The Beautiful Women of Bronze Age Europe
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ค. 2024
- Thanks to FOREO for partnering with me on this video: foreo.se/967g
Bronze Age Europe saw the increasing expression of individual and group identity through clothing, hairstyles, and objects of personal ornamentation.
But it’s in the artistic tradition of the civilisations of the Aegean that we most clearly see the emergence of ideals of beauty that we well recognise even today.
So how was female beauty represented? What jewellery and clothing did they wear? How did women enhance and emphasise their beauty?
How were women represented in Minoan and Mycenaean art? And what did beauty mean to the people of Bronze Age Europe?
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Video Sources
The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean: amzn.to/3zJYU2B
The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age: amzn.to/3ZXIGh0
Women in Mycenaean Greece - Barbara A Olsen: amzn.to/40QsDms
Reflections on the Social Status of Mycenaean Women - Helene Whittaker
Women in Mycenaean Pictorial Vase Painting - Louise Steel
“Little women”: Gender, performance, and gesture in Mycenaean female figurines - Louise Steel
Special women and extraordinary creatures - Iphiyenia Tournavitou
Women, Children, and the family in Late Aegean Bronze Age - Barbara A. Olsen
The Aesthetic Archetype of Female Beauty in the Mycenaean Age - Vassiliki Pliatsika
Reflections of Eternal Beauty - Constantinos Paschalidis
The above links include affiliate links which means we will earn a small commission from your purchases at no additional cost to you which is a way to support the channel.
Video Chapters
00:00 Ancient Beauty
01:49 Video Partnership
02:54 Interpreting Burials
04:10 Nordic Bronze Age Clothing
04:40 Unetice culture jewellery
05:14 Tumulus culture female identity
06:43 Urnfield culture burial practices
08:10 Ancient Aegean female figurines
09:37 Minoan Snake Goddess figurines
10:46 Women on the Akrotiri frescoes
12:33 Women and Aegean mirrors
15:28 Women in Mycenaean art
17:53 Mycenaean plaster face goddess
19:52 The female aesthetic ideal
20:14 The idealised female role
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Yes.
@@DanDavisHistory best answer. Please consider Jericho skulls.
ho camon man don't talk bull , my people i only know women dressed with long skirts head scarfs looking like the black death , how you can say that women where beautiful in that times ? only women of warriors or chieftains , the rest they were like farmers or even beggar to stay alive, you don't need to go so far just 16 or 17 century
@@robertolang9684 you're the height of intellect Roberto...if they weren't beautiful than why did their civilizations thrive...true beauty isnt cultural.. it's universal...sit down
@@laytonmcgowan2529 man sorry i know you are here promoting your business with a few theories for naive people like so many , but we all know evolution carries a lot of change if not natural at least forced , even humans were a product of trade before as was sheep so nothing is new in here i learn that in primary school now some people only learn about it in uni so yes you are doing a favour to that poor buggers
“We will return to the subject of bared breasts later.” What a great way to keep us listening! LOL
Why are some men such creeps?
@@stephanieyee9784 they can’t help themselves.
@@stephanieyee9784 news flash, boys be boys, and we love tits
@Stephanie Yee why are some woman clueless about nature
@@jocr1971 is the implication here "let's make a bunch of juvenile comments about bare breasts and then when a woman inevitably expresses the fact that she doesn't like that we'll just say it's nature"?
Archeologist: Why did Minoan women have bare breast?
Archeologist 2: It must have been for ritual purposes!
Me: It gets hot in Crete sometimes. Maybe they didn't want sweaty boobs.
*get defenestrated by archeologists*
this is sesquipedalian
@@riccardodececco4404 😒
I am sure they had porn too
Germans and Swedes still go nude in Crete. It is never the hot ones though it is always the fat ones.
Every Aegean Bronze Age video you make is a must watch
I was at work when I got the notification...and was like hell yea ...who needs to watch my daily podcast when I get home ..I put your playlists on every night as I wind down and drift into sleep with this knowledge
Every video Dan makes is a must match in my books! But his Bronze age, and Neolithic videos are especially great, and are my particular favourite time periods!
Keep on crushing it Dan! Your work gets better and better, and so many of us greatly appreciate what you do! You are just such a fantastic writer, and the stories really come alive when you tell them. Keep it up, I wish you all the success in the future, and that you so clearly deserve, particularly for such fantastic writing and storytelling. I am just imagining how much better a high budget Bronze Age documentary would be if you were hired to write and do the narration for it!
