Ancient Greece
Social Structure and Evolution
Published on 29. May 2019
978-1-108-67542-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book examines the development of ancient Greek civilization through a path-breaking application of social scientific theories. David B. Small charts the rise of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations and the unique characteristics of the later classical Greeks through the lens of ancient social structure and complexity theory, opening up new ideas and perspectives on these societies. He argues that Minoan and Mycenaean institutions evolved from elaborate feasting, and that the genesis of Greek colonization was born from structural chaos in the eighth century. Small isolates distinctions between Iron Age Crete and the rest of the Greek world, focusing on important differences in social structure. His book differs from others on Ancient Greece, highlighting the perpetuation of classical Greek social structure into the middle years of the Roman Empire, and concluding with a comparison of the social structure of classical Greece to that of the classical Maya civilization.
Reviews / Votes
'... text is a highly specialized, scholarly offering and will make a valuable addition to collections with strong sections on ancient history and archaeology.' D. C. Kierdorf, ChoiceMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises; 5 Maps; 40 Halftones, black and white; 6 Line drawings, black and white
File size
12,08 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-108-67542-0 (9781108675420)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2019
Cambridge University Press
€35.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
05/2019
Cambridge University Press
€115.10
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
David B. Small is Professor of Archaeology at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania. A Fulbright fellow, he has conducted research in Greece, Italy, Israel, Honduras, and the United States.
Content
1. My analytical frame; 2. The Ancient Greek landscape; 3. The Neolithic in Greece; 4. Developments c.3200-2200 BCE; 5. The beginning of change and the evolution of a Koine; 6. Changes in the latter part of the second millennium BCE; 7. The eleventh to eighth centuries: from collapse to created chaos; 8. A brave new world: the new structure and characteristics of its emergence; 9. Developments after the rise of Macedon; 10. The Cretan difference; 11. The sweep of things: the larger picture of the evolution of Ancient Greece; 12. Greece is not alone: the small polity evolutionary characteristics of the ancient Greeks and other past cultures.
