<P> Much of our evidence about the Classical period of ancient Greece comes from written histories, such as Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War . By contrast, we have no such evidence from the Archaic period . We have written accounts of life in the period in the form of poetry, and epigraphical evidence, including parts of law codes, inscriptions on votive offerings, and epigrams inscribed on tombs . However, none of this evidence is in the quantity for which we have it in the Classical period . What is lacking in written evidence, however, is made up for in the rich archaeological evidence from the Archaic Greek world . Indeed, where much of our knowledge of Classical Greek art comes from later Roman copies, all of the surviving Archaic Greek art is original . </P> <P> Other sources for the period are the traditions recorded by later Greek writers such as Herodotus . However, these traditions are not part of any form of history as we would recognise it today; those transmitted by Herodotus he recorded whether or not he believed them to be accurate . Indeed, Herodotus does not even record any dates before 480 BC . </P> <P> Politically, the Archaic period saw the development of the polis (or city - state) as the predominant unit of political organisation . Many cities throughout Greece came under the rule of autocratic leaders, called "tyrants". The period also saw the development of law and systems of communal decision - making, with the earliest evidence for law codes and constitutional structures dating to the period . By the end of the Archaic period, both the Athenian and Spartan constitutions seem to have developed into their classical forms . </P> <P> The Archaic period saw significant urbanisation, and the development of the concept of the polis as it was used in Classical Greece . By Solon's time, if not before, the word "polis" had acquired its classical meaning, and though the emergence of the polis as a political community was still in progress at this point, the polis as an urban centre was a product of the eighth century . However, the polis did not become the dominant form of socio - political organisation throughout Greece in the Archaic period, and in the north and west of the country it did not become dominant until some way into the Classical period . </P>

Trace the development of greek rationalism from the archaic through the classical period