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In traditional narratives of Minoan archaeology, the visual display of writing is usually overlooked. Nonetheless, recent cross-disciplinary studies on the materiality of writing have demonstrated that attention should be directed not only to the written messages of inscriptions, the signified, but also to the physical aspects of their material sup...
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This essay considers the orality of ritual texts written in the Naxi dongba script from southwest China. Historically, the inherent orality of these texts has been largely ignored in favor of seeing them as a kind of visual “hieroglyphics.” Here, a case will be made that the Naxi texts represent an intermediary stage between the “oral” and the “wri...
http://www.anistor.gr/index.html : Anistoriton Journal, 15 Essays.
Citations
Later prehistory in Eurasia is characterised by a suite of radical new technologies that include metallurgy, writing, and the wheel. Their emergence has often been attributed to the dramatically improved efficiencies they offer. This paper argues that instrumental accounts underplay the aesthetic qualities of technical action that have considerable bearing on how technologies emerge. In archaeology, the aesthetics of techniques finds limited recognition. Here, thinking on ‘cultural techniques’ from media theory, the French tradition in the anthropology of techniques, and notions of skill and learning from ecological psychology are combined to develop the aesthetic perspective required for exploring the relationship between technical action, the experience of technological wonder, and the formation of lasting infrastructures. The paper concludes that some emergent technologies create a convergence of different zones of activity, generating the growing infrastructural integration that characterises later Eurasian prehistory.
What's in a sign? What is there to be ‘seen’ in a sign? This paper sets out to explore the sources and processes of sign creation in the scripts of the Bronze Age Aegean, namely Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A, in use on Crete from c . 1900–1600 bce (Middle Minoan IB/II–Middle Minoan III) and c . 1800–1450 bce (Middle Minoan IIA–Late Minoan IB) respectively. Linear B, developed out of Linear A to write Greek ( c . 1450–1190 bce ), will also be touched upon where relevant. By investigating contemporary iconographic production and putting forward a methodological framework for the analysis and interpretation of visual motifs, a theory will be tentatively proposed for understanding the process(es) of selection of sign shapes, their incorporation into a script as script-signs and their transmission from one script onto a graphically related one. The underlying research questions leading this enquiry are the following: how did ‘images’ find their way into script(s) to become ‘signs’ in the Aegean context? Are we able to reconstruct such a process to shed light on the origin of script-signs?
This article examines the earliest attestations of writing on Crete at the beginning of the second millennium bce , the so-called ‘Archanes formula’. The aim is to reassess its origin, purpose, significance and ‘reading’ through a multi-step analysis taking in details of palaeography, correlations with iconographic seal motifs, and material culture. Key issues are considered, namely the extent to which is it comparable with the Linear A ‘libation formula’ a-sa-sa-ra-me , or, conversely, whether it should be singled out as a separate writing tradition. To address these questions, the ‘Archanes formula’ is brought under close scrutiny, vis-à-vis the graphic repertoires of Cretan Hieroglyphic and, in parallel, Linear A. Our conclusions point towards a strong connection with the Cretan Hieroglyphic milieu, in terms of sign shapes and direct links to seal imagery. In this light, the earliest writing in the Aegean is revisited not so much as a script in itself, nor as a prequel to Linear A religious sequences, but as a direct manifestation of the iconic glyptic practices of the Hieroglyphic tradition.
This paper investigates a series of glyptic inscriptions attested on Crete at the end of the third and beginning of the second millennium BC, collectively referred to as the ‘Archanes Script’. These minute engravings are considered to represent the earliest appearance of writing west of Egypt, and the first ‘true’ writing in the Aegean. Though mentioned in passing in almost every study of Bronze Age Aegean writing, few scholars have ever offered a definition of what exactly they consider the ‘Archanes Script’ to be. No work or scholarly consensus exists delineating which signs constitute its signary, or even which documents comprise its corpus. Study of the seals as objects in their own right, examining script signs alongside associated iconography, material qualities and form, has been rare. This paper offers the first complete overview and redefinition of the Archanes Script since its discovery in the 1960s and initial definition by Paul Yule in 1980.
This article examines the inception of writing on Crete in the second millennium
bc
from a fresh methodological perspective. It aims to develop a synoptic understanding of the origin, purpose, experience, and significance of the earliest attestations of writing on the island, to investigate the context of its creation, and to explore the cultural triggers that underlie the application of writing in the context of Middle Minoan Crete. Three key points are considered: the problematic definition of early writing on Crete, the possible identification of the subject matter of the Cretan hieroglyphic inscriptions on sealstones, and the script's level of indebtedness to pre-existing models. These paths of investigation are also crucial points of departure for understanding the phenomenon of early writing in more general terms, from a multidisciplinary perspective that seeks to advocate a synergic collaboration between anthropology, archaeology, epigraphy and sociolinguistics.
