Studies of seals and sealing practices have traditionally investigated aspects of social, political, economic, and ideological systems in ancient societies throughout the Old World. Previously, scholarship has focused on description and documentation, chronology and dynastic histories, administrative function, iconography, and style. More recent studies have emphasized context, production and use, and increasingly, identity, gender, and the social lives of seals, their users, and the artisans who produced them. Using several methodological and theoretical perspectives, this volume presents up-to-date research on seals that is comparative in scope and focus. The cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach advances our understanding of the significance of an important class of material culture of the ancient world. The volume will serve as an essential resource for scholars, students, and others interested in glyptic studies, seal production and use, and sealing practices in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Ancient South Asia and the Aegean during the 4th-2nd Millennia BCE.

Studies of seals and sealing practices have traditionally investigated aspects of social, political, economic, and ideological systems in ancient societies throughout the Old World. Previously, scholarship has focused on description and documentation, chronology and dynastic histories, administrative function, iconography, and style. More recent studies have emphasized context, production and use, and increasingly, identity, gender, and the social lives of seals, their users, and the artisans who produced them. Using several methodological and theoretical perspectives, this volume presents up-to-date research on seals that is comparative in scope and focus. The cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach advances our understanding of the significance of an important class of material culture of the ancient world. The volume will serve as an essential resource for scholars, students, and others interested in glyptic studies, seal production and use, and sealing practices in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Ancient South Asia and the Aegean during the 4th-2nd Millennia BCE.

Although the Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel (CMS) has been documenting examples of Aegean glyptic since the 1950s, the subject is still a daunting one for non-specialists. Designed with students in mind, this study draws on the CMS data in presenting a general introduction to, and synthesis of, Aegean seals and sealings set against their cultural and technological background. With lots of photographs and illustrations, Olga Krzyszkowska's study presents the evidence in chronological order from the 3rd millennium BC to the late Bronze Age. Information on dating, materials, shapes, techniques, motifs and composition, style and seal use is given, whilst the text is furnished with examples from across the Aegean world. A large glossary and a user's guide to the CMS are given in the appendices.

In this book, Kramer-Hajos examines the Euboean Gulf region in Central Greece to explain its flourishing during the post-palatial period. Providing a social and political history of the region in the Late Bronze Age, she focuses on the interactions between this 'provincial' coastal area and the core areas where the Mycenaean palaces were located. Drawing on network and agency theory, two current and highly effective methodologies in prehistoric Mediterranean archaeology, Kramer-Hajos argues that the Euboean Gulf region thrived when it was part of a decentralized coastal and maritime network, and declined when it was incorporated in a highly centralized mainland-looking network. Her research and analysis contributes new insights to our understanding of the mechanics and complexity of the Bronze Age Aegean collapse.

The Iconography of Aegean Seals is a detailed analysis of the iconography of the images on the Aegean seals, signets and sealings, providing for the first time a comprehensive structured overview of these images and a presentation of the artistic rules governing the composition of their designs. The Icon Theory of Aegean glyptic art which encompasses all aspects of the complex iconography and the IconAegean standard vocabulary which reflects the visual language of the seal designs together give the reader a framework for discussion and study that has long been called for by researchers. In this book the reader is taken deep into the seal designs and asked to ponder anew the images in these miniature masterpieces that were of such importance to their Aegean owners. The exposition of the work of the icon in creating memorable seal designs is cogently argued through seal examples. The presentation of the terms of the standard vocabulary in an illustrated dictionary format makes the detail of the seal designs accessible as never before. The copiously illustrated closing discussion on design revises some of the old nomenclature, identifies new motifs and elucidates relationships between image groupings. This book takes a fresh view of the glyptic material, one that may surprise, but one that certainly provides new insights into the subtle, sophisticated and polyvalent iconography of the seal designs.

Studies of seals and sealing practices have traditionally investigated aspects of social, political, economic, and ideological systems in ancient societies throughout the Old World. Previously, scholarship has focused on description and documentation, chronology and dynastic histories, administrative function, iconography, and style. More recent studies have emphasized context, production and use, and increasingly, identity, gender, and the social lives of seals, their users, and the artisans who produced them. Using several methodological and theoretical perspectives, this volume presents up-to-date research on seals that is comparative in scope and focus. The cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach advances our understanding of the significance of an important class of material culture of the ancient world. The volume will serve as an essential resource for scholars, students, and others interested in glyptic studies, seal production and use, and sealing practices in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Ancient South Asia and the Aegean during the 4th-2nd Millennia BCE.

The aim of this volume is to present an overview of current trends and individual methodological attempts towards arriving at an adequate understanding of Minoan, Cycladic, and Mycenaean iconography.

Early Minoan Crete is re-envisioned as a space of social innovation, in which change occurred through people and objects.