Archaeologies of Cult: Essays on Ritual and Cult in Crete in Honor of Geraldine C. Gesell (Hesperia Supplement)

Intended as a tribute to a pioneer in the field of Cretan cult study, 28 of Geraldine Gesell’s former students and colleagues present aspects of ritual and religion on Crete. In a variety of approaches the discourse ranges in time from the Iron Age to the Bronze Age and in subject matter from cult practices to sacred landscapes. A combined bibliography provides a useful reference tool for a survey of literature on the subject. Table of Contents How Many Archaeologies of Cult? (Anna Lucia D'Agata); Gods in the House? Religious Rituals in the Settlements of South Central Crete (Joanne Murphy); Structured Deposition as Ritual Action at Knossos (Eleni Hatzaki); Special, Ritual, or Cultic: A Case Study from Malia (Pascal Darcque and Aleydis Van de Moortel); Tree Tugging and Omphalos Hugging on Minoan Gold Rings (John Younger); "Why All This about Oak or Stone?": Trees and Boulders in Minoan Religion (Lucy Goodison); Harvest Rites and Corn Dollies in the Bronze Age Aegean (Anaya Sarpaki); Cult Activity at Malia in the Protopalatial Period (Jean-Claude Poursat); Does the Widespread Cult Activity at Palaikastro Call for a Special Explanation? (Timothy Cunningham and Hugh Sackett); Rethinking the Tomb of the Double Axes at Isopata, Knossos (Lucia Alberti); Domestic Shrines in Late Minoan IIIA2-Late Minoan IIIC Crete: Fact or Fiction? (Birgitta Hallager); Goddesses for "Gene"? The Late Minoan IIIC Shrine at Halasmenos, Ierapetra (Metaxia Tsipopoulou); Ritual Activity at Karphi: A Reappraisal (Leslie Preston Day); From Kavousi Vronda to Dreros: Architecture and Display in Cretan Cult Buildings (Nancy Klein and Kevin Glowacki); Additions to the Corpus of Early Cretan Figurines: Was There a Nude Goddess in Early Minoan Crete? (Philip Betancourt); Configuring the Individual: Bodies of Figurines in Minoan Crete (Christine Morris); A Neopalatial Shrine Model from the Minoan Peak Sanctuary at Gournos Krousonas (George Rethemiotakis); Tubular Stands in Neopalatial Crete (Gerald Cadogan); Does Size Matter? Miniature Pottery Vessels in Minoan Peak Sanctuaries (Iphiyenia Tournavitou); The Survival of the Goddess with Upraised Arms: Early Iron Age Representations and Contexts (Mieke Prent); Environmental Change and Minoan Sacred Landscapes (Jennifer Moody); The Topography of Minoan Peak Sanctuaries Revisited (Alan Peatfield); Juktas and Kofinas: Two Ritual Landscapes Out of the Ordinary (Steven Soetens); Investigating Minoan Sacred Landscapes (Lucia Nixon); The Chimera of Continuity: What Would "Continuity of Cult" Actually Demonstrate (James Whitley). Introduction: How many archaeologies of cult? On ritual and cult in Crete in the Bronze and early Iron Ages / Anna Lucia D'Agata Gods in the house? Religious rituals in the settlements of south central Crete during the prepalatial and protopalatial periods / Joanne M.A. Murphy Structured deposition as ritual action in the middle and late Bronze Age palace at Knossos / Eleni Hatzaki Special, ritual, or cultic : a case study from Malia / Pascal Darcque and Aleydis Van de Moortel Tree tugging and Omphalos hugging on Minoan gold rings / John G. Younger "Why all this about oak or stone?" : trees and boulders in Minoan religion / Lucy Goodison Harvest rites and corn dollies in the Bronze Age Aegean / Anaya Sarpaki Cult activity at Malia in the protopalatial period : a review of the archaeological evidence / Jean-Claude Poursat Does the widespread cult activity at Palaikastro call for a special explanation? / T.F. Cunningham and L.H. Sackett Rethinking the