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What are these Queer Stones? Baetyls: Epistemology of a Minoan Fetish

£31.00
Author:
Sam Crooks
Publication Year:
2013
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781407311296
Paperback:
93pp. Includes black and white illustrations
ISBN 10:
1407311298
BAR number:
S2511
+

Description

BOOK DESCRIPTION
This monograph examines the aniconic cult stones, or baetyls, of the Aegean Bronze Age. Minoan baetyls are commonly understood by reference to the interpretive vocabularies of ancient Near Eastern traditions developed by comparative ethnographies popularin the early 20th century. This study presents and interrogates the Aegean evidence for baetyl cult, providing a catalogue of archaeological evidence attesting to this cultic practice. Contextual analysis provides the basis for interpreting and (re)constructing aspects of the cult. It is argued that the ambiguity inherent in these aniconic stones renders them uniquely flexible in serving multiple cultic, ritual and ideological functions across different contexts.