Decorative arts: frescoes, jewellery and decorative objects - OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (The Homeric World) Exam Questions

Practise 37 exam-style questions on Decorative arts: frescoes, jewellery and decorative objects for OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (The Homeric World). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

37 questions
1–15 marks each
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20 questions, marked as you go

Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Source A: hundreds of thin gold discs were found with the women buried in Shaft Grave III at Mycenae. Each disc is decorated in repoussé with a design such as a spiral, an octopus, a butterfly or a leaf pattern.

Suggest how these discs were used.

Model answer

They were probably sewn onto the clothes or shrouds of the dead women as decoration.

Explanation

The discs are very thin and were found with the bodies, so they were most likely sewn onto garments or shrouds made for the burial. Their sheer number shows the wealth of the family and the importance of display at death.

Mark scheme

1 mark
Sewn onto the clothes (or shroud) of the dead as decoration
Accept 'sewn onto clothing / burial garments', 'attached to a shroud', 'decorating the dress of the dead'. Do not accept 'as coins / money'.

Question 2

2 marks

Figure 1 is a map of Europe and the Mediterranean. Amber, a fossilised tree resin, was used for beads and found in large quantities in the shaft graves at Mycenae.

Name the region labelled A, where this amber came from, and suggest one thing its presence in the shaft graves tells us about the Mycenaean elite.

Model answer

Region A is the Baltic coast of northern Europe. The amber shows that the elite at Mycenae were rich and well connected enough to obtain exotic materials from very far away, through long-distance trade.

Explanation

Analysis of Mycenaean amber shows that it came from the Baltic, roughly 2,000 km away, probably passed from people to people across Europe. Amber was made into beads and spacer plates for necklaces; its presence in the earliest rich graves shows how the new elite displayed foreign luxuries.

Mark scheme

1 mark
The Baltic (the coast of the Baltic Sea) / northern Europe
Accept 'the Baltic', 'the Baltic Sea', 'northern Europe', 'the Baltic coast (modern Poland / Lithuania)'. Do not accept 'Egypt' or 'the Black Sea'.
1 mark
One suggestion: they had long-distance trade or contacts reaching northern Europe; they were wealthy enough to obtain rare, exotic materials; they valued exotic goods as status symbols; amber may have been prized for supposed magical or protective powers
One valid suggestion.

Question 3

4 marks

Source A: fragments of wall-paintings from the palace at Tiryns (about 1300-1200 BC). One shows a huge wild boar leaping through plants, attacked by spotted hunting dogs, while a spear is thrust at it. Another shows two women standing in a chariot drawn by horses.

Select two features of these paintings and suggest what each tells us about the lives of the Mycenaean elite.

Model answer

The boar hunt, with hounds and a spear, suggests that the elite hunted dangerous animals for sport and to show their courage, which also kept them ready for war. The two women standing in a horse-drawn chariot suggest that elite women were wealthy and had leisure time, perhaps riding out to watch or take part in the hunt.

Explanation

Hunting and chariots were marks of the warrior aristocracy across the Mycenaean world, and painting them on palace walls advertised the rulers' way of life. Each pair needs a feature taken from the source and a suggestion that says something about how the elite lived.

Mark scheme

2 marks
First feature with suggestion: 1 mark for a relevant feature of the paintings in Source A, 1 mark for a valid suggestion of what it tells us about the lives of the elite.
Two pairs from, e.g.: a boar hunt (1) - the elite hunted for sport / to show courage and skill (1); the hunting dogs (1) - they bred and kept hounds; hunting was organised and expensive (1); the spear (1) - hunting was dangerous and gave practice for war / they owned weapons (1); the wild boar (1) - killing a boar proved bravery; boar tusks were prized (e.g. for boar's-tusk helmets) (1); women in a chariot (1) - elite women had leisure and wealth / took part in or watched hunts (1); horses and chariot (1) - the elite could afford expensive horses and chariots as status symbols (1); the paintings were on the palace walls (1) - rulers displayed their lifestyle to impress visitors (1). The suggestion must be linked to the lives of the elite. The second pair must use a different feature.
2 marks
Second, different feature with suggestion: 1 mark for a relevant feature, 1 mark for a valid suggestion.
As above; must be a different feature from the first.

Question 4

8 marks

Source A: Homer, Iliad 18. The god Hephaestus makes a shield for Achilles.

'He threw onto the fire stubborn bronze and tin, and precious gold and silver... On it he set a soft fallow field, rich ploughland, broad and ploughed three times... The field grew dark behind the ploughmen and looked like land that has been ploughed, although it was made of gold: that was a great marvel of the work. On it he set a vineyard heavily laden with grapes, beautiful and golden; the bunches on it were dark, and it stood on silver poles all the way along. Round it he cut a ditch of dark-blue kyanos, and round that ran a fence of tin.'

