Aegean+Technology

= = = = = = = Technology Of The Aegean =

Technology is one of the most important aspects of life today and that technology is the result of thousands of years of human experience and innovation building upon itself. Of the earliest civilizations of mankind, perhaps the most influential on the modern world may be the Aegean civilization. The Aegean civilization was made up of peoples in the area surrounding the Aegean Sea including the island of Crete and Ancient Greece and had invented many things important today. The technology of these ancients covered many important areas including metallurgy, sailing, navigation, engineering, and agriculture. It is important to look at the technology of the past as anthropologists because these innovations were necessary for society to evolve and expand. With new technology came new opportunities for food, population, exploration, trade and expansion. As technology enabled them to reach beyond their boundaries, the ancients grew their trade networks and with new raw materials to use and as ideas were exchanged, innovation advanced the technology.

Technology Through The Ages
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Neolithic Age
The Neolithic was the age where people were just starting to settle down. They transitioned from hunter-gathering groups into permanent settlements. The technology available in this time was limited mostly to the mediums of wood, stone, and pottery. It wasn't until the discovery of metallurgy that exciting leaps in technology began to happen at a fast rate.

Bronze Age
Civilization around the Aegean sea moved into the bronze age starting around the third millennium BC. In this age the Minoans were using their strong trade networks to import copper and tin to the island of Crete in order to make bronze. This bronze was being used to create jewelery, the heads for weapons and tools as well as many other things. The tools being make were not as effective as the later Iron Age tools due to the softness of bronze as a metal.

Iron Age
With the adoption of Iron as choice metal to work, metallurgists were given opportunity to create much stronger creations.

Important Tech
Each new technology invented has advanced the civilization as a whole and it is important to know just what those technologies are. However, as that is beyond the scope of this project, instead I will showcase some of the most significant and ingenious creations of the Aegeans

Metallurgy
Metallurgy is what brought the Aegean people out of the Neolithic and into the Bronze age. As metalworking was discovered it brought significant impact to society and changing what that society was capable of. Early tools were made of copper but eventually Bronze was discovered and after that iron came as the metal of choice.

Trireme
The trireme was the pinnacle of nautical technology in its day. It was a 120 foot long, oar-powered, three decked ship with as many as 170 rowers, each with their own oar. Although it wouldn't last in rough waters, these ships were fast and maneuverable, giving the Aegeans a military advantage.



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The screw is attributed as an invention of the great Archimedes. The simple idea of a spiral was put to many uses in the ancient time. Screws were used to create presses with which to crush olives and grapes for the production of olive oil and wine. It also became an important piece of equipment for ships and farmers as large screws were used to raise water and could be used for irrigation or to pull water out of a ship's bilge.

Ancient Greek mathematicians are responsible for creating many basic principles of math that we still use today. It was men such as Pythagoras and Archimedes that developed the basics of geometry and number theory as well as creating the foundation for calculus. The Greeks also used their skill and knowledge of mathematics to calculate the circumference of the earth as well as chart the movement of stars which would soon develop into astronomy.

Medicine
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Alchemy
The ever sought after dream of creating your own gold and finding immortality. Although 2 millennia of research turned up fruitless, the theories investigated by Greek alchemists would lead later civilizations into the science of chemistry.

Gears
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Siege Weaponry
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