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SEA BROUGHT ONTO LAND: SEASCAPE IMAGERY IN THE CYCLADIC POTTERY FROM PHYLAKOPI (MELOS) IN THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, ATHENS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 March 2024
Abstract
This study examines seascape depictions on pottery, including seafaring and sea creature scenes, from the 1896–9 excavations at Phylakopi on Melos, held in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. This analysis demonstrates that seascape scenes varied in character through time and were typically associated with vessel shapes connected to the pouring of liquids between Early Cycladic (EC) III and Middle Cycladic late and were later focused on basins. A focus on seafaring is evident in EC III, while later the iconographic focus on the sea concentrates on sea creatures. An iconographic interest in the sea, alongside that of birds and floral depictions, is suggestive of an interest in living forms that inhabit different places to humans (i.e., non-domestic) with different corporeality to humans. This research contributes further to the growing debate on human–animal/plant relationships and ontologies in the Aegean Bronze Age.
Η μελέτη αυτή εξετάζει τις απεικονίσεις θαλασσογραφιών στην κεραμική, συμπεριλαμβανομένων σκηνών πλεύσης και θαλάσσιων πλασμάτων από τις ανασκαφές του 1896–9 στη Φυλακωπή της Μήλου, που φυλάσσεται στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της Αθήνας. Η ανάλυση αυτή δείχνει ότι οι σκηνές των θαλασσογραφιών ποικίλλουν στο χαρακτήρα τους μέσα στο χρόνο και συνήθως συνδέονται με τα σχήματα των αγγείων που σχετίζονται με την έκχυση υγρών, μεταξύ της Πρωτοκυκλαδικής (ΠΚ) ΙΙΙ και της ύστερης Μεσοκυκλαδικής περιόδου ενώ αργότερα επικεντρώθηκαν σε λεκάνες. Η εστίαση στις σκηνές πλεύσης είναι εμφανής στην ΠΚ ΙΙΙ, ενώ αργότερα η εικονογραφική εστίαση επικεντρώνεται στα θαλάσσια πλάσματα. Η εικονογραφική ενασχόληση με τη θάλασσα, σε συνδυασμό με την εικονογραφική αποτύπωση πουλιών και φυτικών απεικονίσεων, υποδηλώνει το ενδιαφέρον σε ζωντανές μορφές που κατοικούν σε διαφορετικά μέρη από τον άνθρωπο (δηλαδή μη-οικιακά) και με διαφορετική σωματικότητα από αυτήν των ανθρώπων. Η έρευνα αυτή συμβάλλει περαιτέρω στη συζήτηση για τις σχέσεις και τις οντολογίες ανθρώπων–ζώων/φυτών στην Εποχή του Χαλκού στο Αιγαίο.
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References
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