ANTHROPOMORPHIC VESSELS AS RE-IMAGINED CORPOREALITIESIN BRONZE AGE CRETE

Abstract

Anthropomorphic vessels form a special subcategory of the material culture from Bronze Age Crete. In previous studies, especially for Early Minoan specimens, emphasis was placed on their potential ritualistic/theological significance and/or gender. This paper offers a complementary approach to Minoan anthropomorphic vessels. Firstly, it brings together for the first time all published specimens, therefore drawing conclusions regarding their regional and diachronic characteristics. Secondly, it considers their potential and instrumental boundaries, agency and consumption. Thirdly, such vessels are recast as (re)conceptualised human bodies. In this way, they emerge as more than symbols, raising issues of locality, corporeality, as well as human and artefact corporeal entanglements.