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Lost World of the Aegean (The Emergence of Man)

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This is about one of history's astounding discoveries- that there was an ancient Greek civilization older than Ancient Athens and that all traces of it literally disappeared for centuries.
This volume includes the fascinating story of how the discovery came about, the history of the Cycladic , Minoan and Helladic cultures, and an attempt from sourcing of various disciplines- such as archaeology, linguistics, volcanology, underwater exploration, botanical studies, radiocarbon dating, plus long-range weather studies and the unscrambling of a hitherto indecipherable language- to name a few.

The discoveries were the result of the work by eccentric and wealthy German treasure-hunter and advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer, and an important excavator of Troy and of the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns , Heinrich Schliemann(1822-1890).
It was Schliemann's conviction that the places mentioned in the Illiad really did exist that led to the process of their re-discovery.
Aside from fascinating chapters on the Bronze Age Cyclades, Crete and the Minoans, and the Mycenean cultures, this volume, exquisitely illustrated with archaeological finds, ruins (some of which have been partially reconstructed) and artworks of the time, there is also a chapter on the Island of Thera (Santorini) devastated by a major earthquake and tsunami, which provided the provided the basis for or otherwise inspired Plato's story of Atlantis, and may have contributed to the collapse of the Minoan culture.
These cultures began around the Aegean Sea in the period when men discovered how to make bronze by extracting copper from ore and extracting it from tin.
The Aegean Bronze Age was one of the truly great cultural and artistic periods in history. Aegean peoples were skilled painters, master craftsmen, and fine architects. They built richly decorated palaces surrounded by massive walls. They also developed their own systems of writing. The Aegean people were also adventurous sailors and traders.
They were a graceful and attractive people, as shown by re-discovered artworks, with a lively cultural and sporting life.
They engaged in sports with bulls more dangerous than modern bull-fighting.
It was a culture in which women enjoyed full equality in all avenues, far more even than in Ancient Athens centuries later.
The author has a section on pottery and utensils and how examining these can increase our understanding of Aegean Civilization.
The Aegean civilization crumbled during the 1100s BCE. Invaders from the north overran Greece and advanced to the Aegean islands and Asia Minor.
By 1100 BCE the Aegean civilization was destroyed.
The great craftsmanship, the art of writing and the building skills of the Aegean civilization were forgotten.
Archaeology and other sciences have enabled us to rediscover much of this lost and wonderful civilization.