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Chapter 8 - Early Bronze Age Aegean Glyptic

from Part II - The Art of the Aegean Early Bronze Age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2022

Jean-Claude Poursat
Translated by
Carl Knappett
Jean-Claude Poursat
Affiliation:
University of Clermont-Ferrand
Carl Knappett
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Summary

Alongside cylinder and stamp seals designed for impressing decorative motifs into large jars or hearth rims, true seals – that is, those for imprinting signs into clay sealings – now make an appearance. Early Bronze Age (EBA) glyptic is best known from the sealings accidentally fired in the destructions at the end of Early Bronze (EB) II, as found, for example, in buildings such as the House of the Tiles at Lerna. Such sealings were pressed against the lids of jars and on the openings of chests or doors in order to regulate the movement of commodities of various kinds. The mark of the seal allowed for the identification of the individual responsible for the goods in question. Once the sealing was broken in the process of accessing the contents secured inside, it was then kept as an archival record of the transaction.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Art and Archaeology of the Aegean Bronze Age
A History
 , pp. 46 - 50
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

Further Reading

Krzyszkowska, 2005: Krzyszkowska, O., Aegean Seals: An Introduction, London.Google Scholar
Sbonias, 1995: Frühkretische Siegel: Ansätze für eine Interpretation der sozial-politischen Entwicklung auf Kreta während der Frühbronzezeit, Oxford.Google Scholar
Yule, 1980: P. Yule, Early Cretan Seals: A Study of Chronology, Mainz.Google Scholar

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