Just imagine how fantastic it would be if you Dan had access to the funds for a full blow documentary, with actors, re-enactments, video editors, CGI, on location filming, and even a top notch Sound Designer!
If anyone in a decision making position within a production company that makes high budget documentaries has seen your work, and hasn’t immediately contacted you, need to have their brains checked 😂! If I were in their position, I would be scrambling to get you onboard to write and direct documentaries!
Curious as to if Dan has been approached at all to do some freelance writing for any bigger production…
Every video and every book!!
I’ve always been annoyed and distracted when I watch depictions of pre historic people where they are shown as filthy matted haired smeared with dirt and grime, random furs hanging off them any old way and just generally messy. No animals allow themselves to be dirty and messy for hygienic reasons and also to give away their scents. The idea that earlier humans would neglect themselves in this way doesn’t track.This has been a pet peeve of mine for a while.
The people discussed in this video aren’t prehistoric tho.
@@dayofthejackyl Granted, I’m forcing the issue here. I said it was a pet peeve. But if people were taking stock of their attire and beauty in historic times why not in pre historic? No creatures live their lives covered in filth, not even rats and roaches! So why depict early people that way?
It’s purpose is to reassure us that we live far better lives than our ancient forbears despite indications that people actually lived healthier lives before agriculture and densely populated communities.
@@Iknowknow112You just notice the difference between Hellenes and not Hellenes..Ha
@@Iknowknow112exactly! I think people regardless of the era enjoy feeling good, looking their best, or at least maintaining some hygiene habits. It’s also seems to be an evolutionary benefit as well. In reality, many prehistoric and Bronze Age cultures did care about their appearance and hygiene. They had practices for personal grooming, and archaeological evidence has shown that they used tools like combs, razors, hand mirrors, jewelry, and even cosmetics. These ancient cultures had a keen understanding of the importance of cleanliness and hygiene for health and social interactions.
@@Iknowknow112 It's liberal (as french revolution/ enlightenment) propaganda. They love to say that all of the past was way worse than now.
Sounds like lots of women across the Bronze age world really liked how the Minoans did things, stylewise. And why not, they were stunning! Also I find it amusing and very endearing that even so long ago, people probably wanted to look fashionable and beautiful looked to a society they saw as a cultural leader for examples.
Minoans exported a lot (mostly olive oil and other luxuries of the ancient world) and were extremely wealthy by bronze age standards, with some of the largest cities, could produce and build with brick and carved stone and in some places they even built things like water pipes under buildings to ensure water supply. They were in a strategic location for the ancient trade network, so they were rich, their techniques were quite advanced and their location on a large island meant they were mostly safe from invasions.
Such a culture probably seemed like a fairytale when traders told (no doubt embellished) stories about them.
Re: red painted dots on the women's faces - Tunisian brides still adorn their faces this way in traditional weddings.
Maybe this is a look women have always been partial to? It appears through the ages all over the world. It does look hot.
The red dots look like stylised nipples to me. Which would compute!
I counted the dots (petals) on the chin, cheek & forehead tattoos/makeup. My theory is the main larger dot could be the sun. With the small dots being the 9 planets. Astronomy was a very popular science ~ religion back in those days. Evidenced by temples/ burials solar & lunar orientations.
@@andeannafarnes4719except we cant see 9 planets without powerful telescopes. So 5 planets. Plus they didnt know they were planets. They were the wandering stars. Plus im sure they noticed their light was steady rather than twinkling. So diferentiating them.
Red ochre was associated with the sun. Perhaps the dots represent seasons.
It never ceases to amaze me just how much we can see our modern lifestyles through these artifacts from thousands of years ago. A woman with a mirror, dressing herself to make herself as beautiful as possible, accentuated by bright colors amazing jewelry? I could be talking about someone alive today, or one of these women from Crete. Some behaviors just seem to transcend time and culture, really amazing.
Well, some say Crete is the birth of Western culture, so, doesn’t really trascend culture.
@@SL-es5kb I said we can see our own behaviors through these artifacts. That people thousands of years ago did the same things we do. You literally took the complete opposite meaning I wrote.
@@SL-es5kb Man you gotta up your reading comprehension.
