Dark Age Traffic on the Bristol Channel, UK: A Hypothesis

Exotic pottery from the eastern Mediterranean and southern Gaul in the late 5th to 7th centuries is recognized as the characteristic find from Dark Age sites in Ireland and western Britain. But there is no consensus on the mechanisms by which they arrived. Interpretations range from diplomatic gifts through souvenirs to commerce. This attempt to resolve the issue is based on sites around the Bristol Channel. The quantities of pottery and numbers of sites are used to generate a rough estimate of the number of ships carrying the pottery to the area. It is argued that the estimated volume represents commercial trade.
© 2007 The Author     

迈锡尼文明、“黑暗时代”与希腊城邦的兴起

关于早期希腊国家的兴起,主流观点认为,迈锡尼文明衰亡后经历了一个黑暗时期,之后城邦于公元前8世纪中期遽然兴起,两者之间存在着明显的中断。这一观点为古典学界普遍接受,成为诸多研究的出发点。本文意在重新审视这一说法,提出西方学者之所以强调两者之间的中断,是因为西方社会的价值观念起了作用。城邦文明历来被看成是现代西方文明的源头,因此它必须同被认为带有专制王权色彩的迈锡尼文明区分开来。然而这样的解释忽略了迈锡尼文明和希腊城邦文明之间的诸多联系,而且考古学证据表明所谓"黑暗时代"亦非通常认为的那般黑暗,希腊人群体的活动在一定程度上得以延续。还有,荷马史诗所反映的历史面貌更可能是公元前8世纪以前而非此后的情形。由此本文认为,更为合理的解释是把城邦兴起看成是迈锡尼王国解体之后希腊社会渐次演化的结果,而非所谓革命性变革的结果。荷马史诗所描绘的情形很可能是迈锡尼文明和城邦文明之间的中间环节。     

The influence of climatic change on the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the Greek Dark Ages

Between the 13th and 11th centuries BCE, most Greek Bronze Age Palatial centers were destroyed and/or abandoned. The following centuries were typified by low population levels. Data from oxygen-isotope speleothems, stable carbon isotopes, alkenone-derived sea surface temperatures, and changes in warm-species dinocysts and formanifera in the Mediterranean indicate that the Early Iron Age was more arid than the preceding Bronze Age. A sharp increase in Northern Hemisphere temperatures preceded the collapse of Palatial centers, a sharp decrease occurred during their abandonment. Mediterranean Sea surface temperatures cooled rapidly during the Late Bronze Age, limiting freshwater flux into the atmosphere and thus reducing precipitation over land. These climatic changes could have affected Palatial centers that were dependent upon high levels of agricultural productivity. Declines in agricultural production would have made higher-density populations in Palatial centers unsustainable. The ‘Greek Dark Ages’ that followed occurred during prolonged arid conditions that lasted until the Roman Warm Period.