Phaistos Disk, a fascinating archaeological find uncovered in 1908, which Chadwick describes as 'the world's first typewritten document.'The symbols are made from stamps, which means the forerunner of printing press ideas were already in mind.However, no other examples of this have been found, and the pictographic language on the disk has yet to be fully identified and translated.

Chadwick includes a useful bibliographic note; not a bibliography in the strict sense, but rather a guide for further research on both Linear B and Linear A.He also gets full marks for including an index for even so brief a book as this.While this book is but the introduction to the subject, it is a great text for those who have interest in Linear B, ancient Greek, ancient languages generally, or linguistics, but do not have the time or inclination otherwise to pursue a full course on the topic.

How to read Linear B
Having just read Simon Singh's brilliant book on codes, which has a brilliant chapter on the decipherment of the ancient Cretan language known as Linear B, I wanted to read further about it. This is as far as I have got so far and its a pretty easy second step. John Chadwick is of course the man who assisted Vestris to decipher this ancient language and perhaps that is why Singh's chapter on how the language was initially 'cracked' is so much more interesting than the chapter Chadwick provides on it. Chadwick determindly doesn't blow his own trumpet, in fact he almost glosses over some of the stages which Singh emphasises. Still it is a reasonable telling of it and Singh clearly drew heavily on Chadwick's own examples for his chapter.

Chadwick starts to get interesting in the later chapters where he examines the form of Linear B in far greater depth - how it was used and the sounds and its relationship to the ancient Greek language. He also discusses the advances which have been in made in deciphering the older, and as yet not fully understood writing, also found on Crete and called "Linear A".It is a short, pithy book, but a good further step for those interested in reading more on these languages but with no technical training in the subject (like me) - an enthusiastic amateur. ... Read more

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This volume brings together an international group of researchers to address how Mycenaean and Minoan states controlled the economy. The contributions, originally delivered at the 2007 Langford Conference at Florida State University, examine the political economies of state (and pre-state) entities within the Aegean Bronze Age, including the issues of: centralization and multiple scales of production, distribution, and consumption within a polity; importance of extraregional trade; craft specialization; the role of non-elite institutions, and the political economy before the emergence of the palaces. The contributors address these issues from an explicitly comparative perspective, both within and across Minoan and Mycenaean contexts. The conclusions reached in this volume shed new light on the essential differences between and among "Minoan" and "Mycenaean" states through their political economies. ... Read more

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The South House at Knossos was excavated by Arthur Evans in 1908, with supplementary investigations in 1924, but was never properly published. Located immediately south of the Palace, the house was built as part of the great restoration programme in MM IIIB/LM 1A. Its fine Minoan Hall, Lustral Basin and Pillar Crypt are matched by many important finds, including a hoard of bronze implements, silver vessels and fresco fragments.

Drawing on evidence from the Daybooks of Duncan Mackenzie and extant finds, especially the large corpus of Late Minoan pottery, P. A. Mountjoy now provides a detailed account of the excavation and an analysis of the building's history. J. M. Driessen offers an overview of the architecture, with special reference to the entrance system, and P. A. Mountjoy discusses the fresco fragments. The surviving pottery is thoroughly presented by C. Knappett, P. A. Mountjoy, and K. S. Christakis. Other chapters cover silver vessels (P. A. Mountjoy), objects of stone, bone, ivory, bronze and clay (R. D. G. Evely), loomweights (B. Burke) and seals (O. H. Krzyszkowska). ... Read more

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Sir Arthur Evans and his assistant Duncan Mackenzieidentified sixteen pottery groups from the Old Palace at Knossos. Onthese they built the first relative chronology of the Aegean MiddleBronze Age. Recent work on the material, using insights gained fromother excavations, suggests that the Evans typology should berevised. A detailed new typology of the pottery is thereforepresented, based on variations in technology, form and design. Thisbook is reevaluation of raw material central to our understanding bothof the history of the Old Palace Period in central Crete and of thatregion's wider relationship with the other Eastern states at thisformative period. ... Read more

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This third volume in the series of publications on the Minoan site of Pseira focuses on the Plateia building discovered in 1986. This report on the findings includes an introduction to the project, followed by a detailed discussion of the architecture and small finds: pottery, stone tools, terracotta objects, sealstones, shell artefacts, faunal remains, charcoal, lithics, plaster and so on. This database of evidence allows an interpretation of the function of the buildings, the residential, cult and industrial activities, and its relationship to the Plateia itself. ... Read more

