The most complete information guide about Athens, Greece
HISTORY
OF ATHENS
Athens
during Prehistoric times
The history of Athens began many centuries before the cultural
wonder of the Classical period. Archaeological evidence proves
the existence of organized life and significant accomplishments
as early as Prehistoric times. However, due to intensive building
activities through centuries at the locations where traces of
the first settlements have been found, namely the Acropolis, the
Agora and the Olympeion, most of the evidence that would give
a clear picture of the prehistory of Athens, has been lost forever.
The
reconstruction of the earliest phases of Athens is based on results
of excavations that have brought to light mostly tombs and portable
finds. Athens was first settled during the final Neolithic period
(4500-4000 BC), around the Acropolis. From the scant finds it
seems that the Neolithic inhabitants of Athens were in contact
with the coasts of the Saronic Gulf, Aegina and Kea where important
settlements have been found.
During
the Bronze Age (3200-1100 BC), settlement continued uninterruptedly
around the Acropolis but new sites prove the spread of inhabitants
over a wider area. During the early Bronze Age, the Acropolis
was settled around the Erechteion and on the hill of the Olympeion.
The Kerameikos area began to be used for the burial of the dead
and at the Agora there were early traces of a road leading westwards.
On a cultural level, there were contacts with the Cyclades which
thrived during this period and with the important coastal settlements
of Attica such as where modern day Agios Kosmas is.
During
the middle Bronze Age there was considerable expansion and organization
of the settlements on the Acropolis, on its south and north slopes,
at the Agora, on the hill of the Muses (Pnyx Hill) and at the
Olympeion. Impressive is the large quantity and variety of findings,
demonstrating the constant communication with Central Greece,
the Peloponnese and the Cyclades.
During
the late Bronze Age or Mycenaean period, the inhabitants of Athens
were quite late in adopting the organization and practices of
the Mycenaeans but, eventually from 1500 BC on, they assumed a
Mycenaean character.
A
new settlement with a cemetery was formed at Ilissos. The greatest
settlement development, especially south of the Acropolis, occurred
between 1400 and 1300 BC. The creation of large cemeteries in
the Agora, on the hill of the Nymphs and on the Areios Pagos,
where the richest burials were found, indicates the prosperity
and growth of the populations.
The
existence of different places of burial suggests perhaps that
the inhabitants were organized into independent groups, “kata
komas’, a fact that concurs with the ancient sources and
the name of the city, Athinai, in the plural.
The
early 13th century BC marks the beginning of the most important
stage of development. The biggest differentiation is noticed in
administrative organization, seeing that by then it was clear
that the Acropolis was the palatial, administrative, military
and cultural centre. The few relics of the Mycenaean palace were
located on the site where the Erechteion and the first Temple
of Athena would later be built.
Later
the inhabitants fortified the hill parametrically with a cyclopean
wall and created entrances. The co-ordination and planning of
the works on the site suggest that a powerful authority was in
place. The Athenians interpreted the Mycenaean hegemony as the
rule of Thesus to whom the synoecism of Athens was attributed.
Synoecism was the mergere of villages and small towns in Ancient
Hellas into larger political units such as a single city. It is
the process by which democracy in the Ancient Greek world originated
and developed. The word itself means "dwelling together"
or "to unite together under one capital city".
In
the early 12th century BC, the prosperity of the final Mycenaean
phase came to an end as was the case with the entire Mycenaean
world. The population grew sparser and dispersed but the city
was never deserted.