CAS CL 101 Lecture 4: CAS CL101

• School: Boston University
• Department: Classical Studies
• Course: CAS CL 101
• Professor: Alexander Nikolaev

Document Summary

Sources: how we know about the ancient greeks. Two broad categories physical remains, writing remains. Primary sources: at least 2k years old; most need much work before they can actually give us any information. Inscriptions done by epigraphers and numismatists: archaeologists. Find patterns through changing patterns: historians. Primarily use documents, inscriptions, and literary texts. The oldest pieces of greece are underground often dozens of feet below the surface (greece has bad soil) Best thing to find: iron subject to corrosion, gold and silver last nearly forever, bronze is fairly durable, clay / terra-cotta (used for everything) Terra cotta is clay baked at a very high temperature. Pots were made in all shapes and sizes. Pithoi storing olive oil and grain (large) Determining times of items: some had name of king inscribed, allows for approximate time frames, measuring radioactive decay of organic materials, wordless objects may not have specific era but still tell about lives of ancient times.