can be distingniished ; the building of great walls
and many-roomed dwellings shows increased
power in dealing with material; walls orna-
mented in painted stucco, an increased use of
bronze, and the intn^diiction of the potter's wheel
and painted decoration on the vases mark the
transition from the rude civilization of the end
of the Stone Age to the real splendor of the suc-
ceeding epoch. This period lias sometimes been
designated as that of the '•Cycladic," or "Island."
or "Carian" civilization, the former names being
derived from the region where it has been best
preserved, the last from a somewhat doubtful
ethnological attribution. See Melos; Saxtobix ;
Troy.
In the West this period is represented by the
pre-Sicel, and first Sicel graves in Sicily, and
the earlier remains of Italy. It may be noted
here that the developments of the Bronze Age in
Italy are independent of the Jlycena'an Period.
The products of Jlycenican art reached the West
only as importations, and apparently late and in
small quantities.
II. MyCEN-55.N Period. The remains of this
period were first brought prominently into view
by the excavations of H. Schliemann at ily-
tena>, and from this fact is derived the name
adopted for this civilization. It is not to be sup-
posed that Jlycenie was the centre from which
the art spread, though the characteristic series
of vases is more completely illustrated in Ar-
golis than at any other single site. The char-
acteristic products of this period have been found
on the mainland of Greece in Bceotia (Orcho-
menns. Ghal, Attica (Athens, Eleusis, Sparta,
Thoricus), Thessaly (near Volo), and especially
in Argolis and Laconia (Amychc) ; Delphi and
the island of Cephalleniii have also yielded ily-
cena'an remains. It will be noticed that these
sites are for the most part in eastern and south-
ern Greece. The same civilization is found on
Melos, Thera, Amorgos, and at lalysus, on
Rhodes : but the most splendid remains are in
Crete, M'hieh plays a prominent part in the
heroic legends, and is now known to have had
cities and palaces far finer than anything yet
found on the mainland. Troy is also a ilycen-
S'an site; but with this e-xception Asia Minor
has not been brought within this culture.
The remains of this period fall naturally into
.several groups: (1) The fortifications, repre-
sented by the walls of the sixth city at Troy, a
large part of those of Mycen.T, and especially the
well-known wall surrounding Tiryns, as well as
the defenses of many other less important sites.
These walls are built of huge stones, roughly
hewn, and laid in clay mortar. In general, there
is only one great gate, though there are also
smaller gates, or mere sally-ports. The gate is
flanked by a large tower, and is often approached
by a narrow and crooked passage. (2) The
dwellings, chiefly the royal palaces. The latter
are best seen at Tiryns. Myceuiv. and, above all,
at Cnossus, in Crete. The usual plan shows a
court, on one side of which is situated a great
hall, containing the hearth, and approached
through a vestibule. Around this hall and the
coiirt is arranged a complex of lesser rooms, and
the whole structure is carefully placed inside the
great fortification, which in general seems to
have contained little but the residence of the
ruler and his immediate dependents. The palace
was built of wood and sun-dried brick, but the
walls were stuccoed and ]iaintcd, and metal in-
crustations, and decorations of carved alabaster
and glass paste were often employed. The palace
at Cnossus has yielded remarkable specimens of
wall painting, and its plan shows a much greater
extent than is found in Greece, but it is not as
yet (1902) wholly cleared. The smaller houses
found in some places, as at Melos, Troy, Crete,
and Mycence, also show the large hall and its
vestibule, but as a rule no further rooms. Addi-
tional accommodation seems to have been ob-
tained by juxtaposition of unconnected buildings,
rather than by a series of connected rooms.
(3) The tombs form the third great class of
Mycenaean buildings. The most important are
the "bee-hive" tombs, of which the most notable
examples are those of ilyceiiie. and the so-called
"Treasui-y" at Orchomenus, in Boeotia. These
tombs are built of huge, carefully squared stones,
laid in regular circles, so arranged that each
course projects inward beyond the course below,
thus making the interior a dome. The whole
structure is held together by the weight of the
earth outside, and therefore the side of a hill is
usually hollowed out to receive the building,
which is wliolly concealed by the replaced earth.
The a])proach is always by a long passage, with
side walls of stone, and the facade of the tomb
was richly decorated with columns and adorn-
ments in colored stone, elaborately carved. The
interior Aas carefully smoothed and decorated
with metal plates or rosettes. In some cases a
small side chamber for the dead is found. Be-
sides the great tombs, a series of similar grave
chambers, cut in the rock, or excavated in the
hillsides, and approached by similar ))assages,
sliow the common Mycenajan mode of disposing
of the dead. Burning seems to have been un-
known at this time. (4) It is, however, in the
products of its art, even more than in its archi-
tectural triumphs, that this period is sharply
characterized. The excavation of Mycena- and
Tiryns yielded a series of painted vases, which
still occupy a place by themselves in the history
of Greek ceramics. Made on the wheel, of grace-
ful form, they are decorated with marine plants
and animals, birds, and, in the later work, rude
drawings of men .and animals. The decoration is
by means of a "glaze" paint, varying from lirown
to black, or under intense heat becoming red.
(For details, see Vases.) Even more marked
are the gems and gold work of this time. The
drawing is often rude, but the spirit and vigor
are astonishing. The gold cups of Va))hio, with
scenes in relief representing the capture and
taming of wild bulls, shows an art which is not
that of Egypt or Assyria, but. whatever its ori-
gin, has much of the quality which distinguishes
the later Hellenic products. More Oriental in
technique and decoration are the sword blades,
inlaid with scenes of hunting and wild life,
M-hich much resemble objects found in Egyidian
tombs. Of larger works of art. the noble lions
over the gate of Mycena". and the rudely carved
slabs which once marked the site of shaft graves,
wei'c for a long time the only representatives, if
we omit the purely ornamental sjiirals and other
motives forming part of the decoration of the
facades. Crete, however, has yielded reliefs of
bulls and other sculptures not yet published,
which are said to show that the Mycena'an
art did not confine its .skill to small objects
only. Space does not permit a detailed de-
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ARCHÆOLOGY.
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ARCHÆOLOGY.