Editing Mycenae (section)

==Modern history and excavation==
[[File:Linear B (Mycenaean Greek) NAMA Tablette 7671.jpg|thumb|A [[clay tablet]] from Mycenae, with writing in [[Linear B]]]]

The site of Mycenae appears to have been abandoned after its short-lived Hellenistic resettlement. By the time of Pausanias' visit in the second century&nbsp;CE, he described the site as a 'ruin', though noted that parts of the walls and the Lion Gate could still be seen.<ref>{{Pausanias|en|2|15|4|ref}}</ref> Grave Circle A, meanwhile, was already buried in prehistoric times, and is unlikely to have been visible to Pausanias.{{sfn|Moore|Rowlands|Karadimas|2014|p=28}} The site may still have been visible in the 5th century CE, when it was correctly located on the Roman map known as the ''[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]'',{{sfn|Younger|2010|p=624}} but the location seems to have been forgotten during the medieval period: it was generally misplaced on fifteenth-century maps,{{sfn|French|2002|p=19}} and [[Cyriac of Ancona]], who believed he visited the site in 1447/1448, had actually seen the nearby fort of Katsingri.{{sfn|French|2002|p=19}} Similarly, modern scholarship has disproved the claims of two sixteenth-century travellers to have visited the site: André de Monceaux, who claimed to have visited the site in 1669, and the French military officer Nicola Mirabel, who believed that he had done so in 1691.{{sfn|Moore|Rowlands|Karadimas|2014|pp=3–4}}

===Early archaeological work (1700–1876)===
{{See also|Treasury of Atreus#Excavations}}
In 1700, the Venetian engineer Francesco Vandeyk made the first known correct identification of Mycenae of modern times while surveying the [[Peloponnese]] (known to the Venetians as the 'Morea') under the orders of Francesco Grimani, ''[[Provveditore]]'' of the Venetian armies occupying the region. Vandeyk partially dismantled the debris that was then obscuring the [[Lion Gate]],{{sfn|Gere|2006|p=48}} and identified the tomb now known as the 'Treasury of Atreus', even conjecturing that it was the tomb of a king of Mycenae.{{sfn|Moore|Rowlands|Karadimas|2014|p=4}} During the 18th century, Mycenae was visited only infrequently by tourists, such as the Frenchman Claude-Louis Fourmont, who visited Mycenae in 1729–1730{{sfn|Moore|Rowlands|Karadimas|2014|p=4}} and drew parts of the walls and gates.{{sfn|Gere|2006|p=48}} From 1796, however, [[Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars#Bonaparte's war|Napoleon's invasion of Italy]] encouraged members of the [[Society of Dilettanti]], whose '[[Grand Tour]]' normally took place in Italy, to find alternative destinations, and members of the society began to include Mycenae on their itineraries: seeing it, in the words of Cathy Gere, as 'the ultimate [[Romanticism|Romantic]] ruin.'{{sfn|Gere|2006|p=50}}

In the early 19th century, local tradition held that the [[Treasury of Atreus]] had been once explored by the ''[[Agha (title)|agha]]'' of the nearby village of Karvati, who took from it a bronze lamp.{{sfn|Smith|1916|p=216}} By this period, more of Mycenae's monuments were visible and known to European visitors. In 1802, the British aristocrat [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]] visited Mycenae looking for antiquities that might be taken back to Britain.{{sfn|Gere|2006|p=51}} While he had originally sought to remove the sculpted relief of the [[Lion Gate]], it proved too large to lift or transport, and so Elgin asked the [[voivode]] of [[Nafplio]] to clear the Treasury of Atreus, from which he removed fragments of pottery vases, ornamental stonework and a marble vase,{{sfn|Gere|2006|p=53}} as well as parts of its sculptural decoration.{{sfn|Smith|1916|p=214}} In June 1810,{{efn|Christos Tsountas, in 1897, wrote that Veli Pasha had 'rifled' the tomb in 1808: it is not known whether he is referring to the same incident.{{sfn|Tsountas|1897|p=131}}}} Veli Pasha, the Ottoman ''[[Pasha]]'' of the [[Morea]], excavated the tomb, clearing most of the entrance, and entered the chamber with ladders; according to [[Heinrich Schliemann]]'s later publication of his own excavations at Mycenae, he discovered 'bones covered with gold', as well as gemstones and other gold and silver objects.{{sfn|Schliemann|1878|p=49}} Veli Pasha removed four large fragments of the [[Engaged column|semi-engaged columns]] beside the doorway, some of which he gave as a gift to [[Howe Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo]], who visited him shortly after the excavations.{{sfn|Loughlin|2021|p=47}}{{efn|It is sometimes claimed that Sligo directed or co-directed the removals himself;{{sfn|Gere|2006|p=53}} this is likely to be erroneous, as Sligo arrived in Argolis only after the excavation and his letters make no mention of it.{{sfn|Loughlin|2021|p=47}}}} 

