Archaeology and the Emergence of Greece

"The papers in this book presume to stray across the traditional boundaries with the domains of prehistorians, ancient historians, and literary critics. . . . It had been regarded as somehow out of order for Classical archaeologists to meddle with social, political, and economic history; or with topics that involved the entire Old World; or with testing the historical veracity of ancient authors; or with the intellectual presuppositions of ancient artists. At heart, my experience has been not so much of swimming across the tide, as of working across the grain of the subject."—from the PrefaceIn the past few decades the aims, subject matter, and methods of classical archaeology have changed beyond recognition. Archaeology and the Emergence of Greece collects twenty-five essays by A. M. Snodgrass, the leading authority on the archaeology of early Greece that led the way in this transformation. Snodgrass emphasizes the Iron Age as the formative period in the making of Classical Greece and elaborates upon this link by commenting on literature, history, anthropology, Aegean and European prehistory and Roman provincial archaeology. This volume, for which Snodgrass has written new introductions to each essay, will become required reading for students and scholars of the ancient world. The essays have been chosen and organized to facilitate classroom use.

"Anthony Snodgrass, as the groundbreaking and often brilliant papers collected in Archaeology and the Emergence of Greece amply testify, is committed to common sense, quantification, and limited conclusions."—Peter Greene, New York Review of Books, 30 November 2006, "In this work, the reader has the opportunity to read Snodgrass's arguments as a whole, grouped by theme, and see how 40 years of research by one of classical archaeology's foremost scholars have shaped the evolution of that discipline and others. Hence, from an historiographical standpoint, this work is uniquely invaluable for anyone who wishes to grasp the complexities of the various scholarly debates. . . . It is a testament to the myriad ways in which Anthony Snodgrass has affected the discipline of Classical Archaeology and has been, in turn affected by it. This is a very important work and will surely be useful to undergraduate and even graduate instruction. It will hopefully encourage debate over issues many had thought long closed."—Timothy Howe, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 12 July 2007, "As one would expect from Snodgrass, the contributions are unfailingly lively and challenging, and the new comments are interesting. Although brief, and occasionally wryly humorous, they do contain some important thoughts and rebuttals. . . . The collection is convenient and well presented. One could give the whole to any aspiring graduate as a model of how to construct arguments . . . . It is in the construction of a wise and fundamentally humane archaeology that this book achieves more than simple convenience. It is the intellectual challenge"The exemplification of how to argue a case, to explain, and to remain open to new ideas and new discoveries"That constitutes the value of this book."—Christopher Smith, American Journal of Archaeology Online Book Review, October 2007

A. M. Snodgrass is Laurence Professor Emeritus of Classical Archaeology, University of Cambridge. His books include The Dark Age of Greece, Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment, An Archaeology of Greece, and Homer and the Artists.