To what extent do Homer's descriptions of metalwork match the decorative objects found in Mycenaean graves? Use Source A as a starting point and your own knowledge.

Model answer

Source A suggests that Homer's descriptions do have something in common with Mycenaean metalwork. Hephaestus throws bronze, tin, gold and silver into the fire, and the shield combines different metals to make pictures: a field that 'grew dark' although it was gold, a golden vineyard with dark bunches on silver poles, a ditch of kyanos and a fence of tin. This is very like the inlaid dagger blades from the shaft graves at Mycenae, where gold and silver figures were set into a black niello background on bronze - a technique often called 'painting in metal'. Kyanos is probably the blue glass paste found in Mycenaean jewellery and listed on Linear B tablets as decoration on furniture.

Other parts of Homer support this. In Iliad 11 Nestor's cup has golden doves on its handles, and Schliemann found a gold cup with birds on its handles in Shaft Grave IV. In Odyssey 19 Odysseus' gold brooch shows a hound gripping a fawn, very like the scenes of lions attacking deer on the gold pyxis and daggers.

However, the match is not exact. Homer probably composed around the 8th century BC, several centuries after the shaft graves of about 1600-1500 BC, so his poems mix details from different periods. The shield is made by a god and shows whole cities, law courts and dances - far beyond any real object - and the Shaft Grave IV cup has two handles, not four like Nestor's.

Overall, Homer's descriptions match Mycenaean metalwork to a considerable extent in technique and in a few individual objects, which suggests that memories of Mycenaean craftsmanship survived in the oral tradition. But they are poetic and exaggerated, so they cannot be treated as accurate descriptions of real Mycenaean objects.

Explanation

This question links Homer to the archaeology: the best answers pick out the multi-metal technique in the source and compare it with the inlaid daggers, then weigh parallels (Nestor's cup, the brooch) against the long gap in time and the poetic nature of the shield. A clear judgement about how far the match goes is essential for Level 4.

Mark scheme

8 marks
Levels of response (8 marks). AO1 (4) and AO2 (4) are equally weighted.
Level 4 (7-8 marks): consistently accurate and detailed knowledge of Homer's descriptions and of Mycenaean metalwork from graves, using both Source A and own wider knowledge; very good understanding of the context (Homer composing centuries after the Mycenaean Age, oral tradition) and of possible interpretations; a well-argued response with a clear, substantiated judgement on how far Homer's descriptions match real objects, supported by a range of well-selected evidence, including critical analysis.
Level 3 (5-6 marks): accurate knowledge, using both the source and own knowledge; a focused response with relevant analysis of similarities and differences, and a judgement.
Level 2 (3-4 marks): sound, mostly accurate knowledge; engages with the general topic of Homer and Mycenaean objects; limited range of evidence; some analysis.
Level 1 (1-2 marks): limited knowledge, may only use the source given; isolated analysis.
0 marks: no response or no response worthy of credit.
A mainly descriptive answer with little analysis or judgement cannot go above Level 2.
Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): AO1: Source A - bronze, tin, gold and silver combined; dark areas set against gold (the ploughed field, the dark grapes); silver poles; a ditch of kyanos; a fence of tin. Own knowledge - the inlaid dagger blades from the shaft graves (gold, silver and black niello set into bronze, 'painting in metal': the lion-hunt dagger, the dagger with cats hunting ducks); kyanos as blue glass paste, used in Mycenaean jewellery and recorded on Linear B tablets for inlaid furniture; the 'Cup of Nestor' from Shaft Grave IV, a gold cup with birds on its handles, compared with Nestor's cup in Iliad 11 (four handles with golden doves); Odysseus' gold brooch in Odyssey 19 showing a hound gripping a fawn, like the animal-attack scenes on the pyxis and daggers; the boar's-tusk helmet described in Iliad 10. AO2: for - the use of several coloured metals and dark-on-gold effects closely matches the inlaid daggers, suggesting a memory of Mycenaean techniques preserved in oral tradition; some objects (Nestor's cup, the boar's-tusk helmet) have striking parallels. Against - Homer composed about the 8th century BC, centuries after the shaft graves (about 1600-1500 BC), and mixes details from different periods; the shield is made by a god and is a poetic fantasy (whole cities, law courts, dances); the parallels are not exact (the Shaft Grave IV cup has two handles, not four); poets may have seen later objects or invented details. Judgement, e.g.: Homer's descriptions match Mycenaean metalwork surprisingly well in technique and some objects, but they are poetic, exaggerated and mixed, so they match only to a limited extent.

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