by Andrew Shapland
Product price excludes shipping, calculated at checkout
This scholarly work provides a concise yet deeply comprehensive history of the formative stages of the study of Aegean prehistory, tracing the key developments and scholarly breakthroughs that shaped our understanding of this ancient region.
Focusing on the emergence of Aegean Prehistory as a discipline, starting with the first recorded encounters with prehistoric monuments and artefacts and ending with the decipherment of Linear B in 1952, a syllabic script that is the earliest attested form of the Greek language.
This work broadens the history of Aegean Bronze Age archaeology as told in popular accounts as a series of excavations of great men, particularly Heinrich Schliemann at Troy and Mycenae and Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos. Though their work is of fundamental importance for the discipline, here it is placed within wider political, institutional and intellectual frameworks. This also provides an overview of the work of many other archaeologists across the Aegean and the regional and historical context in which they operated.
Dr Andrew Shapland is Sir Arthur Evans Curator of Bronze Age and Classical Greece at the Ashmolean Museum and a Supernumerary Fellow in Archaeology at Jesus College, University of Oxford. He is the author of Human-Animal Relations in Bronze Age Crete: A History through Objects and was co-curator of the 2019 British Museum exhibition Troy: Myth and Reality.
Paperback
Book contains 90 pages
Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 0.7 cm
Shipping to United States of America is currently suspended for the foreseeable future.
The de minimus exemption for orders under $800 going to USA ended on Friday 29 August 2025. Please bear with us while we update our systems to accommodate the new tariffs and duties.
Our Pickup service is a convenient way for you to order online and collect your purchase in person at the Museum. Simply select the Pickup option at checkout.
The Online Shop team operates between Monday-Friday 10:00-16:00, so please allow time for us to prepare your order for collection or delivery, particularly at busy times of the year. We aim to have your order ready for collection/delivery within 72 hours.
UK 1st Class: delivery 2-5 business days from dispatch
Europe: approximately 3-11 business days from dispatch (customs clearance may cause delays)
Rest of World: approximately 3-11 business days from dispatch (customs clearance may cause delays)
Please be aware that orders to International addresses may be subject to local customs duty or taxes. You will need to pay any additional charges for customs clearance, charges include local VAT and duty based on the value and origin of the product.
There is 5kg weight restriction for UK orders, and a 2kg weight restriction for International orders. If your order exceeds this weight, please contact the Online Shop team so that we can organise a quote for special delivery: onlineshop@ashmus.ox.ac.uk
Further information on our delivery options and returns policy can be found in Shipping & Returns.
The profit from your purchases helps fund the running, collection and care of the Ashmolean Museum, which is free to enter and offers more than 1000 tours, workshops and lectures each year. By shopping with us today, you are helping support everything that we do.