Tomb of the Double Axes at Isopata, Knossos / Lucia Alberti Domestic shrines in LM IIIA2-LM IIIC Crete : fact or fiction? / Birgitta Hallager The late Minoan IIIC shrine at Halasmenos : its implications for sociopolitical developments / Metaxia Tsipopoulou None Ritual activity at Karphi : a reappraisal / Leslie Preston Day From Kavousi Vronda to Dreros : architecture and display in Cretan cult buildings, 1200-700 B.C. / Nancy L. Klein and Kevin T. Glowacki Additions to the corpus of early Cretan figurines : was there a nude goddess in early Minoan Crete? / Philip P. Betancourt Configuring the individual : bodies of figurines in Minoan Crete / Christine Morris A neopalatial shrine model from the Minoan Peak sanctuary at Gournos Krousonas / George Rethemiotakis Tubular stands in neopalatial Crete / Gerald Cadogan Does size matter? Miniature pottery vessels in Minoan Peak sanctuaries : the case of Ayios Yeoryios sto Vouno on Kythera / Iphiyenia Tournavitou The survival of the goddess with upraised arms : early Iron Age representations and contexts / Mieke Prent Environmental change and Minoan sacred landscapes / Jennifer Moody The topography of Minoan Peak sanctuaries revisited / Alan Peatfield Juktas and Kophinas : two ritual landscapes out of the ordinary / Steven Soetens Investigating Minoan sacred landscapes / Lucia Nixon The chimera of continuity : what would "continuity of cult" actually demonstrate? / James Whitley. CONTENTS 4 ILLUSTRATIONS 8 TABLES 13 BIOGRAPHY OF GERALDINE C. GESELL 15 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GERALDINE C. GESELL 24 Introduction: How Many Archaeologies of Cult? 29 PART I: RITUAL AND RELIGION 38 CHAPTER I Gods in the House? 39 CHAPTER 2 Structured Deposition as Ritual Action at Knossos 45 CHAPTER 3 Special, Ritual, or Cultic: A Case Study from Malia 57 CHAPTER 4 Tree Tugging and Omphalos Hugging on Minoan Gold Rings 68 CHAPTER 5 "Why All This About Oak or Stone?": Trees and Boulders in Minoan Religion 75 CHAPTER 6 Harvest Rites and Corn Dollies in the Bronze Age Aegean 82 PART II: PLACES OF CULT 92 CHAPTER 7 Cult Activity at Malia in the Protopalatial Period 92 CHAPTER 8 Does the Widespread Cult Activity at Palaikastro Call for a Special Explanation? 101 CHAPTER 9 Rethinking the Tomb of the Double Axes at Isopata, Knossos 120 CHAPTER 10 Domestic Shrines in Late MlNOAN IIIA2-LATE MlNOAN III Crete: Fact or Fiction? 127 CHAPTER II Goddesses for "Gene"? The Late Minoan IIIC Shrine at Halasmenos, Ierape 141 CHAPTER 12 Ritual Activity at Karphi: A Reappraisal 158 CHAPTER 13 From Kavousi Vronda to Dreros: Architecture and Display in Cretan Cult Buildings 172 PART III: RITUAL OBJECTS 196 CHAPTER 14 Additions to the Corpus of Early Cretan Figurines: Was There a Nude Goddess in Early Minoan Crete? 189 CHAPTER 15 Configuring the Individual: Bodies of Figurines in Minoan Crete 197 CHAPTER l6 A Neopalatial Shrine Model from the Minoan Peak Sanctuary at Gournos Krousonas 206 CHAPTER 17 Tubular Stands in Neopalatial Crete 216 CHAPTER l8 Does Size Matter? Miniature Pottery Vessels in Minoan Peak Sanctuaries 229 CHAPTER 19 The Survival of the Goddess with Upraised Arms: Early Iron Age Representations and Contexts 247 PART IV: SACRED LANDSCAPES 255 CHAPTER 20 Environmental Change and Minoan Sacred Landscapes 256 CHAPTER 21 The Topography of Minoa Peak Sanctuaries Revisited 264 CHAPTER 22 juktas and KoPHINAS Two Ritual Landscapes Out of the Ordinary 273 CHAPTER 23 Investigating Minoan Sacred Landscapes 281 PART V: CONTINUITY IN CONTEXT 289 CHAPTER 24 The Chimera of Continuity: What Would "Continuity of Cult" Actually Demonstrate? 288 REFERENCES 300 INDEX 321