[su_spoiler title=”Images of Battle and Hunting in the Late Bronze Age: Why Is the Aegean So Different from Its Eastern Neighbors? ” icon=”arrow-circle-1″] Greece During the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1700-1050 B.C.), images of battles, duels, hunting and violent sporting activities seem to constitute a dominant part of the Aegean iconographic repertoire. Contextual analysis through geographical and chronological considerations clearly suggests that these representations were used by the ruling elites as individual and communal insignia of high status, prestige, and prowess. In fact, it is possible to trace the evolution of certain motifs and iconographic themes from the 17th all the way to the 12th c. B.C. Of particular interest is that especially during the 14th and 13th c. B.C., a time of international communications throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean iconography of violence seems to be very different when compared with the imagery of the neighboring regions, such as Cyprus, Egypt and the Levant. Despite its pluralism of themes and artistic media of representation, Aegean art seems to ignore depictions of actual bloodshed and massacre, while no victorious army or individual is shown and a central figure is notoriously absent. This paper focuses on the similarities, but mainly on the differences between Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean iconography of warfare and hunting, in order to discuss the special character of the Aegean artistic repertoire, its place within the wider Eastern Mediterranean socio-political context, and it will also explore how violence can be employed to promote the political ideology of a ruling upper class.[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”Old excavations under new light: Mycenaean pottery, British excavations and objects of no value ” icon=”arrow-circle-1″] Lecture on the history of archaeological research in the Eastern Mediterranean region through the study of selected case studies, namely the excavations of the British Museum at the end of the 19th century AD in Cyprus. Which were the reasons that made the archaeologists and curators of the British Museum plan and direct a series of excavations on the Island of Aphrodite? Why was Mycenaean pottery considered to be so valuable? What was the fate of the so-called “duplicate” artifacts found in excavations, not only in Cyprus, but also in the wider Eastern Mediterranean world? What about the human remains and excavation diaries (or the lack of)? Finally, the division of the finds between the excavator, the owner and the state as they appear in the British and Cypriot archives of the time will be discussed in this presentation, in order to provide the full picture of the story. Evidently, it takes a new ‘excavation’ to study the information around old excavations and understand how many objects ended up in various places in Europe, causing serious problems to the interpretation and study of the archaeological material.[/su_spoiler]