Bigot. It is only because of the oppressive patriarchy that women do this.
@@adamnesico surely the Cretan culture of ancient times isn't really the same as any culture that is still around, lol.
humans and physical attraction, an age old tradition that each generation thinks it invented. Love your work and I am grateful you publish it.
Please do more of these! I love being able to visualize what people looked like when I read historical fiction, so this is just right up my alley. Well done 👏
Not People, the consciousness inside the snached or chipped body is reptilian/avian persuasion, I'm sorry. See the fertility worship in young woman and their bunny ears are today's sacred prostitution they while holding Ishtars image in the form of StarBucks cup, nothings changed, Cute huh?
Wow, I knew that dress style was popular in Minoan civilization, but I didn't know it extended to the broader Greek Aegean and the Mycenaeans as a whole.
Peter pringle does a lot of historic music like the epic of gilgamesh sung in babylonian. But one of his older songs is actually an ancient egyptian love song were the writer praises the "Ample hips" of his "sister without equal"
It's kind of comforting to know that the more we've changed, the more we've stayed the same.
Who doesn't like hips?
@@BrazilianImperialist Gay dudes.
😆
@@yodasmomisondrugs7959 They do
Historic music?
Fantastic video as always Dan! Looking forward to the one on men's styles. I do talks at events on historical cosmetics in the medieval world and to fully grasp cosmetics practices it's REALLY hard to not "start at the beginning...." and give the patrons a 3 hour long lecture because it really does all go back to this time period!
I have ADD and dyslexia your videos and amazing learning tool. I am in my 50s and I finally learned so much about history and become a real history off because of your videos. Thank you so much for sharing all your wisdom to especially for someone like myself who is always had difficulty reading and learning now I know so much more about the world history again thank you.
My favorite ancient look is probably Minoan people, although I’m very inspired by the braids on mummies! Scythian warrior braids are my go to style-way better than boring old plaits
It's interesting how some cultures sexualize breasts while other's don't or otherwise find toplessness completely normal. It's also interesting how attitudes were easily changed by religion.
Exactly, however it is important to know that Christians didn’t find breast sexual until probably around the 1800s. Before that breast being out was pretty normal and art showed breastfeeding often as holy, with Mary breastfeeding Jesus.
I agree and I'd be careful to assume that simple bared breasts are meant to symbolize Fertility.
Mostly it's a climate thing, then it might be just more convenient for working...
Most of the time it did not mean anything and across time and cultures breasts had a less prominent place as a focus of attraction then today.
Even in early modern europe, as late as the regency period, having bare breasts was something women often did. During the 1600s many women wore clothes that revealed their breasts
It is absolutely normal that some behaviours or phsical traits are "sexualized". Life itself depends in most cases of sexuality to continue existing. Were you grown in a test tube or artificial womb. What about all your ancestors, almost all animals and plants...?
I'm in awe of living nature, call it evolution or creation. (it comes with learning /studying hard )
Educate yourself....
19:59 is pretty much the ideal of today's aesthetics, at least in the western world. She is so beautiful, just classic and very impressive because we speak about thousands of years. The epitome of classic beauty.
This is why I find it so unconvincing when people try to dismiss ideals of attractiveness as "modern Western beauty standards" when there is plenty of evidence that these ideals are ancient and stretch at least from Europe to India, if not beyond.
I know this might sound childish, but hear me out. I am an art Historian and as such I notice patterns and similarities between artworks. I haven't had the time to do much research on this, so this is a preliminary theory, but I think the rosettes on the Mycenaean plaster face goddess are meant to represent the nipple on the breast. If you look at the fresco seen at 10:24 and compare it to 19:06, they are painted the same way, a thicker dot in the center surrounded by smaller dots. Now, this makes sense to me as the breast is by which a mother feeds their child and so has a very important function. Breasts and "child rearing" hips have been emphasized on artworks depicting females for millenia. It would make sense to me that a mother goddess or fertility goddess would wear the design of the most important body part that facilitates the feeding/child care part of procreation. This being said, I am also aware that a majority of the frescos associated with the Minoans and similar groups are touched up. Most of the original paint is gone. The ransom, jagged chunks are what's left and what's been painted in is interpretation, meaning that from the little bit of research I was able to do while listening to this video, the painted nipple may just be an interpretation and I'm making connections that don't exist. It's still absolutely fascinated to get a glimpse at those before us and absolutely infuriating that we'll never know for sure.
