The Gathering: Collectivity and the Development of Bronze Age Cretan Society

Driessen, Jan; Letesson, Quentin

doi:10.1007/s10814-023-09183-1

Cited by 4 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 151 publications

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“…More faunal remains are attested in Type B as well. The absence of elaborate types of pottery could be explained through the different kind of socio-political propaganda the organisers of these gatherings wished to promote (Driessen and Letesson 2023). A more in-depth analysis of each type of feasting is provided below.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Collective gatherings were a tradition in Minoan Crete, deriving their origins from the gatherings that used to take place in the vaulted tombs of the Mesara Plain (Rupp and Tsipopoulou 1999, 735‒8; Wiener 2011, 355‒9; Driessen and Letesson 2023). Many conical cups related to collective feasts came to light in lateral storage rooms or in outdoor paved areas which were gradually formed in the cemeteries of the EM III–MM IA period (2300‒1900 BC).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A feast is a ritualised social event which centres upon the ostentatious consumption of food and drink 1 . Feasts have been used as a tool for an individual or a social group to rise to preeminence by demonstrating power that may not be otherwise perceptible in the existing social organisation (Dietler 1996, 89; Hayden 2014, 18; Twiss 2019, 69; Driessen and Letesson 2023). Social display of power, then, is one possible impetus of feasting events (Borgna 2004, 269; Hayden 2014; Hastorf 2017).…”

Section: Feasts As Ritual Actions Of a Socio-political Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the communal action of feasting itself contributed to the strengthening of social ties and of solidarity, this potential lack of understanding the feast-giver's intentions or ultimate purpose did not diminish the feast's significance to the participants. Occasionally, rituals have been understood to play a decisive role in the re-negotiation or even transformation of social relations within a community (Dietler 1996, 89; 2001, 66‒7; 2011, 181; Kreinath 2005; Girella 2008, 168; Driessen and Letesson 2023). Ritual messaging, including more obscure ritual processes like feasting, is able to be presented to the community in a myriad of contexts, developing a ‘textual discourse’ inextricably linked to peoples’ everyday concerns, needs and goals (Barrett 1991, 5‒6).…”

Section: Feasts As Ritual Actions Of a Socio-political Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accurately identifying different classes of feasts within the archaeological record lets unique ritual meanings to be ascribed to each category, allowing for a more comprehensive analysis of the role and impact of feasting in Bronze Age Crete societies. Although it is not always necessary for a ritual to be performed within the limits of an architectural space (Adams 2004, 30; Privitera 2004, 127‒33; Sikla 2011, 220), architecture can (and does) create physical conditions necessary for the consolidation of individualistic human behaviour into communal human behaviour, creating a clear liminal space for presenting peoples’ intentions (Driessen and Letesson 2023). In addition to architectural evidence, the cultural material left in situ after the completion of a feast (such as cups, bowls, bones, pouring and serving vessels) is taken under consideration in order to trace unique artistic or utilitarian characteristics attributed to different types of feasts.…”

Section: Feasts As Ritual Actions Of a Socio-political Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Come, Let Us Eat and Drink Together: Feasting Patterns and Their Socio-Political Dimensions in Late Bronze Age Eastern Crete

Vergaki

2023

Annu. Br. Sch. Athens

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Feasts in Bronze Age Crete are an important manifestation of material culture. Indications of feasting can be identified in funerary, palatial, and domestic archaeological contexts. As a result of scholarship traditionally focusing on the religious character of funerary practices and palatial feasting, convivial activities within the domestic sphere have been neglected and/or misinterpreted. As a result of this research bias, there is a notable gap in the record of in-depth archaeological analysis of the social, political and ideological reasons of performing a feast in a domestic environment (or within the bounds of a settlement itself). Researchers have found it hard to distinguish between different types of feasts based on the associated cultural material, consequently leading to misinterpretations regarding the differences in feasting symbolism and the contribution of feasting to social organisation. The re-examination of published material from the Neopalatial (c. 1700‒1500/1450 BC or Middle Minoan IIIB‒Late Minoan IB in pottery terms) sites of Pseira, Mochlos and Gournia in eastern Crete reveals that specific patterns of feasts were in fact in existence and socially performed. Furthermore, the data suggest that feasts in settlements functioned as politically motivated rituals which played a leading role in the formation of social organisation through intra-community antagonisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Feasts As Ritual Actions Of a Socio-political Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Feasts As Ritual Actions Of a Socio-political Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Feasts As Ritual Actions Of a Socio-political Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Come, Let Us Eat and Drink Together: Feasting Patterns and Their Socio-Political Dimensions in Late Bronze Age Eastern Crete

Vergaki

2023

Annu. Br. Sch. Athens

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Integrating and Dividing in a Late Bronze Age Society: Internal Organization of Settlements of the Tisza Site Group in the Southern Carpathian Basin, 1600–1200 b.c.

Bruyère,

Molloy,

Jovanović

et al. 2024

Journal of Field Archaeology

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On the Structure of Ritual Activity and the Collective Dimension of Figurine Use at Minoan Peak Sanctuaries

Murphy

2024

Oxford J Archaeology

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SummaryDespite the regular appearance of peak sanctuaries, for over a century, in discussions on the organization of Cretan Bronze Age society, uncertainty still looms over the precise position these places of congregation held in the island’s complex network of sites. One of the causes behind this academic situation is their methodological treatment. Particularly problematic is the customary scholarly practice of defining the sites’ political affiliation, and their visitors’ economic status, according to dichotomizing and somewhat reductive criteria such as ‘palatial’/‘non‐palatial’ or ‘elite’/‘non‐elite’. Seeking to incorporate more nuance into the investigatory trajectory, this paper therefore encourages the implementation of more localized and materially‐founded analyses on the structure of the ritual activities held at these mysterious mountain‐tops. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a re‐examination of the ceramic figurines from Petsophas and the subsequent articulation of the existence of a communal dimension to their use and function. The study concludes that closer consideration of the simultaneously personal and collective significance of peak sanctuary ritual can yield further clues on their socio‐political role.

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The Gathering: Collectivity and the Development of Bronze Age Cretan Society

Cited by 4 publications

References 151 publications

Come, Let Us Eat and Drink Together: Feasting Patterns and Their Socio-Political Dimensions in Late Bronze Age Eastern Crete

Come, Let Us Eat and Drink Together: Feasting Patterns and Their Socio-Political Dimensions in Late Bronze Age Eastern Crete

Integrating and Dividing in a Late Bronze Age Society: Internal Organization of Settlements of the Tisza Site Group in the Southern Carpathian Basin, 1600–1200 b.c.

On the Structure of Ritual Activity and the Collective Dimension of Figurine Use at Minoan Peak Sanctuaries

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