In 1834, the site was surveyed and mapped by French troops.{{sfn|Gere|2006|pp=57-58}} In 1841, [[Kyriakos Pittakis]], working on behalf of the [[Archaeological Society of Athens]], cleared the approach to the [[Lion Gate]] and made a tentative exploration of the [[Tomb of Clytemnestra]].{{sfn|Moore|Rowlands|Karadimas|2014|p=1}}{{sfn|Iakovidis|2005|p=163}}

===Schliemann's excavations (1874–1876)===

The archaeologist [[Heinrich Schliemann]] was particularly invested in the site of Mycenae. Schliemann was obsessed with the epic poetry of Homer and believed Homer's stories were based in historical truth. In the later part of his life, he dedicated himself to excavating historical sites relevant to the Homeric epics. Schliemann's first excavation was the site of [[Hisarlik]], believed to be the site of ancient Troy. Following his work at Hisarlik, Schliemann began excavations at Mycenae in 1876. His goal was to find the grave of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae and leader of the Greek army in the Trojan War as described in Homer's Iliad. Schliemann uncovered a royal cemetery containing six shaft graves, known as Grave Circle A. Among his findings at Grave Circle A was a gold [[death mask]] that he labeled as "The [[Mask of Agamemnon]]". Modern archeological evidence has proven his claims of discovering Agamemnon's remains were most likely false, as the mask is dated more than 300 years before the events of the Trojan War.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.worldhistory.org/Agamemnon_(Person)/ | title=Agamemnon (Person) }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|2513612526}} |last1=Gunderman |first1=Richard |title=Heinrich Schliemann. archeological pioneer |journal=[[Indianapolis Business Journal]] |volume=42 |issue=7 |date=9 April 2021 |page=13A }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://arthistoryresources.net/greek-art-archaeology-2016/schliemann-mycenae.html | title= Heinrich Schliemann and Mycenae}}</ref>

Schliemann's discoveries at Mycenae have come under controversy. Schliemann's archaeological work in general is controversial, with some calling Schliemann "the father of scientific archaeology" and others criticizing Schliemann's destructive methods of excavation. The authenticity of Schliemann's excavation of Grave Circle A has come under question, with some critics claiming that Schliemann smuggled additional artifacts into Mycenae and then falsely claimed to have discovered them. Modern evidence suggests that Schliemann's findings at Grave Circle A were genuine, but significantly predate the Trojan War.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sites.psu.edu/heinrichschliemann/controversial-questions-arise/ |title=Schliemann's Controversy &#124; Unearthing the Bronze Age }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last= Harrington |first= Spencer|url= https://archive.archaeology.org/9907/etc/mask.html |title= Behind the Mask of Agamemnon}}</ref>

===Excavations since Schliemann (1876–present)===
[[File:Mycenaean figurine of female deities and child at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens on October 6, 2021.jpg|alt=Ivory figurine showing three figures; two seated women and a child between them|thumb|Figurine, known as the "Ivory Triad", found by Alan Wace on the citadel of Mycenae in 1939]]

Since Schliemann's day, more scientific excavations have taken place at Mycenae, mainly by Greek archaeologists but also by the [[British School at Athens]]. [[Christos Tsountas]], another member of the ASA, cleared a significant portion of the citadel during his excavations of the site beginning in 1884 and ending in 1902.{{sfn|Gagarin|2010|pages=24–26}} The [[Athens Archaeological Society]] is currently excavating the Mycenae Lower Town ({{As of|2011|lc=y}}), with support from [[Dickinson College]] and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory.<ref>{{cite web|author=Dickinson Excavation Project and Archaeological Survey|title=Mycenae – Beyond the Walls of Agamemnon: Excavation of the Mycenae Lower Town (2007–2011)|access-date=25 January 2014|url=http://mycenae-excavations.org/lower_town.html}}</ref> Afterwards, Tsountas and the ASA gave permission to the British School of Archaeology (BSA) to excavate; the BSA conducted excavations from 1920 to 1955 under the supervision of [[Alan John Bayard Wace]], assisted by [[Winifred Lamb]].{{sfn|Gagarin|2010|pages=24–26}} In 1951, workers discovered [[Grave Circle B, Mycenae|Grave Circle B]]. After Wace died in 1957, excavation work was finished by Lord [[William Taylour]] from 1958 to 1969, especially on the west slope of the citadel.{{sfn|Gagarin|2010|pages=24–26}} The ASA continued excavation work on the site with efforts led by [[John Papadimitriou]] and Nicolas Verdelis in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as well as by [[George E. Mylonas|George Mylonas]] from 1957 up until 1985.{{sfn|Gagarin|2010|pages=24–26}} In 1985, excavation work was directed by Spyros Iakovidis who, {{As of|2009|lc=y}}, is still overseeing the ASA's research mission in both fieldwork and publication preparation.{{sfn|Gagarin|2010|pages=24–26}}