Great observation!
I appreciate that it is always taking a chance to put out a new thoughtful thought
as some are so ready to dismiss or attack it without consideration.
But, insightful observations are a springboard for others to look at things differently to open up discussion.
I looked at it again more thoughtfully and see the merit in it. Thanks.
The human Odyssey is more than just the story of war, conquest and economic progress but also of daily personal desires and pleasures. Thank you for the reminder.
ya sure in that time life was a struggle to survive how they did had time to play tennis ha ha ha
I'm more of a sing-me-the-wrath-of-achilles-sorta guy but I must admit that it was a truly fascinating episode. The place of mirrors in minoan society seems so relatable given the place of instagram and the like nowadays.
Another great video! The Minoan women's dresses looked amazing. It's such a shame that with the rise of the Urnfield tradition of cremations we were denied an insight into late Bronze Age/ Early Iron Age fashion in Central & Western Europe. Something similar happened with the shift between Pagan and Christian burials in Early Medieval Britain. There is a wealth of information for the Saxons in comparison to the Britons for example.
If only we had Minoan & Mycenaean style frescoes for Central & Western Europe during that era - what an amazing insight that would be!
As for the suggestion at the end of the video, an overview of Bronze Age male fashion would be great.
Fantastic video, as always! Seeing the stylized and exaggerated ideals of definitive beauty that resonate today stretched across a millenia is fascinating.
Fascinating, I wonder if the Mycenaean plaster influenced George Lucas in how the Princess Padme's make up was done.
Very interesting! I am very interested in the female tattoos from prehistory and the ancient world.
Can you please do a video on the masks of Europe? Where all the European end of year/early spring celebration of the evil spirits going away and the rebirth of nature with masks and jumping over fire. It exists basically in all Europe and nobody truly knows the origins of these similar rituals and customs.
Ops, I somehow deleted one part of a sentence. I wanted to ask where these rituals and celebrations come from.
Most everything he talked about took place around Greece spanning half a millennia.
@@ryano9520 not really. The lower Danube separates Romania from Bulgaria. Cucuteni-Tripyllia is N-E Romania and S-W Ukraine. Vinca culture is in nowadays Serbia. The Balkans were a revolving door into Europe, but still not thoroughly researched area.
Thank you so much for your time! This video is great!
Wonderful video! I particularly love the many ancient figurines, paintings and other objects you use to illustrate your descriptions.
As always, extremely informative.
Another excellent video. Thank you for doing this!
you have added so
much valuable and facinating content to the internet for people to learn from . Thanks!
this was amazing, thank you for your hard work and passion x
Another Bronze Age home run, Dan. Thanks for sharing such a well-researched and entertainingly presented video. Extremely interesting and informative as always!
Every one of your videos is such high quality! I look forward to every new release
Have just recently found your channel, cannot stop watching! Thank you for sharing, your video topics never miss.
Another fabulous video Dan, thank you.
As usual, many thanks for the wonderful Bronze Age video Dan. Love your videos but your bronze age videos big on top.
best regards from Scandinavia.
I never knew I wanted to learn about this. Thank you for bringing this to light.
Thanks for all the effort you put into these videos, very entertaining and informative! The production value and aesthetic is top notch!
Thanks for another great one, Dan!
Thank you Dan for another amazing video
Thank you for this very intriguing video about women in the bronze age! I particularly liked the part about the Saffron Cult.
Great info man! Thanks for this.
Thank you. I have really enjoyed the video. Late Bronze Age is my favourite period of time. These videos that you upload and share with us are full of very interesting information.
Lovely, thanks for sharing with us big G.
This is excellent! Would love to see more discussion of ancient women!
Absolutely wonderful video, thank you!
Great as always! Must say though. I love your videos on individuals, your telling of historic accounts is always so good. Literally a life story in an hour or so. Whether is was Marshall or baron de rais.
Brilliant video! The ad made me think that even though we've evolved as a society since the Bronze age, we have always wanted to look our best. Beauty, adornment and enhancements will be an everyday thing till the end of time, I'm sure
An extremely informative and well made video.
Im already waiting curiously for your Unitece Culture Video / Sky Disc of Nebra interpretation. :D
Bronze Age!! Wooo!
🥰Love the prehistory stuff so much! Thanks Dan! You do such a great job with these..
