Administration, writing and image in the prehistoric Aegean

The proposed project intends to map the complex relations among administrative practices, writing and iconography in the prehistoric Aegean societies of the 2nd mill. BC. through the writing of a monograph and further contributions in reviewed journals, as well as international conferences (2012-2013). The archaeological material that lies in the basis of the project comes from the settlement of Akrotiri in the Aegean island of Thera, Greece; clay sealings, testimonies to some kind of official correspondence of the period, were retrieved from the latest pre-eruption level, i.e. they represent a side of the socio-economic circumstances of the settlement just before the final volcanic eruption around 1630 or 1500 BC. The challenges presented are multi-faceted, starting with the fact that the archaeological reality of Akrotiri is in itself a case apart, since it preserves a considerably bigger than usual bulk of material remains, if not all. Additionally, the clay sealings, which accompanied administrative documents that were sent from Crete sealed and stamped, address directly the hotly debated issue of the nature of the relation between Akrotiri and its potent neighbour to the South that was Minoan Crete, i.e. whether the apparent emulation of Minoan cultural traits by Akrotiri in the Cyclades should translate to some sort of political and/or even military annexation. Moreover, the iconography they provide us with, since they preserve impressions of Minoan seals with a variety of iconographical motifs, requires an interpretation per se. The intended monograph will deal with all the above issues: firstly, by treating their typical archaeological side, i.e. through their contextualization as well as the investigation of their function, secondly by investigating their iconographical side. In two intended ensuing articles, more specific and, at the same time, more generic questions will be addressed (namely how these sealings were archived, and how this correspondence system functioned among localities within Crete).