Conservatism versus innovation: Architectural forms in early archaic Greece

Abstract

This chapter highlights the mixed dynamics of seventh-century architecture. The century brought great advances in architectural forms as well as in methods and techniques. At the same time, as far as most aspects of everyday life were concerned, the material world of the seventh century would not have differed greatly from the preceding century, since monumental edifices (mostly temples) appear already in the last quarter of the eighth century. Most of these still stood and were used throughout the seventh. Yet several of these earlier buildings would have already appeared old fashioned by the middle of the century. The seventh century was thus an era of high contrasts, where a humble oval hut with a mud brick superstructure and a straw roof could have stood next to a monumental temple built with ashlar masonry, its walls decorated with frescoes, and covered with roof tiles. Thus I discuss the possible reasons behind different attitudes to the built environment between the eighth and seventh centuries BC. © Archaeopress and the authors 2017.