Greece: Minoans and Mycenaeans

The bronze bull and acrobat offer a small-scale way into the Bronze Age Aegean. The group belongs to the Minoan material in Room 12a, alongside jewellery from Aigina. Its cast metal preserves a moment of movement over the animal. The wider Room 12 display also includes 12b, devoted to Mycenaean Greece, with finds from Mycenae, Rhodes and Cyprus. Crete and mainland Greece developed connected but distinct societies. Differences in pottery, metalwork and writing help keep those histories in view. Two scripts provide a useful contrast. Linear B records Greek, while Linear A remains undeciphered. Similar-looking marks can therefore give us very different amounts of information. Use the 12a and 12b labels to keep your bearings while comparing the objects.