Jan Driessen, Tina Kalantzopoulou
The Lion Gate at Mycenae is an icon, a piece of art more than 3300 years old, representing the glory of Mycenaean Greece. Preserved in situ, it has passed through time and circumstance, witnessing its own civilisation fail and many others flourishing since. Often considered as an emblem for the royal house of Mycenae, it is the only surviving piece of large-scale sculpture of the Greek Bronze Age. The quality of its creation, its symbolic force, and its prime position towering above the entrance gate to the site that epitomizes a period that gave rise to enumerable legends may be seen as framing the atmosphere in which this book was written. Already in the 19th c., the relief was moulded and casts were produced to be exhibited in museums and universities. This volume traces 33 casts, some no longer existing, and tells their stories.
Charlotte Langohr, Quentin Letesson
This volume presents and discusses the results of an extensive survey that took place between 2014 and 2018 in the mountain ranges of East Crete. The survey of respectively the eastern part of the Dikte range and the Sitanos area above Zakros specifically targeted prehistoric cultural remains with the aim to investigate the extent at which this environmental zone was exploited during the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. Based on the results of the fieldwork, the discussion focuses mostly on the Neopalatial period (Middle Minoan III Late Minoan IB) during which a systematic effort to occupy and exploit these two upland zones was especially evident. The study of architectural remains and movable finds that were sampled, documented and studied within the two areas allows a reconsideration of issues of political organization, labour mobilization, economic integration, production and specialization.