Archaic Period By Wladyslaw Tartarkiewitz

A Critical Analysis: Aesthetics of the Archaic period by Wladyslaw Tartarkiewitz and Why we started farming by Stephen Mithen

Aesthetics of the Archaic period is a historical text that elucidates the rise of culture in the Archaic period, proclaiming that the main catalysts for this was: Geographical, Ethnic, and Social conditions. Although Tartarkiewitz’s points are supported through historical sources, he leaves room for interjection and questioning.

Geography played a part in Hellenic cultural development, supported by the idea that: “calm seas… facilitated trade” and idea movement. This is evident in archaic architecture through appropriations of Egyptian construction conducts, and in Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus showing Egyptian influence

This is conveyed through “could not allow themselves to indulge in luxury”1 heralding Thucydidean deliberation on Lacedaemon, shown in History of the Peloponnesian war.

Furthermore, in terms of social conditions the author asserts that Greek colonies were territories for resource exploitation, however, they were city-states themselves, with individual cultures, for example; Syracuse, “renowned for its authority and beauty”

The overall case, fortifies my knowledge of cultural development, but further questioning would pertain: “To what extent do pre-existing texts such as Thucydides, cloud our perception with stereotyped images of culture, particularly in the case of Lacedaemon?”.

“Why we started farming” by Stephen Mithen, is a review of James C Scott’s “against the grain”, which follows the debate that Agriculture was an “entrapment” in yearly farming cycles, forcing previously nomadic man to

The same can be said for Tartarkiewitz’s case. Furthermore, a lack of documentation puts a restraint on fixed knowledge regarding the issue. Unlike Tartarkiewitz however, in true revisionist fashion, Mithen states counter arguments, asserting that Sahlin “neglected to consider… the time spent preparing food”4 and so on. Mithen’s criticality of sources is testament to a von-Rankian methodology making his work appear more