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Polychrome Plate from Thera
Polychrome plate depicting two women exchanging wreaths, the woman on the right grasps the other's chin. Made in Thera, Greece, c. 620 BCE. (Archaeological Museum of Thera)

Definition
Cyclades
The Cyclades are a group of islands in the southern Aegean situated between the Greek mainland and Turkey. The name was coined in the Archaic period as the islands form an approximate circle (kyklos) around the central and most sacred island...

Article
Hei Tiki
The hei tiki is a small personal adornment, fashioned by hand from tough pounamu (New Zealand greenstone or nephrite jade), and is worn around the neck. Hei means something looped around the neck, and tiki is a generic word used throughout...

Article
Sicilian Temples (Greek Metrology)
Characteristics of Sicilian Archaic Temples The large dimensions of the components, the presence of a propteron, an adyton, and other specific elements of the plan and elevation speak for an originally very autonomous development of...

Video
Anavysos Kouros, c. 530 B.C.E.
Anavysos Kouros, c. 530 B.C.E., marble, 6' 4" (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)
Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker & Dr. Beth Harris

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Mycenaean Civilization
The Mycenaean civilization flourished in the Late Bronze Age (c. 1700-1100 BCE), peaking from the 15th to the 13th century BCE. The Mycenaeans extended their influence throughout the Peloponnese in Greece and across the Aegean from Crete...

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Ancient Greek Sculpture
The sculpture of ancient Greece from 800 to 300 BCE took inspiration from Egyptian and Near Eastern monumental art, and evolved into a uniquely Greek vision of the art form. Greek artists captured the human form in a way never before seen...

Definition
Acropolis
An acropolis is any citadel or complex built on a high hill. The name derives from the Greek akro, "high" or "extreme/extremity" or "edge", and polis, "city", translated as "high city", "city on the edge" or "city in the air", the most famous...

Definition
Demeter
Demeter was one of the oldest gods in the ancient Greek pantheon. As a goddess of agriculture, she guaranteed the fertility of the earth and protected both farming and vegetation. This close connection with the earth was inherited from her...

Definition
Oldowan Tools
The appearance of simple stone tools, widely known as Oldowan tools or the Oldowan industry, marked the beginning of our technological revolution. To our knowledge, these artifacts appeared around 2.6 million years ago in the savannahs of...