TEXTILE PRODUCTION IN AEGEAN GLYPTIC. ON INTERPRETING SMALL-SCALE REPRESENTATIONS ON SEALS
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-11-19

For more than 100 years Aegean glyptic has been widely explored as a valuable source of information about many aspects of life in Bronze Age Greece. Intensive research has been undertaken into the sphragistic use of seals, their remarkable iconography, as well as symbolic and talismanic function of seals. Iconographic depictions that may be related to textile making have been recognised only recently, demonstrating that the relevant evidence is available and advanced iconographic studies of textile production in the Aegean glyptic art are promising. These recent observations, revealed motifs that possibly depict loom-weights and the warp-weighted loom(s), motifs referring to raw materials, such as woolly animals or fibre plants, as well as symbolic references, e.g. spiders. In my new research project investigating relations between textile production and Aegean seals and sealing practices, I aim to re-examine the imagery of glyptic with a reference to the recently enhanced knowledge of textile technology in Bronze Age Greece and identify multiple relations between textiles and seals. In this paper, I will discuss the key methodological issues required by this study, such as the basic conventions and constraints that exist in Aegean glyptic iconography, as well as methods and assumptions I adapt in order to decode the motifs potentially related to textile production. This will include comparative studies of iconography of textile production and, specifically, small-scale representations in Mesopotamian glyptic were several references to various sequences of textile making have already been discussed in detail by Catherine Breniquet. The question whether any repetitive patterns of display of motifs and more complex iconographic programmes may have existed (and how to recognise them), will also be addressed.


Author(s): Ulanowska, Agata (Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw)