Book contents
- Male Nudity in the Greek Iron Age
- Male Nudity in the Greek Iron Age
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Plates
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter One Introduction
- Chapter Two Naked Male Figurines in the EIA Aegean
- Chapter Three Iconographic and Regional Patterns in EIA Naked Male Figurines and the History of Ritual Action
- Chapter Four The Lost Wax Method of Production of EIA Bronze Figurines
- Chapter Five Bronze Figurines, Transformative Processes, and Ritual Power
- Chapter Six EIA Nudity and Ritual in Historical Perspective
- Chapter Seven Method and Approach in the Archaeology of the EIA Aegean
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
Chapter Seven - Method and Approach in the Archaeology of the EIA Aegean
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 September 2022
- Male Nudity in the Greek Iron Age
- Male Nudity in the Greek Iron Age
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Plates
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter One Introduction
- Chapter Two Naked Male Figurines in the EIA Aegean
- Chapter Three Iconographic and Regional Patterns in EIA Naked Male Figurines and the History of Ritual Action
- Chapter Four The Lost Wax Method of Production of EIA Bronze Figurines
- Chapter Five Bronze Figurines, Transformative Processes, and Ritual Power
- Chapter Six EIA Nudity and Ritual in Historical Perspective
- Chapter Seven Method and Approach in the Archaeology of the EIA Aegean
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
Summary
My purpose in this book has been to reconsider the beginnings of a ‘culture of male nudity’ in the Aegean through analysis of some of the earliest images of naked males in material culture from the Aegean region. I laid out the evidence for nudity in the archaeological record of the EIA Aegean, especially focusing on the earliest naked figurines from the few sanctuaries on Crete and the mainland where they appear in substantial quantities. I presented a treatment of the earliest naked bronze figurines from EIA that placed their production at the forefront of interpretation and set this in the context of ritual practice and votive deposition. I contended that EIA bronze figurines were not valued for their aesthetic appearance, but accrued value instead through the metal casting processes of production that took place within the sanctuary grounds. This perspective, along with a granular understanding of the casting process, helps to explain their unprepossessing appearance. In contrast to existing views that reconstruct production as a purely economic phenomenon, I posited a meaningful ritual role for bronze working in certain EIA contexts. Specifically, I argued that bronze casting was not practiced at sanctuaries in order to produce votives for the economic benefit of itinerant craftsmen, but that smiths were ritual actors whose casting practices were embedded in and central to some EIA ritual.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Male Nudity in the Greek Iron AgeRepresentation and Ritual Context in Aegean Societies, pp. 232 - 248Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022