Honestly shit didn't get good again until the Renaissance after the bronze age. 😢
This is incredibly interesting! Thanks for your work!
Lovely video, Dan. I love videos that focus on social norms.
Thank you! You've got me hooked.
FASCINATING VIDEO!! I would LOVE to see more beauty videos!!
Well done. I found this information to be interesting. Thanks!
Fantastic, absolutely love your videos for content, style and narration....and of course we Beautiful women deserve a mention ❤🎉🎉
Hey aren't you keeping up with the times? Gender is just a construct of society.....🤪😜😵💫
@@yodasmomisondrugs7959 yep well this construct is a woman 👠
you are such a good story teller!
Thank you, great video!
Very cool subject. Thank you for sharing!
looking at the voluminous skirts on the minoan women with the distinctive "vee" running through the different patterns on the front, i wonder if they could actually be wearing baggy trousers or "harem" pants.
You did it again thank you for the video cheers and keep it up our ancestors would have been proud of you I am and I do appreciate you cheers
This video is amazing!
Another great video!
Excellent video
Amazing episode
Thank you Dan Davis!
The ad for the beauty product is fire! 🔥🔥🔥
Excellent choice. I'm impressed
Great video, as always! Wish you talked about the Egyptians and their depictions of women a bit more since we see some commonalities (I believe it is likely the Aegean cultures borrowed quite a bit from the Egyptians).
minoans are related to egyptian
@@robertolang9684 No. Minoans came from Anatolian farmers.
@@katharynemartins565 a mix
Interesting topic with a good presentation, thanks.
Perfect.. thank you!!!
Another fascinating video! You have a true talent for bringing these ancient cultures to life. Are all of the videos you make put together from research you're doing for your fiction books, or are there some videos you just wanted to make for the sake of it? Thank you as always for the hard work that goes into these videos.
It started as videos about subjects I researched for my novels but it's branched out into whatever I find interesting. I'm still also making videos on subjects I originally researched for books though. I have years and years of content to get through.
These videos about ancient material culture and everyday life are always fascinating.
Took 2 videos only to get me to sub. Narration stories and presentation so on point.
As always Dan, a fascinating video, beautifully put together and edited. Your work really is a joy to watch! Thank you for all the hard work you put into them 👌👏👏👏
Great vid once again Dan
Excellent production.
Really pumped up by that last flash of Pylos combat agate. It's an extraordinary piece for many reasons, but I'd better leave it's story for Dan to tell.
Great video
Awesome video
My new favorite channel :)
You are killing me with these content.
Your videos we always amazing history lessons.
stunning film brightened my rainy day
Thank you for watching Neil, so glad you enjoyed it.
Always awesome. I wish I had seen this video before I visited Greece.
Exellent vid 👍👍👍
I have the Ufo2 and it has improved my skin a lot. Great device really
Fantastic video. Thank you for not being a computer voice! 🙏🏻👌🏻
Again, outstanding.
I'm currently reading The Living Goddesses by Marija Gimbutas so I'm excited to see this video!
great video
Another great video! A video on male beauty standards would be great.
This ad made a clear difference between that period and present. I might or might not agree with some things, but I do respect a lot of them and actually appreciate so many things, including treatments like this 😊
There is a huge number of long burrial mounds where I live! Thank you for telling us all these amazing facts!
For whatever reason, my first thought on seeing the thumbnail was Queen Amidala from the Star Wars prequels. Not sure how I should feel about that.
Star Wars has always been open about borrowing from the past for their designs. Darth Vader's helmet is clearly a Japanese kabuto, while Amidala's clothing is heavily inspired by medieval Chinese fashions, and the Mandalorian helmet is quite obviously inspired by Greek Corinthian helmets and Medieval Italian barbutes.
I really like the detail and specific subject matter. I enjoyed this video a lot. I always imagine Minoan women as being very beautiful. My ex was Greek and her side profile looked similar to those Minoan painting of the women.
Thanks 🌸!!!
I'm going to take a gamble and thumbs up before I finish the video. Your content is always interesting & well articulated plus I'm fascinated by bronze and cultures!
Thanks for always pumping out great content. And congrats on the new sponsor
The starčevo culture statuette looks like a model of a modern day woman with a bbl
Just pointing that out because I found that interesting 😅
1st.... thanks for another interesting video
Can't wait for video on male ideal.