Archaeology and the Emergence of Greece. By ANTHONY SNODGRASS. Ithaca and 

New York: Cornell University Press, 2006. Pp. ix + 485. Paper, $39.95. ISBN 

978–0–8014–7354–8.



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This collection of 25 studies brings together Anthony Snodgrass’ work over 

four decades. But it is more than a collection of previously published 

essays, for it provides the author’s fresh thoughts on the subjects of 

those essays. Thus it reveals developments in the field of Ancient Greek 

archaeology during the period of major new directions in the second half of 

the 20th century. Snodgrass speaks to historians and classicists as well as 

to archaeologists, encouraging rapprochement between the various groups 

working to understand the nature of ancient Greece.



Following the Preface, the essays are distributed among six parts that 

identify the author’s special interests and contributions to Greek history:



• “A Credo” examining the history of archaeology, its relation to other 

disciplines and a plea for redirection • “The Early Iron Age of Greece” • 

“The Early Polis at Home and Abroad” • “The Early Polis at War” • “Early 

Greek Art” • “Archaeological Survey”



Each part begins with a short introduction presenting changes in evidence 

and/or interpretation, and includes two or more essays. Every essay in turn 

receives an introduction describing the intent of the original study, 

pointing to aspects requiring updating, and providing a bibliography of 

important recent publications on the topic. S. reports how new findings 

have altered his opinion or, in several cases, why his original argument is 

still justified. He has, for example, revised his position on a return to 

nomadism following the collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, as well as his 

view of the rise in population in the 8th century. On the other hand, with 

respect to the transition from bronze to iron, while “sympathetic to 

correctives yet in this instance, I resist” (p. 127).



S.’s “Credo” is important for an appreciation of developments in the field 

of archaeology as well as its battle with the domains of historians and 

classicists. Convergence with both disciplines has long been linked with 

ancient written sources, a link that excludes much of human history. Yet, 

if classicists and historians frame their questions broadly, in terms of 

processes over time, cooperation is both possible and productive. “The 

larger aim of this paper is to convince historians that archaeological 

evidence can truly be brought to bear on problems that are of central 

concern to them…” (p. 222). Some of the author’s more acerbic comments 

relate to lack of empathy: “this paper was addressed to fellow Classicists 

who did not, as I had half expected, take offence…” (p. 364).



Above all, S. gives attention to the material evidence for changes in 

culture after the difficulties of the Late Bronze Age, the development of 

the polis, the emergence of hoplite warfare and the lessons of pottery—both 

painted and plain—and other art. Readers can follow the process of 

deepening understanding through comparison of the original studies and the 

author’s introductory comments. For example, the 1974 study “Metalwork as 

Evidence for Immigration in the Late Bronze Age” is described in the 

introduction as “a journeyman piece” (p. 118). It employs close examination 

of particular metal items and technology to address the migrationist 

explanation of the divide between the Bronze and Dark Ages. The 2002 

discussion of “The Rejection of Mycenaean Culture and the Oriental 

Connection” builds on these findings to argue a more sweeping conclusion: 

on the collapse of most Mycenaean centers and their administrative 

structures, Greece returned to the pre-Mycenaean way of life of the Middle 

Helladic Age. (We can add the observation that this way of life has 

prevailed in Greece from the Neolithic Age into the 21st century CE.)



Over time, new subjects enter the picture of Iron Age Greece. In presenting 

the case for surprising energy in this early “Dark” age, S. argues against 

the view of its deep darkness that found wide support well into the 1960s. 

Particularly important are the activities of the “great discovery of early 

Greek archaeology since WWII”—namely the Euboeans, who early in the 11th 

century were engaging in “paracolonial” efforts in the northern Aegean and 

the Levant, and two centuries later in the central Mediterranean. This 

energy is linked with another major topic of early Greek history on which 

S. has led the way: the origin of the polis not only on the mainland, but 

as “exported” through colonial activity. Archaeological data allows the 

polis to be seen as more than a theoretical abstraction, by revealing a way 

of life within its physical context. Developments in the discipline of 

archaeology have added to the new perspective. While excavation defined the 

polis-center, survey archaeology is now identifying life in the chora.

 

S.’s presentation also serves as a model to other scholars. The base of his 

own knowledge is obvious: full employment of archaeological data, much of 

it from his own fieldwork, is the foundation for his arguments, while 

knowledge of the scholarship of others adds both depth and variety. His use 

of this scholarship is invariably respectful even when he disagrees with 

certain conclusions. S. embodies his own plea for multi- and 

inter-disciplinary cooperation: his use of the tools of historians and 

classicists as well as archaeologists is exemplary.



S.’s style is always clear; his discussion of survey archaeology, for 

instance, could well be a manual for participants. He engages the reader’s 

attention by going beyond description and data to raise questions, drawing 

his audience into the process. “Why” he asks (p. 238), “is it that modern 

scholarship has come to reject the implication that the political system of 

Classical Greece essentially goes back to the Heroic Age?” And common sense 

often suggests answers, as in the case of the view that early paintings on 

black-figure pottery are dependent upon Homeric epics. After demonstrating 

the limited number of indisputable parallels, S. suggests a source in 

parents’ storytelling to their children (p. 369) and a generally heroic 

ambiance (p. 376). The book is handsomely produced with numerous 

illustrations. Would that its binding were as secure as its intellectual 

contents.



This brief summary of this book’s coverage and style cannot do justice to a 

scholar who by his research, publications and instruction of a cadre of 

younger scholars has changed the direction of study of early Greece. In 

1983 S. wrote that “the potential for archaeological evidence may offer 

grounds of optimism” (p. 27). His own efforts have brought this to pass.



CAROL G. THOMAS

University of Washington





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