Palaces and Linear B tablets

Accept 'hearth', 'round / ceremonial hearth', 'fireplace'. Do not accept 'altar', 'well', 'pool', 'column' or 'throne'.

Two from: it proved that the Mycenaeans spoke and wrote (an early form of) Greek; so the Mycenaeans were Greeks / ancestors of the later Greeks (continuity); it disproved Evans' belief that Linear B was the Minoan language / showed that Greek speakers controlled Knossos; it meant the tablets could be read, revealing the palace economy, officials (wanax, lawagetas), workers and taxes; it showed that gods such as Zeus, Hera and Poseidon were worshipped centuries before Homer; it gave the earliest written Greek. Max 2.

As above; must be a different point from the first.

Two pairs from, e.g.: the king sat on his throne there to show his authority (1) - 'my father's throne' (1); feasting and drinking took place there (1) - 'where he sits drinking his wine' (1); the hearth was the centre of life in the hall (1) - 'She sits at the hearth in the firelight' (1); the women of the royal household worked there, making textiles (1) - 'spinning wool dyed sea-purple' / 'her maids sit behind her' (1); visitors and suppliants were received there (1) - Odysseus is to 'go quickly through the great hall until you reach my mother' (1); it displayed the wealth of the royal family (1) - 'sea-purple' wool / 'a wonder to see' (1). The second pair must make a different point from the first. Points must come from the source.

As above; must be a different point from the first.

Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): AO1: Source A: painted circular hearth; four columns; throne against the right-hand wall; channel and hollow beside the throne (often interpreted as for libations); griffins and lions beside the throne; lyre player (with a bird). Wider: porch and vestibule; painted floor (with an octopus in one square near the throne at Pylos); megarons at Tiryns and Mycenae; the throne room at Knossos with griffins; Linear B offerings to Zeus, Hera, Poseidon and others recorded by the palace; pantries of drinking cups for feasts; the separate cult centre at Mycenae; Homer's megarons as places of feasting, entertaining guests and daily life (Odyssey 6: Arete spinning at the hearth). AO2: religious - the libation channel suggests the wanax poured offerings; griffins were mythical guardians linked with the gods; the hearth may have been an altar for offerings; feasts may have been religious; the bird with the lyre player may be a sign of divine presence; the palace organised religion. Royal - the throne and the controlled approach display royal power; the room was used for audiences, feasting and entertainment; separate shrines existed (Mycenae's cult centre), so the megaron was not the main place of worship; interpretations of the channel and frescoes are uncertain. Judgement: e.g. royal and religious roles overlapped because the wanax had religious duties, so it was both.