This book examines the development of ancient Greek civilization through a path-breaking application of social scientific theories. David B. Small charts the rise of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations and the unique characteristics of the later classical Greeks through the lens of ancient social structure and complexity theory, opening up new ideas and perspectives on these societies. He argues that Minoan and Mycenaean institutions evolved from elaborate feasting, and that the genesis of Greek colonization was born from structural chaos in the eighth century. Small isolates distinctions between Iron Age Crete and the rest of the Greek world, focusing on important differences in social structure. His book differs from others on Ancient Greece, highlighting the perpetuation of classical Greek social structure into the middle years of the Roman Empire, and concluding with a comparison of the social structure of classical Greece to that of the classical Maya civilization.

This book applies anthropological concepts of social structure and evolutionary theory to Ancient Greece.

About the Author
David B. Small is Professor of Archaeology at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania. A Fulbright fellow, he has conducted research in Greece, Italy, Israel, Honduras, and the United States.

Reviews
'... text is a highly specialized, scholarly offering and will make a valuable addition to collections with strong sections on ancient history and archaeology.' D. C. Kierdorf, Choice



Book Information
ISBN 9780521719261
Author David B. Small
Format Paperback
Page Count 284
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 470g
Dimensions(mm) 227mm * 153mm * 14mm