Two Sizes Too Small: Two Categories of Miniature Pottery in Minoan Crete

Abstract

Often assumed to be ritual votives or toys for children, miniature ceramic vessels in the Bronze Age Aegean have been afforded little thorough study. Their presence at peak sanctuaries, sacred caves and shrines on Crete has led to their uncritical association with ritual activity, even outside of sacred areas. When miniature pots are found in domestic spaces, they are often dismissed as objects of household ritual or simple toys. Yet miniature vessels, diverse in form and context, are so common in archaeological investigations of Minoan settlements that they merit further comprehensive study. Considered alongside the abundance of small-scale Minoan material culture, including figurines, seals, miniature wall paintings, and models, miniature pottery appears to be one facet of a larger semiotic ideology – one well-versed in the language and power of the miniature. By analysing 504 miniature pots from 13 sites in central and east Crete, this paper explores the wide range of miniature vessel types used in the Protopalatial and Neopalatial periods and applies contextual analysis to draw out their meanings. Contextualisation and data analysis reveal two distinct categories within the corpus of miniature pots: ‘micro-miniatures’ and ‘small miniatures’. While micro-miniatures were indeed inherently cultic, small miniatures served a variety of practical functions within the world of Minoan Crete and should not be assumed to relate to ritual. To differentiate between the categories, the relationship between the miniature and its prototype, as well as its semiotic meaning are considered. By applying Peircean understandings of iconicity and indexicality to these two categories, the use and significance of Bronze Age miniature vessels are further illuminated, in ritual and beyond.