This talk focus on how ancient Greek communities on the island of Crete thought about their island’s past. I discuss several case studies of engagement with older landscape features and ways of life, including the construction of megalithic buildings in the countryside, the use and display of non-Greek inscriptions, and open-air ritual practice at significant locations. Material interactions with real or imagined pasts were key strategies for consolidating power during a period of demographic growth, competition for resources, and emerging forms of social inequality in the seventh through the fifth centuries BCE.
Dr. Grace Erny (Assistant Professor of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies, University of California at Berkeley)
216 Haury, UA Main Campus
February 20, 2025 5:00 pm