DICKINSON, O., — The Aegean Bronze Age.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994. 1st ed. XXII,342p. ills.(B&W photographs and line drawings). Hard bound. Nice copy. ‘For anyone - archaeologist, student, layperson - looking for an introduction to the Bronze Age Aegean, this is the book. It is clearly written and thoughtful, and the extensive references and bibliography are up-to-date. Illustrations are of new material, and many of the diagrams and line drawings were made expressly for this text. [The book] focuses on the Minoan, Cycladic, and Helladic cultures of the southern Aegean basin. (…) This is the first survey of the Aegean Bronze Age written by a scholar cognisant of some of the theoretical advances in anthropological archaeology since the 1960s. Dickinson has rejected the traditional Aegean culture-historical approach - consisting largely of generalisation based on major sites and an acceptance of later Greek myths as historical evidence - and has organised the book along the lines defined by cultural systemics, including the environment, social organisation, economy, trade and religion. Ethnographical analogy is used in the discussion of land use and crafts. (…) Chapter 1 is an introduction to Aegean Bronze Age chronology. Chapter 2, on the natural environment and resources, usefully summarises the main issues raised by recent geomorphological studies. Chapter 3 discusses the data for the secondary products revolution, the size and tole of settlements, the economy as reflected in the 13th century B.C. Linear B tablets from the Greek mainland, and the evidence of physical anthropology. A summary of the evidence for Bronze Age settlement and the economy appears in chapter 4. Chapter 5 fives a summary description of Aegean crafts as well as seals and writing. (…) Chapter 7 is an excellent review of the archaeological evidence for Aegean trade and foreign contacts. (…) All will agree that this is by far the most intelligent and up-to-date survey of the Aegean Bronze Age in print.’ (VANCE WATROUS in American Anthropologist, 1995, pp.411-412). From the library of the late Prof. Dr. Ludo De Lannoy.