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Here we pursue and resolve the obscure riddle of the Phaistos Disc and reveal an amazing truth: that Minoan Bronze Age man had a level of knowledge to match that of 20th-century Europe. Their mathematics was ahead of the Greeks and to this day we use a unit of their measure: the Nautical Mile. Here we demonstrate that Bronze Age man knew the world to be round, and that he could measure its circumference to within hundreds of metres! This true detective story also demonstrates that the movement of the Earth in relation to the planets was fully understood. And that the Minoans had their own self-correcting calendar, which is something that we still haven't managed to achieve! This is the story of their 366[degrees] circle and a most elegant system lost to mankind. Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas (The Second Messiah) have tested this research for themselves and write: '...the story Alan told was far stranger than we could have imagined...and sounded rather fanciful. But the cold-blooded result of our efforts was clear. Alan had to be right'. 'He has rediscovered prehistoric knowledge and a system of super elegance that was lost before Moses reached the Promised Land.This is thinking of the highest order, of which any civilisation would justly be proud'. 'The sheer volume of supporting evidence from Megalithic sources make his explanation totally compelling' - Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Disappointed
This book ignores a large number of cuneiform texts from Babylonia. So it does not hold up. I would have thought there is enough here for an article but not for a whole book.

Circular evidence
The author aims to prove the use of circular pattern on the Phaistos disk, but manages to come up with circular evidence. Pardon the pun, couldn't resist. The basic observations are valid and useful, such as the 30 fields on one side and 31 on the other, but his conclusions beyond this are essentially unsubstantiated. For example: He is assuming a certain number of degrees on the circle (366), and a certain number of arc-seconds per degree, and furthermore that the length measure is a foot, and that there are 36.6 feet per arc-second. If it is so, then the result corresponds to within a kilometre with the circumference of the Earth, which is remarkble. Since it is remarkble, he concludes that it must be true, which is of course a circular argument to say the least. The book is full of similar units and measures that are unsubstantiated. I can not recommend it.

A fascinating and thought provoking read.
The Bronze Age Computer Disc impressed me greatly. As much as a detective story into the ancient past it is a rich and fascinating travelog of a little understood and fabulous ancient culture - the Minoans. The bookshows how the mysterious symbols of the Phaistos Disc, found in Crete atthe beginning of the 20th century, can be used to demonstrate a fantasticsystem of measuring time, space and distance, that existed as early as3,500 BC in the Far West of Europe. This book isan easy to follow read,beautifully crafted, and with parenthesis to sift out the mathematics forpeople who are willing to take the author's word. The Bronze Age ComputerDisc ends with a promise of many more revelations to come. I honestlycannot wait. Within the book lie some of the most incredible assertionsregarding our ancient ancestors ever proposed.

An easy read and an interesting thesis, but heavy on guesses
The book is easy and enjoyable to read, even for those without an archaeology background.It also combines some good social description with an intriguing hypothesis: that ancient Crete, with a simple round stone,could calculate time, distance and position as accurately as any watch,calendar or map that would be developed in the next 2,000 years. Neverthess, I found the proof a bit lacking in substance and heavy insupposition. ... Read more

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This book takes a fresh look at the Minoan Abacus and the Phaistos Disk, and presents recent discoveries about the two Minoan calendars. One of these was for use by priests, for religious ceremonies, while the other was meant for the navy. This suggests elements of a very advanced, almost modern, civilization. Another subject treated in this context is the role the Minoan Labyrinth plays, being the oldest map of the sky. Here, basic models and prototypes are developed from material from such diverse sources as the Orphic texts, Homeric Epics, and Pythagoras and his followers, as well as Plato, Aristotle and others. The interdisciplinary approach will appeal to scientists interested in ancient astronomy, calendars, science and technology. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Science and Its Times, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1393 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The histories of science, technology, and mathematics merge with the study of humanities and social science in this interdisciplinary reference work. Essays on people, theories, discoveries, and concepts are combined with overviews, bibliographies of primary documents, and chronological elements to offer students a fascinating way to understand the impact of science on the course of human history and how science affects everyday life. Entries represent people and developments throughout the world, from about 2000 B.C. through the end of the twentieth century. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Arts and Humanities Through the Eras, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1085 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Profiling milestones and movements in the arts, literature, music, and religion from a specific period that provides an understanding of the various disciplines of the humanities in relation to each other, as well as to history and culture. An overview of the period and a chronology of major world events covering the major branches of the humanities: architecture and design, dance, fashion, literature, music, philosophy, religion, theater, and visual arts. Articles cover the movements, schools of thought, and masterworks that characterize the discipline during the era and biographical profiles of pioneers, masters, and other prominent figures in the field. ... Read more